The Gen Z’s protested the new Cove menu (what a surprise) and got their frappuccinos back. 

On June 1st, 2022, Southwestern switched to a new food provider called Aramark. In an email sent by President Trombley in April, Aramark was said to be introducing a “new feel” to The Cove by renovating the Merzbach room right off of The Cove, into a convenience store. The store sells a variety of drinks, candies, chips, and some canned foods. Along with these changes, Prime Grill and The Brew Crew updated their menus.

The menu updates consisted of the removal of many fan favorite items. They removed the  frappuccinos, seasonal drinks such as the iced brown sugar shaken espresso, the BLT, the buffalo chicken sandwich, and quesadillas. Moreover, items that used to be available all day are now only offered at specific times. 

It’s been a few weeks since school started, giving newcomers and returning students a chance to visit the recently redone Cove. Trombley’s email was correct; we took a poll on Instagram, and the students certainly have feelings about The Cove’s new feel:

“Waste of money imo…it wasn’t done well and lacks variety.”- Faith Madsen

“The store was a good idea but the new menu sucks.”- Logan Ferguson

“Too expensive and selection is too limited throughout the day.”- Brianna West

“I like the store, but not at the expense of everything else we used to have at The Cove.” – Mary McClure 

“I hate it. There’s no more buffalo chicken sandwich.” -Carson McCandles. 

These were a couple of the responses of students who claimed to dislike the new renovation of The Cove. Many of the other complaints centered around The Cove being overpriced, the  absence of the BLT, frappuccinos, the buffalo chicken sandwich, and that the study room was changed into a convenience store. 

Throughout the duration of this article being crafted, I interviewed SU Dining. I was elated to hear that The Cove would be expanding the menu to include fan favorites items like the long-yearned-for frappuccino *Huzzah!* 

The Cove recently posted the upcoming expanded menu. They also posted photos advertising all-day burgers including the caption “We heard you!” Each table at the commons has a QR code on the napkin box where students are encouraged to scan and submit requests to SU Dining to enhance their overall experience. 

Congratulations Pirates! You’ve done it again! As social justice becomes this generation’s religion, you’ve complained about and protested another thing enough times to see the change you wished to inspire come to fruition. Now as we graduate Southwestern’s quaint walls, let’s see if we can do the same thing with climate change! 

To all the Southwestern staff: we appreciate you listening and taking student opinions into consideration in order to better our experience. 

Now let’s go enjoy our recently resurfaced quesadillas.