Sodexo: 'Every Day a Better Day', All for $3,780

By Charlie Wondergem

When I was younger I used to spend long hours playing the classic board game of Monopoly. At 10 years old, the word meant little more to me than passing “Go”, small plastic houses, paper money and small iron game pieces. When I got to college, however, the word ‘monopoly’ deepened itself in my level of consciousness with frustration over why I’m forced to spend far too much money on a meal plan when I would prefer to shop for food myself that I actually do want.

One need not venture far from the Google homepage to find food-provider Sodexo's assertion that it "improves the quality of daily life of millions of consumers worldwide." The company's website claims that consumers "entrust Sodexo to create an outstanding experience for the people we serve." Really? "Entrusted?" Or forced? The last I checked, on-campus students are coerced into purchasing a meal plan, not 'entrusting' their dietary needs to this food service giant. There is no option, with the exception for the choice between different levels of meal plan dining, and even then only a difference of $100 dollars. If Sodexo truly believed in its stated commitment to "making every day better for us all", one would think it would trust in the appeal and quality of its services to do just that, not force a clientele through a binding contract.

While recent attention surrounding Sodexo has focused on workers' rights - or lack thereof - there has been little focus on the food provider's prohibitive agreement with the university. Sodexo's contract with the university restricts any university-subsidized food service, stifling healthy competition and allowing its services to be mediocre at best rather than allowing market forces to entice the corporate giant to step up to the game. As students of the University of Denver, we forego huge sums of money to – imagine that – learn; but the agreement with Sodexo has compromised the ability of many of this university’s most ambitious to gain the most complete education experience possible. For an institution with a hospitality school as high ranking as ours, wouldn’t you find it odd that the university would have such a restrictive agreement with the provider for its dining halls? DU’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management (HRTM) lacks any substantive real-life application for its curriculum beyond occasional banquets or a morning coffee stand. Institutions with comparable hospitality programs (such as Cornell) have at least some sort of dining venues open to the public, allowing students to gain practical experience beyond the classroom while providing the institution the opportunity to showcase the rigor and expertise of its programs. The University of Denver, however, has made a conscious decision to close itself off in a binding agreement with its dining hall provider, robbing not only hospitality students of their opportunity to gain valuable experiences, but all first- and second-year students who are forced into purchasing an overpriced meal plan with no alternative, save for the decision between the Gold and Copper meal plan.

But don’t take my word for it. One HRTM professor (a long-time business owner himself) was quick to point to the many hurdles the school had to jump when it decided to open its state-of-the-art banquet facilities to provide students with valuable out-of-class experience. Sodexo at first tried to nose its way in as the managing company (which in theory would defeat the purpose of the entire program itself – not allowing students the opportunity to run and manage the facility), but has since stepped back as long as the school does not “take their students.” That is, the HRTM program is primarily allowed to attract visitors and those who wouldn’t otherwise know of the school’s existence, but it is limited in its ability to attract students away from the “nursing home hours” of the dining halls (so bluntly put by one disgruntled Sodexo ‘client’). What’s more, the recently opened Beans café, opened as a class project of one of the HRTM classes to give students experience in opening and running a business, is prohibited by agreement with Sodexo from advertising or serving food – because, of course, that would be competing.

Am I championing an end to the university’s agreement with Sodexo? No, that’s not feasible, nor is it necessary. What I am calling for is a little healthy competition that will benefit all parties, and the lifting of the requirement established by the university and provider that all first- and second-year students purchase a $3,780 meal plan. The company would instead have to attract and appeal to its business, leading to better quality for students and a better business model for Sodexo. This would drive down the cost while simultaneously improving the quality of the campus dining experience. Only then will Sodexo truly be able to make “every day a better day” and students have a “higher overall satisfaction with their college experience.” So let us once again return this institution to be a marketplace of free competition and ideas, not of unscrupulous profiteering.

Diveristy Is Nothing Without Inclusiveness

By Brooke Lederer

I see their tables with their multi-abbreviated labels as I rush through Driscol. BSA, ASA, GSA, LSA, NSA, CME. Advertising different events to promote this thing we like to call “diversity” on campus. Diversity: the state or fact of being diverse; difference; unlikeness. Something the University of Denver's Diversity Statement states it is committed to “by including and integrating individuals who represent different groups as defined by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, age, disability, national origin and religion”.

But what does this incisiveness mean? The school works on getting students of diverse backgrounds and ideas to attend the school in the first place. According to DU Student Profiles, at DU 15.6 percent of our undergraduate students are of color and 6.1 percent are international. We represent 51 different countries, 50 states, and the District of Columbia. The University of Denver even awards those who have made differences in their communities with scholarships such as the Puksta. These are all important things, but numbers can't speak to the emotions that are triggered when I think about diversity, or lack there of, at our school.

Once on campus, we have numerable student alliances, the Center For Multicultural Excellence, and our Undergraduate Student Government with its own Diversity Committee dedicated to making campus an inclusive environment for all. Due to these diversity initiatives, it has been said that DU is leading the nation in striving to create a diverse campus environment. These student organizations help many minorities find their niche within the university. They host great events to address minority issues. Just last week I attended the fabulous GLBTQIA 5^th Annual Gala Celebration themed “go gaga” which was hosted by CME. The event applauded those on campus who have been active members of this community and who have supported those who identify with any of these sexual orientations. These events have created a community of members from different diversity groups who support each other in addressing all kinds of social justice issues. But these are meetings and events where the same people seem to show up week after week. In this way, our supposed commitment to diversity conflicts with how many people on campus actually work towards acceptance and respect.

Diversity: A point or respect in which things differ. Some would say, “can't we just agree to disagree?” But I'm tired of hearing racist jokes as I pass through the halls to my room. DU's Diversity Statement notes that, “in order to achieve our goals, we must create a campus climate with an ethos of respect, understanding and appreciation of individual and group differences.” DU says it promotes diversity and inclusiveness, but I don't see it in the “average” DU student. One might say that if you don't see this diversity then you can't just sit around, but you must get off your ass and go looking for it. You must make the effort to go to the events hosted by these organizations and even become an active member. But I don't want a campus where I have to search for those who believe in acceptance.

Our Diversity Statement also says that “by achieving and maintaining a multicultural constituency of administrators, faculty, students and staff, an institution successfully connects with the demographic reality of society.” And I am seeing the realities of society. You have these groups who are awesome in passion but small in numbers working to make a positive change, but in reality you will always encounter the racist bone heads who go so far as to say things like, “it says in the bible that colored people should be enslaved” and others saying, “I don't like slavery, not because it was bad, but because it brought black people out of Africa.” What. The. Fuck. These unacceptable comments haunt me as I walk to class and they don't even represent my own racial group. And maybe that is reality, because some are just too ignorant to see how this effects our whole DU community, not just those of minority groups. I feel hurt by these comments, but mostly I feel ashamed. I'm embarrassed to admit that people I know and hang out with can make these off handed comments without breaking a sweat. And it's one thing to joke, but it goes to far and it's simply unacceptable .

So I pose the question, what can we do? Obviously there are already all kinds of organizations to get involved in, but how do we reach our community as a whole? How do we address the students who don't give a shit? How do we show that diversity and inclusiveness really do matter? I posed these questions to a couple members of the Social Justice Living and Learning community. One girl commented that “If there was some way to get everyone involved, to get people to intermingle and interact with other students outside of their “bubble” or their personal group, then people would make a more diverse group of friends.” She mentioned that this goes for minority groups too because these groups tend to stick together and then they aren't really contributing or mingling with other students. It definitely goes beyond simply, “hanging out” with diverse people, but this can be a necessary step towards learning to accept each other and what we can learn from one another.

One of the first steps towards solving this issue is simply having conversations where we can brainstorm how to address diversity and inclusiveness. Because these issues impact all of our lives, we cannot simply rely on few organizations to make our campus more inclusive. It is an issue that involves how we all treat each other and therefore, we all need to be involved in the solution.

The Students Next Door

By Kathleen Dornan

Let me tell you a story. There are two girls starting to apply for colleges. They are both ranked in the top of their class, have remarkable grades, have worked extremely hard, and want a higher education in order to have better lives in the future. They both send in their applications to the same schools but when the schools respond, one girl gets accepted to all of them, the other gets accepted to none. How is this fair?

I recently watched the movie “Papers” in the Sturm auditorium at Denver University. Before the movie started, I knew nothing about the subjects of undocumented students and the immigration reform bill. But as I thought about it, I figured that the majority of the DU campus, like me, knew nothing about these topics either. As I watched the movie, I learned that the current law in the United States today is that education for undocumented students is allowed from kindergarten through high school. Then I found out that “65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers” and the door to their future slams shut. It is against the law to work or drive. It is difficult, if not impossible in some states, to attend college. Currently, there is no path to citizenship for these young people”.

At first as I was watching the film, I could see how the United States government was against allowing undocumented students to further their education in college because they were illegal immigrants right? They were in the country I called home illegally. But as the movie continued further, I asked myself how these students were any different than me. The majority of these students grew up in neighborhoods like mine, attended the same elementary schools, the same middle schools, and the same high schools. They received the same education I did and were taught by the same teachers. They learned the American education, the American values, and just like me, have only known the United States as their home. As the movie was coming to an end, I realized that the only difference between these undocumented students and I is that they are at risk of being deported from the only country they have ever called home, to an unfamiliar place that would be just as strange to me.

Another side that I have heard about this issue is that it is the fault of the undocumented students that they are here illegally, so therefore it is their fault that they cannot receive the same education as the students that are citizens. Seems logical right? Not really. In reality, most of these students did not even know they were illegal aliens until they started to apply to college. Many of them were brought over here by their parents when they were very young so the United States is the only place they have ever called home. Why should these students be punished because of the actions of their parents, even when their parents were trying to do the best thing for their children? It is wrong that their parents crossed the border illegally, but because it is almost impossible to receive American citizenship, how can you blame the parents for trying to provide a better life for their children. Even if that still does not sit well with your opinions, how can you still blame the children and be on the side that is making it impossible for these undocumented students to become a citizen and receive a higher education?

As the credits rolled at the end of the movie and the lights came back on, I looked around and realized that not even a fourth of the auditorium was filled. Are the students at DU really so oblivious to this issue as I was or was it because they honestly just did not care. Either reason needs to be fixed in my opinion. More students at DU and even around the country need to be more informed on the issue of Immigration Reform. This bill will provide an easier way for undocumented students to attend college, and earn the same education that you and I have earned. Think about it. These students grew up just like you, took the same tests, and played with you on the same playgrounds. They deserve to go to the same colleges as you and earn the same degrees that you are working to achieve right now. Just like you, these undocumented students deserve to be citizens of the same country that they were raised in, that they call home. My plea to you is to help the kids that grew up next to you, that sat at the desk right next to you, that recited the Pledge of Allegiance everyday with you. You need to back up these students; you need to support the Immigration Reform Bill.