Raysing the Bar: Changes in Dining Hall Improve Campus Atmosphere

by The Cowl Editor on August 30, 2018


Campus


Students walking around in the dining hall.
Updates in Raymond Dining Hall create a more open and inviting environment. Nicholas Crenshaw ’20/The Cowl.

by Bridget Blain ’19

Opinion Staff

A quintessential part of being a Providence College student, particularly during freshman year, are the daily meals at Raymond Dining Hall.

Ray is one of the few spots on campus that most students visit at least once a day. Needless to say, Ray becomes a very comfortable place for PC students.

As each academic year goes by, students become increasingly familiar with the meal options that Ray provides.

While the current freshman class has no past experience at Ray to compare to the updated look, upperclassmen will almost certainly be a bit taken aback when entering  Ray for the first time this semester.

The most noticeable addition to Ray are the symbols on the windows that can be seen when first entering the dining hall. These symbols indicate each food station that Ray has to offer.

For example, the Comfort Foods station is represented by a crossed fork and knife, the grill is represented by a flame, and so on.

Finding the exact food station you are looking for has now become very simple: just find the corresponding symbol on the wall above the station.

At first glance this does not appear to be a significant change, but with the chaos that can be found in a crowded dining hall, any sort of organization is helpful.

Hopefully, the new display of symbols will assist freshmen who may be overwhelmed with the mayhem of mealtime at Ray.

Long gone are the days of everyone bumping into each other because we just cannot seem to remember which station is which. 

Returning students will also notice that the interior of Ray has been painted electric green and bright yellow, a noticeable and positive change.

This is another relatively simple alteration that can make a big difference. A new color scheme helps enhance the feeling of new beginnings that the fall semester brings, a sentiment shared by most students at this time of the year.

Painting the walls of a dining hall may not seem noteworthy, but it is enough to make returning students take a step back and realize that small changes can add up to create a new atmosphere in a familiar setting.

These small changes will contribute to student appreciation for how willing and excited PC administration is to constantly improve the campus and make all of our lives a little easier.