Maria Foxall, general manager of Parkhurst Dining, attended ASG’s General Assembly on Tuesday, April 8. She held a question-and-answer session about dining on campus and provided answers on issues from portion sizes to the green box system.
Samuel Goodwin, ’25, asked Foxall for an explanation on the rationale to cut standard portion sizes. The decision was sustainability-focused according to Foxall. “There has been waste. This is the first time in Allegheny College history that we have two all-you-can-eat dining halls. I am educating my staff. If you come up and you ask, starting with a small portion, if you go up and ask for a sandwich, they’re going to give it to you,” Foxall said. “You can come up to any station as many times, 20 times, and they’re never going to tell you, ‘you’ve had enough food.’ You can still eat as much as you would like, still. We are just trying to eliminate some of the waste. We have more waste right now than ever in Allegheny’s history.”
The rationale behind converting McKinley’s into an all-you-can-eat dining hall was an attempt to eliminate food insecurity on campus, according to Foxall. “You can come and eat as much as you want. Right now, our meal plans are set up very simply,” Foxall said. “You have 15 meals where you want them, $300 express cash — whenever Mckinley’s was that retail hall where you paid, the meal plans were very different, so we wanted to make it more simple, you know, paying for it. But then also, it would help eliminate some food insecurities.”
Subsequent questions included asking about the effort to switch McKinley’s completely to reusable dishware and cutlery. Foxall confirmed that Parkhurst would like to switch to entirely metal cutlery, but over 500 metal forks and more than 300 plastic baskets have been lost from McKinley’s in the past two weeks, so until that issue is fixed it is unlikely to have all-metal cutlery.
Another question regarded whether there are plans to create additional collection bins so people have more places to return bowls and silverware within Henderson Campus Center. Foxall responded that there are, and Parkhurst is looking into implementing eat-in vs. eat-out food containers in McKinley’s.
Foxall also reported that Parkhurst also is looking into bringing more allergen friendly foods to Pine Market and McKinley’s by the fall 2025 semester.
A variety of small changes for McKinley’s were discussed, with two ideas being tentatively approved by Foxall as easy changes to implement soon and over the summer — keeping the pizza and grill stations open later on weekends and putting napkin dispensers back on tables.
Foxall highlighted that the green box return rate has gone from up 4% from last year to 93% this year.
Cabinet Reports
Director of Finance Dominic Juliana, ’26, reported the finances for this week. Total expenditures were $5,104.86 this week, with the largest expenses being requested by Hillel at $2,294.51, and Islamic Awareness at $1,277.12. Juliana also gave a reminder that the last day to submit finance requests this year will be April 20.
Co-Directors of Student Affairs Ben Keefer, ’2, and Lyra Lindsay, ’27, reported a meeting of the dining committee last Friday and that bathrooms in the campus center were restocked last Thursday with sexual and menstrual health products.
Attorney General Chezka Quinola, ’27 announced that voter turnout for elections this year was doubled, with 30% of eligible voters voting compared to 15% last year. Senate elections will be underway soon.
Chief of Staff Brayden Devinney, ’26, reported he is working with the Merrick Archives to document old materials found in the ASG office, as well as talking to Information Technology Services to try and acquire a new computer for the ASG office.
Class Senate Reports
Class of 2025 President Akari Brown reported the budget for Senior Week has been submitted. Events will be announced within the next two weeks. Additionally, the senior athlete dinner will be held in Schultz Banquet Hall at 6:30 p.m. on a soon to be announced date.
Class of 2027 President Liam Shields reported the class’ last event of the year would be held in Grounds for Change during finals with goodie bags on a date to be determined.
Chief-Executive Reports
President-elect Chezka Quinola, ’27, and Vice President-elect Doug Malcolm, ’26, addressed the Senate with thanks for their election and the opportunity to serve in leadership next year.
Vice President Joe Leszczynski, ’26, gave thanks to everyone who ran in the elections and for their participation in the process.
President Ella DeRose, ’27, also congratulated the winning ticket and communicated ASG transition reports for the next school year should be submitted by April 15.
New Business
An amendment to ASG’s constitution to remove the role of parliamentarian from the staff was proposed. The vote passed 11-2 in favor. As no individual has occupied the role of parliamentarian this academic year, there was no practical change for the student body.
Co-Editor-in-Chief Ben Stavnezer contributed to the writing of this story.
