New Deg has raised many questions and concerns for students on campus – here’s what you should know.
By Lucy Honeywell
The Degenstein Campus Center has been under construction since April 2025. The most recent and ongoing renovation consists of Evert Dining Hall, the Office of Leadership and Engagement, Degenstein Center patio and Starbucks. Evert Dining Hall has a modern,
clean look featuring white tables and wood flooring. The white walls on both ends of the hall are set to be painted with murals in the coming months. The rest of Phase 1 is set to finish by the middle of next month. Phase 2 has already begun, and major exterior work will
start by the end of the month. Phase 2 covers the construction of the new event center including three large meeting room spaces (that can be opened to one large event space), a pre-event gallery, new bathrooms, dining service office space, a banquet kitchen space,
storage space, employee bathrooms (2) and a new main entrance.
With the new construction, the access road and parking lot in between Deg and Weber Chapel is blocked off. Students can continue to park in the Theater and Weber lots, as well as overflow parking in the Tutor and Sassafras lots. The new parking spaces along Weber
Way will not be available until after February of 2026.
Last Friday the vestibule walls were removed, and you can now see out of the front windows. There are multiple seating options and natural lighting with high ceilings. The OLE space is officially open with the new club hub space and administrative offices.
There has been confusion about the amount of seating in Evert Dining Hall. There were an estimated 450 seats before renovations and there are now 429 seats. Students also raised concerns about the ability to move tables together to accommodate larger groups such as clubs, sports teams and friend groups.
With new Deg, also came a new dining plan set-up. To hear the concerns of the student body, an informational session was held on Wednesday, September 3, where over 60 students attended. Student Government Association President Kyra Keenan started the meeting and prefaced that all questions raised should have an accompanying solution. Aaron Howe and Heather Hausman from O & M Dining led the presentation and answered questions. There are now three available plans for over 1,800 students on the dining plan. Howe said they are focused on moving away from “a heavy reliance on retail”. The O&M Premier and Orange Dining Plans feature unlimited meal swipes at Evert Dining Room. The
Maroon Dining Plan allows up to 2 Hawk Meals per day. Hawk Meals are pre-portioned and selected meals at Benny’s food court, Scholarly Grounds and El’s Eatery. At the meeting, the team informed students that there are going to be expanded meal options soon, including made-to-go salads in the fridge downstairs in addition to the 37 available options. They said that Evert Dining Hall is the cornerstone, and the rest of the plans are built around that. Many students complained that Hawk Meals do not allow them to get what they are willing to eat. They complained about add-on charges, meal offerings and how the plans are set up.
Another concern raised at an SGA meeting was lack of lighting at night. Since, string lights have been installed on the fence near the fountain.
Students are encouraged to fill out the dining concerns form that can be found in the SGA Instagram bio. SGA President Kyra Keenan and Dining Services Liaison Rylee Baker promised to go through and speak with dining about all responses from the form.