Members of the WKU Student Government Association submitted questions for the WKU Restaurant Group to answer during their weekly meeting on Tuesday.

Nena Shomler, Director of Marketing, Kelci Murphy, nutrition associate manager, and Tiffany Blackman, food service director, represented the WKU Restaurant Group at the podium. They immediately got into questions following their introduction.

Catherine LaRoche, assistant vice president for Student Engagement, also made an appearance in place of Robert Huffman, resident district manager of the WKU Restaurant Group, who was unable to attend.

What makes WKU food services unique?

In 2020, WKU didn’t have many local partners, Shomler said. Now she says the number of local partners they have sets them apart from other universities. The COVID-19 pandemic brought food trucks onto campus and “forced” the restaurant group to work with partners in the Warren County area.

“We just want to continue to do that, whether it’s a food truck or it’s someone that comes to market on the avenue,” Shomler said. “We want students to have that accessible to them.”

Shomler then spoke to the number of national brands — like Chick-fil-A and Subway — present on WKU’s campus. The mutual partnerships bring a sense of confidence and pride to the restaurant group, she said.

Services were also mentioned. WKU offers students access to registered dietitians who offer nutritional counseling, which Murphy said contributes to their large campus involvement. WKU’s Nutrition and Dietetics program also speaks at events and provides student’s job opportunities in the field.

“We want to grow the field. We want to mentor the students that want to become dieticians,” Murphy said.

What can Students do to support?

WKU Restaurant Group sees about 60,000 meal transactions a week, Shomler said. Chick-fil-A makes up about 12,600 of that. She asked that students speak up about issues they see because the restaurant group can’t see it all.

“We are always trying to make sure that all those meals are exactly the way they’re supposed to be, but we can’t possibly know each and every meal,” Shomler said.

Employees of the WKU Restaurant Group enjoy conversing with students, Shomler said. She wants to urge students to speak with them and allow them to feel like a part of the campus. 

Steak ’n Shake

One question asked about Steak ‘n Shake “going downhill” following the removal of their seasoning. The representatives of the restaurant group asked for more specifics, Senator At-Large Miles VanRude clarified.

“I feel like ever since they got rid of that, the fries started tasting super bland,” VanRude said.

VanRude then spoke more on how Steak ‘n Shake has become “inconsistent” with the food they provide. Blackman assured him that they’ll see what they can do, but said they don’t have full control over what the brands decide.

“You guys are our clients,” Blackman said. “You guys are our guests. We want you guys to be happy. We want you to be well fed.”

Subway and Spicy Chicken Sandwiches

A senator said they noticed how long the lines have become at Subway during the night hours in their question. The solution of switching to GrubHub at night instead of in-person was brought up.

“There’s definitely things that we can kind of do,” Blackman said. “Subway is kind of a nice concept where it does have two lines, but we’re able to do a GrubHub line and then do a walk-up line. But that comes down to staffing.”

Shomler also noted how opening GrubHub at night was up to the restaurant’s manager and that it would be up to the staffing available. However, it is a conversation they’re willing to have.

Senator Malachi Humble said that he wants to see spicy chicken sandwiches on the Value Meal menu at Chick-fil-A. He worked at Chick-fil-A for almost five years, he said, and noticed the small price difference between the two. He questioned whether it was due to a nutritional restriction.

Shomel said that the WKU Restaurant Group has a representative for the national brand that provides guidelines as to what should and should not be on the value menu. She pointed to the orange chicken being put onto the value menu at Panda Express and how they “fought” for it to be on the menu for students.

“That was probably three semesters long conversations, so a lot of times it’s just not an immediate response,” Blackman said. “We’re having dialogue back and forth. We’re letting them know that it’s our number one.”

SGA Involvement

Student Body President Rush Robinson asked the final question, which looked at the relationship between SGA and the WKU Restaurant Group. Shomler reiterated her last points of speaking up about issues, but also spoke on working together in the future. Senator Jade Ishmal brought up the idea of tabling events inside of Fresh Food Company to bring more attention, similar to events like Freshgiving. 

“Just be our partner,” Shomler said. “I think that that’d be what I would say.”

New Legislation

SGA also passed resolution 1-26S to establish a Campus Safety and Security Week. The resolution, authored by Senior Senator Jacob Thomas, Gordon Ford College of Business Senator Karlee Powell, First Generation Senator Tyreesha Morris, Senator At-Large Veronica Butler, Junior Senator Caden Lucas, Senator At-Large Amelia Tucker and Sophomore Senator Jacob Barker, came about in light of recent tragedies at Kentucky State University and Brown University.

“We hope to pretty much give students the confidence to come to campus and feel safe,” Thomas said. “And we think it’s important that there’s proper communication.”

The authors of the resolution have been in communication with WKU Chief of Police Mitch Walker and Director of Environmental Health and Safety David Oliver while writing the resolution and see it as an opportunity to educate on what is already on campus. The authors are already discussing a bill to be passed to take action on what the week will entail, as the resolution sought to claim the week of Mar. 30 to Apr. 3, when the event will take place.

“I think this resolution also kind of has a precedent for some other legislation that we’re going to have coming out,” Co-Author Karlee Powell said.