SGA Dining Liaison is Cooking
Image courtesy of Chartwells.
By Elliana Arnold
If you’ve ever been in the vicinity of a college dining hall, you’ve heard the myriad of complaints about the oily, indigestible food that students swear gives them food poisoning. Luckily, Catholic University students have an active SGA representative for their dining interests who has been working hard with Garvey employees to improve the quality of food on campus.
Matthew Devlin, a junior finance and sales major, is serving as the SGA Dining Liaison this year and is making waves on the food front. His job as the liaison to dining services is to convey feedback from students and SGA to Chartwells to tell them what is going well and what needs to be improved. Garvey, the food court, Murphy’s, and the Pryz Marketplace all fall under his purview.
Devlin explains, “I take surveys, speak to students, and do daily inspections of the food court and Garvey to ensure the food meets our standards. I have also been meeting with several senators and the EI [Executive Initiative] to see what works well and what needs improvement.”
Devlin was prompted to join the team as a liaison from his own background. “I grew up eating simple Italian food that my grandmother prepared for me. I have always loved food. Yet, when I walked into Garvey freshman year, it seemed everyone was dissatisfied with the food,” Devlin shares. Thus, he was moved to make a positive change in dining this year.
Catherine Weatherwax, SGA Vice President, calls Devlin “the most productive member of student government” and explains that Devlin has been meeting with dining services every other week. “He’s the perfect liaison in that he is very good at taking student opinions and bringing them to the Garvey workers,” she shares. “He’s very passionate about food, especially at Catholic, so he does a really great job advocating for what he wants and what the students want.”
Some items he has addressed have involved Murphy’s After Hours, seed oil in Garvey, and reforms to Murphy’s.
Devlin shares the credit for Murphy’s After Hours with President Kish, Chief of Staff Max Morris, and other SGA senators who worked with Chartwells on getting this event off the ground. He met with the manager of Murphy’s, Bernard Bethune, and the Marketing Manager, Conel Garrido, to plan the event, and he immensely appreciates the Chartwells staff who worked to help this event come to fruition.
Weatherwax comments that Devlin has a very amicable relationship with Garvey employees and has built good connections with them, allowing their work to go smoothly.
For instance, he has worked with dining employees on updates to the seed oil use in Garvey. “We have come to an agreement with Chartwells that they will cut the amount of oil on the vegetables. We agreed that there are certain veggies that should only be steamed (and they have since implemented this change),” Devlin explains. Additionally, even though some initiatives have moved more slowly, he comments “we have pleaded to Chartwells to get healthier options at Garvey, have all around less oil usage, and have more options (especially on the weekends).”
Furthermore, in regards to the meal plan, Devlin shares, “I also got Fairlife milk added to the meal deal since only the CORE Power drink was on the meal deal. Now both Core and Fairlife are meal swipe eligible.”
A final significant reform of Devlin’s concerns his work with Murphy’s, about which Weatherwax declared, “He fixed Murphy’s.” Devlin explains, “We got the flourless chocolate tort added back on the meal deal, and we are working to make Murphy’s the central hangout spot on campus.”Devlin is working hard to add healthier options to the meal plan, advocate for more food choice on campus, and to improve student satisfaction with CUA dining. “If they have any suggestions or want to help, they can email me at devlinmp@cua.edu,” he offers. “I want students to know that I am doing everything in my power to make their dining experience the best it could be.”
