This fall, Occidental’s Tiger Cooler, one of the campus’s two dining facilities, underwent changes in their food and beverage options, as well as hours of operation.
According to Monica Jones, the Food Services Manager of the Cooler, one of the many changes was the removal of the cafe’s espresso machine. Jones said that the campus’ coffee needs were already being met by other alternatives such as the Green Bean cafe or the Marketplace’s coffee dispensers.
“The thought process was they serve coffee at the Market Place, and then they have the Green Bean that serves espresso drinks,” Jones said. “There’s no point in having three locations that serve coffee in [the same] capacity.”
Jones said the espresso machine, which she inherited when she took on her role last July, had been a burden to refurbish. She said she had spent nearly $2,000 in restoration costs, to no avail.
Alongside the removal of the espresso machine was the removal of the ice cream novelties freezer, and in its place, the reinstating of hand–scooped ice cream selections and various toppings.
According to Jones, the ice cream freezer had belonged to a company that had not serviced the Tiger Cooler since before the pandemic. Jones said that she largely dealt with the task of restocking the freezer herself, as well as managing and regulating popular choices to ensure adequate order amounts were made. The freezer company, she said, eventually insisted the Tiger Cooler purchase novelties from them, or the freezer would be taken, ultimately resulting in the removal of the freezer.
Though now the Cooler has 12 full-time employees, it wasn’t always this way, according to Jones. She said that the decision to bring back hand-scooped ice cream was in part possible by the long-term employee staffing spearheaded by her management.
“I came at a time where we didn’t have any full-time employees, I had two,” Jones said. “I didn’t have any student workers. I needed to do a bunch of things to turn the boat around to get it where it needed to be, and [reinstating the hand-scooped ice cream] fell between the cracks.”
The Cooler also introduced a new boba machine. According to Assistant Vice President of Hospitality and Auxiliary Services Erik Russell, the boba machine serves boba drinks, iced teas, lemonades and iced coffees. Russell said that the new installment helps cover blind spots in the Cooler’s beverage options.
“What we didn’t have [before] was boba,” Russell said. “We look at what we do have and what we don’t have and how we could make that better.”
The Cooler has also made changes to their hours of operation. The Cooler previously operated at the latest until midnight and is now only open until 10 p.m. daily. According to Russell, the Cooler still hopes to remain open during student-friendly hours.
“We want to keep it open, and we have kept it open,” Russell said. “That’s part of what we’re solving for — how do we keep it open.”
Russell said that the Cooler’s late hours of operations were typically the hardest to schedule workers for and ensure they would show up.
“There was just a lot of turnover, and it just wasn’t a very sustainable operational model for us,” Russell said.
According to Russell, last year’s addition of the smart fridges aided in the changes to the Tiger Cooler’s hours of operation. Russell said that students can use their student meal plan money to purchase pre-cooked meals and desserts from the smart fridges and reheat them at their leisure.
The Tiger Cooler will stay open until 10 p.m., serving meals. Students may stay in the Cooler dining area until 2 a.m. and use the smart fridges and vending machines.
Clark Canning (sophomore) said that he liked the older hours of operations but that he understands the reasons behind the change.
“I enjoyed it being open later, but I get it,” Canning said. “I’ve felt bad that they’ve had to be up and working at midnight like, that’s rough. I’m willing to sacrifice willing to sacrifice for it.”
Canning said that he has some fond memories of late hours in the Cooler but that he can adapt to dining changes.
“Last year, my roommate and I, we would go get grilled cheeses at 11 p.m. together,” Canning said. “But there’s other food in the world. We’ll figure stuff out.”
Contact Shea Salcedo at ssalcedo@oxy.edu and Toby Wepman at wepman@oxy.edu
