Towards the end of January, SGA announced via email that the College had decided to make a variety of upgrades to its dining program based on student needs and requests. According to the memo sent out, all of these improvements were set to take place at fan-favorite spots on campus – the Spa and Pub at Cotter Union.
Starting the first week of February, these new changes were officially implemented and have been a huge success for the College’s dining administration as the spring semester kicked off. The significant developments include Late Night Spa Dinner four nights a week (Wed-Fri 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and Saturday 9:00 p.m. to 1 a.m.), Spa Breakfast, Pub Nights (same days/times as Late Night), and Boba Pop-Ups at the Pub.
In order to make these changes a reality, SGA worked with Nathan Baird, director of campus life, and Emily Damon, general manager of Colby Dining Services all throughout the fall semester. Damon, who is enjoying her second year on the Colby Dining staff, has a huge role in presiding over everything food-related on this campus.
“I oversee all aspects of dining and catering here at Colby, including the museum café,” Damon said. With so much ground to cover, Damon is happy that she’s been a part of the effort to bring these new amendments to Spa dining especially. “Student feedback and working with SGA played a big part in making this happen.”
The Pub, which is upstairs above the Spa, has an exclusive menu, Damon added, that can be accessed from the ColbySafe Mobile App. “This includes quesadillas, veggie egg rolls, halal chicken skewers, and wings that will sometimes be featured as Pop-Ups!” Damon also clarified that “all ages are welcome at the Pub” as there are a variety of “non-alcoholic beverages and specialty mocktails” for those who are under 21 or do not wish to drink.
However, what students seem to be most excited about amongst the recent developments are the new weekday Late Night hours for the Spa down in the lobby of Cotter Union.
Historically, Late Night has mostly only been available on weekends for when people are out late at social events and want to grab a bite at the Spa before heading to the shuttle or back home on campus. However, during the week, there are usually no dinner options open after 8 p.m. – a relatively early time in the grand scheme of things.
Many students have found frustration in this, especially those who participate in extracurricular activities or sporting practices/events that aren’t done until past 8 p.m. They find themselves without free meal options in a city where nearly all restaurants are downtown – around 10 minutes away via shuttle, or are fast food chain locations that need to be driven to/ordered from.
Lydia Mordarski `26 of Colby women’s basketball, who typically has practice on weekdays from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., has struggled with this food issue for much of her time at the College.
“As an athlete who has often gotten out of practice after the dining halls close, it has been difficult sometimes to find food options,” Mordarski said. “I fortunately live downtown this year and am able to cook for myself, but I usually end up getting fast food with my teammates if nothing on campus is open, and the money can pile up. My sophomore year when I did not have a car on campus, I spent a lot on Doordash each night for dinner because not many food options on campus were open after practice.”
Mordarski’s post-practice dinner experience, which usually consists of McDonald’s, Five Guys, or Hannaford’s hot bar, is not unusual amongst student-athletes, those participating in extracurriculars, or simply people who study deep into the night. However, with the new addition of Late Night Spa, things are looking up for students who often find themselves in these situations.
“I am very excited about the new Late Night Spa and I believe it’ll be very beneficial to athletes like myself and others who have late extracurriculars,” Mordarski said. “Late Night will allow students to not stress about where they need to get dinner and they will know they don’t need to rush to the dining halls before they close. It’ll also help students save money because they won’t need to resort to other food options in Waterville.”
Saving money, saving gas, saving energy – what more could the College’s students want? The Late Night Spa option will help with all of the above and will be tasty too. According to Damon, they will offer “a variety of hot sandwiches such as beef, chicken, and veggie burgers,” as well as “salads, sandwiches, and the regular daytime Spa menu items.”
Furthermore, these aren’t the only exciting changes Colby Dining is looking to make. Later in the spring, according to their newsletter, they are planning to bring Restaurant Nights back to Foss, introduce pop-up Chef’s Tables in dining halls, bring in Bon Appétit, and start up some cooking classes!
In fact, this past week, the dining halls and the Spa did their first major spring food event by way of a Lunar New Year-themed celebration, serving a correlated menu and having beautiful decorations hung all throughout the buildings.
Clearly, this is just the beginning of some incredible developments within the College’s food community, and it’s all thanks to the hard work of the dining administration and their willingness to listen to student opinions.
If you wish to stay even more up-to-date with Colby Dining, check out their newsletter on their website, http://www.colby.edu/dining!
~ Amelia Hanscom `27
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