As Easter approaches, many Quinnipiac students drive home to celebrate the holiday with family and friends, however, the university doesn’t close, except for Good Friday which is recognized as a university holiday.
For the students that remain on campus during the long holiday weekend, the closure proved to be an issue, as dining halls, gyms and other campus buildings were closed or had limited hours.
“The other day, I wanted to go grab something from the dining hall past lunchtime, and they were closed, so I wasn’t able to get what I wanted,” Alex Nicastro, a third-year 3+1 Film, Television and Media Arts major and York Hill resident, said. “I’m not able to run to the store 24/7, I don’t have the money to spend on outside food, and I need to spend my meal points.”
The dining halls ran on an altered schedule this weekend, opting to open Cafe Q at 11 a.m. and the York Hill Cafe at 1 p.m. instead of the usual 10 a.m. leaving limited to no breakfast options for early risers that remained on campus.
“People are still up early, and want to get their day started, and they’re not able to go and get a bagel or something for breakfast,” Emma Morris, a sophomore 3+1 journalism major, said. “There’s still people here that need to eat, and if the dining hall is still closing at the same time as it would any other weekend, it’s not enough time for people to get the meals they want.”
As the end of the academic year slowly approaches, many students are looking to spend their meal points at the dining halls before they expire, but the limited hours can make spending them difficult.
“I have so many meal points left over, many of which from last semester,” Alex Gnoffo, a third-year 3+1 Film, Television and Media Arts major, said. “So now I’m in a situation, because of the weird hours, where I’m unable to spend my money every single day. I’m left with all these meal points that I’m trying to spend, but it makes it difficult that I can’t go there when I want to.”
It is not uncommon for other on-campus amenities like Starbucks and Shake Smart to run on limited hours during the weekend, but all of those locations, including the Bobcat Den, were closed on Easter Sunday.
The Bobcat Den is a spot many students rely on for dinner and late-night food options, but it was closed this entire weekend, leaving options even more limited for students on the Mount Carmel campus.
“I remember sitting in a friend’s dorm because a few of us stayed back, and we had nowhere to go for food unless we wanted to drive off campus or DoorDash,” Morris said. “I’d rather just go use my meal points and get something quick. It’s kind of ridiculous.”
The menu at Cafe Q and the York Hill Cafe was much of the same on Saturday, including the regularly served chicken tenders and french fries, and the fan-favorite General Tso’s chicken, lo mein and rice among other frequent options.
On Sunday, Cafe Q served assorted chicken wings and the York Hill Cafe served roasted turkey breast with gravy, stuffing and bread rolls, a meal more associated with a hearty Easter dinner.
