Laughter and chatter filled the air at VCU’s Shafer Court Dining Center as students, faculty and staff gathered at the dedication ceremony to recognize the new state-of-the-art facility. With coffee cups or a snack in hand and bookbags on their backs, students hurried up and down the spiral staircase of this 57,000-square-foot building.
“It’s a culmination of ideas and diverse choices for diverse students,” Eugene P. Trani, VCU president, said, adding that the idea is to attract students and cause other schools to have “dining envy.”
Since the center was designed to accommodate people who stop by to eat or just lounge between classes, Trani predicted that the structure will continue to grow and change as VCU does.
Nahom Girma, a first-year student, agreed that this new dining center contains more then anyone imagined it would.
“I thought it would just be pizza and burgers, but I was surprised to see all of the choices I had,” Girma said, identifying the flexibility in meal choices.
Diane Reynolds, VCU’s director of business services, described the process used in determining the menu options available to students.
“We put together focus groups and surveyed students to find the best choices for them,” she said. “It’s really about what the student wants as far as flexibility goes. We are able to change and accommodate students the best way we feel we can.”