Sodexo faces masking issues

By Elizabeth Ednie

A growing number of students aren’t wearing masks properly or aren’t wearing one at all when picking up food or entering dining facilities across campus, College officials said.

This situation is raising concerns among Sodexo and College staff members who are worried that if this continues, it could lead to dining staff shortages and longer lines.

Holly Brennan, Sodexo’s retail manager, said she is very frustrated with the situation and is tired of correcting people on mask use.

“I personally try to call out everyone when I can, but when a student is repeatedly letting their mask drop, I will directly talk to those individuals. Most correct it while we are standing there but oftentimes pull it back down once they are out of eyeshot. I get a lot of eye rolls from most people,” Brennan said.

Brennan said that since most of the Sodexo staff are uncomfortable confronting students, it leaves the managers and supervisors to take on the brunt of redirecting and confronting students on the issue.

It is important for Brennan to emphasize students wearing their masks correctly while in the eateries across campus because staffing is low and there is fear that it could go lower if workers contract COVID.

“Out of 100 staff members, 25 of them tested positive last year which made it extremely difficult for us to carry out daily jobs,” Brennan said.

Brennan said that it’s very possible for workers to contract the virus because students are continuously failing to wear masks correctly.

“Being short staffed, (down 16 positions,) is getting very concerning considering we have staff working six days per week 12-hours a day and are starting to get run down. We cannot afford to lose any staff due to a positive test or a close contact, as that would likely result in a closure of a location,” Brennan said.

Reasons why Brennan believes students aren’t wearing masks correctly is because some haven’t been a close contact of someone infected or think COVID won’t affect them at school.

While it might not affect the students who aren’t wearing the masks correctly, it could very well affect the Sodexo workers which would lead to less staff, longer lines, or closures of locations around campus. Brennan fears that this preventable issue could affect dining areas significantly.

Among those Sodexo employees, work study students who have an on campus job at these eateries have been experiencing the same issues with students not wearing the masks correctly as well.

Olivia Cerretani, a senior who works at The Hill on campus, has been noticing that most students picking up their mobile Bite orders either aren’t wearing their mask correctly or aren’t wearing one at all.

“The students on this campus are very focused on the idea of a greater common good, being seen as kind and considerate, and taking action on social injustices - until they become perpetrators. Because of how our system is aligned here, you are threatening my quality of life, my ability to go to the gym, attend class, and even leave my room. For TWO weeks. That threatens my mental health as well. But, most importantly, you threaten my ability to work for two weeks,” Cerretani said.

Cerretani said that although she also doesn’t like wearing masks and that they make it harder to breathe, everyone who is on campus agreed to the College COVID protocols put in place and should abide by them.

Greg Wolfe, business manager and director of purchasing, said that Cerretani isn’t the only person concerned about students not wearing masks or wearing them incorrectly.

“I have heard many comments from Dining Services and have seen the reactions when students in Dining venues are asked to fix their masks,” Wolfe said.

The College and Sodexo prefer that work study students not confront students because they do not want to put student workers in that difficult position.

“Knowing that I am not allowed to correct them and still have to serve them affects my demeanor, and that’s not how I want to portray myself while at work,” Cerretani said.