Not Just a Cafeteria:

How Colleges Are Reimagining Dining to Foster Belonging and Student Success

Around the warmth of a fireplace early in the semester at Hobart & William Smith Colleges in Geneva, N.Y., an invitation-only group of first-year, first-generation college students gathered to share a meal, passing the family-style dishes while they swapped stories. The dining hall’s executive chef had crafted a three-course dinner based on the students’ suggested mystery-box ingredients — all flavors they enjoyed from home. By the end of the evening, the students had exchanged numbers to stay in touch.

“It was honestly just a really beautiful way to foster new connections” says Julie Pfeifer, vice president of marketing for Sodexo Campus, which supports 400 campus dining programs nationwide. “Those connections – engaging students – that doesn’t happen automatically. We know that engaged students are better students and we also know that food is the top way students engage on campus – this means we have a role to play in helping students maximize their potential.”

For decades, campus dining halls have been little more than glorified cafeterias with buffet pans and mile-long tables. But college students’ expectations and needs are evolving. As they question the value of higher education and grapple with loneliness and isolation, college administrators are looking for ways to attract and retain them. And, more often, that includes rethinking spaces like the dining hall to help students connect with others inside and outside the classroom to build that needed sense of belonging.

Reframing those experiences, experts say, requires a deliberate approach. Using surveys, feedback from students and staff, and other metrics to tailor offerings that best meet students where they are now and into the future.

Whatever form that reimagined dining hall takes, campus dining leaders increasingly see them as critical gathering spots outside of the home or the workplace where students can connect with others. Starbucks made famous the concept of a “third place” to create an experience that leads to connection. On a campus, the dining hall isn’t the “third place” as much as it’s the first place students look for to form connections and feel engaged.

“As human beings, we’ve always come together over breaking bread,” says Andy Morgan, assistant vice president and dean of students at Illinois State University. “And since coming back from the pandemic, it’s vital.”

Making a Difference

Today’s college students have weathered a financial crisis, political and social unrest, the rise of smartphones and social media, and a pandemic that disrupted their education and social lives, according to The Chronicle’s report, “Overcoming Student Loneliness.” The fallout has left many struggling to engage with others, risking isolation.

Sodexo’s “2024-2025 Student Lifestyle Survey Report” paints a sobering picture: 52 percent of students feel overwhelmed, 51 percent say they feel anxious, and 34 percent of students have considered dropping out.

But there are some bright spots in the research, including a growing sense of community on campus. In 2024, 65 percent of students feel like they belong on campus, and 66 percent are satisfied with the inclusivity of campus — up from 54 percent in 2022.

However, there’s still room to do more, especially as funding and enrollment issues plague higher education and swaths of students continue to struggle. The campus dining hall is an obvious place to start, Pfeifer says. Food remains the top driver of campus engagement, according to Sodexo’s survey. When asked to identify the top function of campus dining halls, 54 percent of students cited the fact that it’s a place to socialize with friends.

Collaborative, Data-Driven Approach to Dining

With cross-campus collaboration at all levels, colleges are intentionally designing dining spaces, events, and programs to foster student interaction and community-building.

Through its Spark engagement strategy, a program meant to spark ideas for improving student engagement and socialization among the campuses it works with, Sodexo has introduced initiatives like the community table or social events like Meet Our Mascot and Friendsgiving. While successful, it left a gap. The entire approach to resident dining, including service and the physical space itself needed to acknowledge the role it has in creating meaningful moments of connection as well as re-invigorate its offer.

Enter a new elevated take on resident dining, One&All, debuted in March driven by not just variety in food, but also seating to suit all student needs at all times of day — whether that’s offering a place to study or relax alone, or an environment encouraging students to connect with each other. And knowing that, according to Sodexo’s Student Lifestyle Survey 70% of students crave community and belonging on campus, the resident dining team is essential. They’re not just completing transactions—they’re a trusted, caring presence creating memorable experiences every day.

Another concept, Foodprint Foodhall - a premium, chef-driven dining experience that also happens to be good for the planet - will launch this summer, echoing the importance of resident dining options that allow students to connect over shared values.

Data drives Sodexo’s approach. Aside from understanding the evolving needs of students over time through its bi-annual Student Lifestyle Survey, the company maintains a constant view of trends through its Quad Squad. This group of 250 students from campuses nationwide respond to quick polls and answer questions in mobile diaries, allowing Sodexo to track preferences based on region, demographic, and more.

Food Hive is a new offering building on the data surrounding student’s demand for convenience. This customizable convenience store is scalable to meet the needs of campus, but also customizable to create a localized experience — incorporating popular regional brands, and even products created by alumni, so it better reflects the diversity of the campus culture and community.

The Breakfast Question

That collaborative partnership is on full display at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Since 2013, Sodexo’s longitudinal research there has found that students on meal plans are more likely to make healthier food choices and stay more engaged on campus than those who aren’t on meal plans, according to Sodexo’s report “Beyond Prestige: Best Practices in Belonging So Students Fit and Flourish.” The team also contributes to the university’s annual assessment fair that focuses on student engagement, retention, and graduation.

“Data guides choices big or small and ensures that Northern Arizona’s dining options adapt to students’ changing needs throughout the semester,” says T.C. Eberly, executive director of campus services at Northern Arizona.

“For example, in the past, the breakfast rush was bustling early in the semester as students eagerly fueled up before 8 a.m. classes. By semester’s end, however, it wasn’t unusual for only a fraction to stop in for a morning meal.”

Through surveys and interviews conducted among students, it was revealed that they still wanted breakfast — but they had a strong preference for quick, to-go options, says Eberly. “So, the campus opened a spot where students can pick up breakfast burritos to go.”

Today, breakfast transactions have soared, and students are more likely to attend class with a healthy breakfast, fueled up and ready to learn.

“They want to make their own choices, and we have a responsibility to provide them with choices to better prepare them for not only their university studies, but life beyond the university.”

Not Fast, But Curated

Data also informed the opening in January of East End Dining at Gutierrez Hall, located next to the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. “I'm a data-driven leader, and I’ve got to tell you, in this case, you absolutely had to follow the data, or you would have made a mistake,” says Jude Kiah, TCU’s associate vice chancellor student affairs and chief business officer.

Our dining hall had been focused on serving food fast, Kiah says. But surveys and interviews revealed that waiting times for food weren’t an issue for students, who also found cafeteria-style dining off-putting because they hadn’t grown up with it. What they really wanted was what they were used to at home or when they went out to eat — customizable food options that are thoughtfully presented.

The new dining hall is an open and airy space with food hall-style stations that include a salad bar where chefs hand toss salads; a global food station where diners can extend their palates; and a coffee and bakery area front-and-center.

Kiah envisions it as more of a campus living room than dining room — a place where students and staff can tuck in for a full meal, snack on an orange while they study, or meet up with friends over a coffee. Residential students all receive meal plans that allow unlimited access to the resident dining locations.

“It’s not a place to eat and leave,” Kiah says. “It’s a place to come in and hang out and eat if they're hungry — a dwelling space.”

TCU isn’t done upgrading the dining experience for students with East End Dining. In the next few years, the university will open two more dining halls, six new restaurants, and a Starbucks — along with other residential and gathering spaces. It’s part of an all-hands-on-deck effort to ensure they’re building the kinds of spaces that will serve and support students’ well-being into the future. Dining is an important part of the equation.

“They want that belonging. They want that community,” he says. “So we’re building facilities…that serve the same purpose.”

This content was paid for and created by Sodexo. The editorial staff of The Chronicle had no role in its preparation. Find out more about paid content.