Students complain about being turned away at door

“I’m sorry. You are going to have to go somewhere more appropriate,” said the woman manning the door of the cafeteria.

More appropriate?! Excuse me! Why can I not eat in the cafeteria where I have already paid to eat? Apparently on this particular day, I was not dressed appropriately enough to eat on our campus. Yet I was able to obtain food elsewhere off campus regardless of how I was dressed. Does this make any sense?

The first Sunday of every month, our campus attempts to do something nice for the community. While that is all well and good, Sodexho should not forget who they serve the other 99% of the time... THE STUDENTS! I do not believe it is fair that they can turn us away for how we are dressed just so they can impress the community one day each month. We have already paid for our meal plan, we should be able to use it when we choose to.

Today, I was wearing a t-shirt and pj pants...plaid pj pants. This is not uncommon attire on a college campus. And while this attire is not inappropriate to wear to the cafeteria, they refused me admittance today. While this may be partially understandable (but not by much), the other ways students were refused was flat out wrong and unfair. Even if you did have pants/shorts on, you were still refused admittance. If your shirt had writing on it, you were refused.

This is ridiculous and wrong. If the cafeteria wants to impress the public, that’s fine. But they should not be allowed to refuse students admittance just because of the way they dress. We come in there dressed the same way everyday of the week every month. Why should we be forced to change that just because the cafeteria allows the community in one day a month? If the community doesn’t like how we dress, don’t eat in our cafeteria. We are the ones that have to pay to eat in there everyday of the semester, not the community.

This is definitely a problem and needs to be addressed in a manner that does not offend or put out the students.

Lauren Singleton Graphic Design Bellevue

Can you imagine my surprise on Sunday when I heard and later saw for myself that some students were not allowed to eat in the cafeteria? Was it because the space was full, or that the students had no meals left on their meal plans? No; it was because of the way they were dressed.

Is this not a public university? Have the students not paid for Sodexho’s services? Do we no longer have a right to use the services we have paid for? Apparently not, if we don’t have the right look. Once a month, at least, when Sodexho has its “Sunday Brunch” for the good people of the town, the students are not allowed to go about their business in their cafeteria as they do every other day of the month.

I am appalled. Sodexho is not a high-class restaurant. It is UTM’s catering service. They are paid, by the students, to serve the students food. But yet they found the right from somewhere to turn those students away. Great business, huh?

Jae Eslinger English Newport