OU students said they are “frustrated and annoyed” that the university doesn’t have automatic take-out options and can’t order out despite surges in COVID-19 cases.
On Jan. 10, OU Chief COVID Officer Dr. Dale Bratzler announced the university would implement a two-week mask mandate until Jan. 31, pending additional guidance. Bratzler also wrote food take-away options were “preferred” at indoor events. On-campus dining was not included in this preference and, as of Jan. 26, this has not changed, according to an email from a university spokesperson.
Accounting and finance senior Madison Maier and biomedical engineering sophomore Katelyn Maier said stricter COVID-19 protocols should be extended to campus dining options like Couch Restaurants. They said an expectation to mask and social distance in an environment where social distancing is difficult makes them feel like the university isn’t using all available avenues to keep its community safe.
“People are still being hospitalized,” Madison said. “I feel like the university is only making a token effort when they could be doing so much more.”
Katelyn said she came to OU over other universities who offered her more scholarships because of its dining options, as she is severely allergic to nuts. She said Couch Restaurants is the most accommodating dining option and, since she eats there frequently, she is more likely to be exposed than others.
“There are other people whose choices are limited to just (Couch Restaurants),” Katelyn said. “I feel if you wanted to do anything to make students safer, (Couch Restaurants) would be where they’d have to implement some changes because it’s the hub of where people go for food.”
Amy Buchanan, director of marketing and communications for OU Housing and Food Services, wrote that campus dining followed the necessary protocols to be running this semester. All three residential dining halls have temporary take-out options, indicated by the signage at the cashier, Buchanan wrote. To-go containers, cups and plasticware are available “upon request.”
Buchanan didn’t specify the timeline for “temporary take-out options.”
A Couch Restaurant worker said all they knew is the take-out option was temporary and depended on the COVID-19 condition in Oklahoma. Their superior confirmed this and said it will only last until OU Housing thinks students will be comfortable eating completely in-person again.
Madison and Katelyn said they were unaware of this temporary take-out option. Sociology and political science sophomore Mariah Powers said she didn’t know either, but still wouldn’t eat at the residential dining halls if they were busy.
Powers, who used to eat frequently at Cate Restaurants, said she misses the GrubHub options from last year.
“Going from (GrubHub) to this hour-long line of people standing super close to each other and almost no masking was just really annoying, and it made me feel uncomfortable,” Powers said. “It was like, ‘Well, I’m going to be here all day. This is the only option I have to eat. So, am I going to stand in this line, or am I just going to not eat?’”
Powers said she worked at Couch Restaurants last semester, which used to serve and package all of the food. Now, she said she feels it’s unsanitary since its buffet-style dining has everyone touching the same surfaces, spoons and tables. Couch Restaurants also places people close together, with the maximum occupancy being limited to 800 people, including employees.
“You could stay and eat, but (Couch Restaurants) was really heavily-oriented around, ‘You shouldn't eat here,’” Powers said. “Now, everyone is touching the same spoons and they’re all serving themselves, and I don’t feel like I’ve heard of any sanitizing measures.”
The Maier sisters said they feel unsafe in dining halls and classrooms. Madison said some of her professors don’t wear their masks properly or enforce the two-week mask mandate. She also said she knows people who have come to class showing symptoms but refuse to test because they feel like they couldn’t miss school.
Katelyn said she thought missing less school would be an incentive for people to mask properly, but it appears this isn’t the case. She said OU has proven they can do more for the safety of its students like the default take-out options and GrubHub availability, and she wishes they’d continue to do so.
“People could die,” Madison said. “At the worst, you miss a week of school if you get sick, but (overall) it’s necessary to help protect the health of the students and the faculty and anyone at risk.”
