UMass Dining Services announced on Feb.12 to continue having expanded options for students to de-densify dining halls to keep their health a top priority. 

This comes after Dining Services introduced longer Grab N’ Go hours, free YCMP swipes and special meals in the campus auditorium for the first three weeks of the spring semester.

Garrett DiStefano, the Director of Dining Services, explains that the goal of the expanded options, besides lessening the crowds at dining halls, is to “get students to explore different parts of the campus” by trying other dining areas and options.

UMass Dining announced that their plan for the expanded options in the future are as follows:

• Extended Worcester Grab N’ Go until 8 pm (Monday to Friday)
• Extended dinner hours at Worcester DC until 10 pm
• Extended Berkshire Grab N’ Go until 8 pm Monday through Wednesday with Chicken N’ Co Pop Up specials every Thursday and Friday
• Continuation of Grab N’ Go options within Newman Café

Along with this, UMass Dining is going to incorporate the special auditorium meals into the dining commons’ menus.

“We want to really showcase global cuisine, build community and have some fun. We want to give the students an opportunity to explore the campus a little bit more, see different locations, try some new food and maybe even make some new friends,” said Distefano.