At Vanderbilt, change is almost guaranteed when it comes to Campus Dining. From opening a new café on campus to adding and removing Taste of Nashville restaurants, not a single year has passed without major changes to dining since I arrived on campus in 2021. And while some differences, like dining hall offerings, were small, other features, like food trucks and Munchie Marts, have been totally eliminated. Come along my journey as a nostalgic senior reminiscing on the “good old days” of Campus Dining.
6) Commons smoothie machine and 2301 smoothies
Personally, my smoothie consumption has increased tenfold since starting college. With 2301 in Rand for the past three years, freshly made smoothies were a highlight of my every morning — most of the employees had my order (spinach, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, protein powder and oat milk) memorized. This year, the allergen-friendly bowls moved from Rand to E. Bronson Ingram, but the smoothies were left behind. Additionally, in the 2022-23 school year, a “Fresh Blends” smoothie and drink machine was added to Commons Munchie. This robot-esque machine made iced and blended smoothies, coffee and lemonade drinks but sadly departed after just a year.
5) Rothschild and Rand Munchie Marts
Munchie Marts are, in my humble opinion, one of the most consistent features of Campus Dining. When a new Munchie Mart opened in Rothschild College during my sophomore year, it perfected the distribution of them on campus. The Commons, Branscomb and Rand locations held down main campus, Kissam was on the northern edge and Rothschild completed the mix for the West End neighborhood. The Rothschild Munchie even had shopping carts and bulk snacks to purchase by weight — something unique to that location. However, the Rothschild Munchie was closed after just one year, citing low patronage. Just this year, the Rand Munchie Mart was replaced with VandyBlenz, a new açaí and smoothie dining option, dropping the Munchie Mart number from five to three.
4) Unrestricted Munchie Mart swipes
Not only have Munchie Mart locations changed, but swipes have, too. There was a time when students could use as many meal swipes in a day as they wanted at a Munchie Mart. Going into the 2023-24 school year, Munchie Mart swipes were limited to two per day. As a current Highland resident without a dining hall on the quad, the Morgan Munchie is the closest dining option. On the weekends or after the dining halls are closed, Highland residents can only purchase up to two meals a day at any Munchie Mart. While I acknowledge that this prevents students from wiping the Munchies of all stock, with the latest dining changes (read on!), it would be more convenient if the Munchie limit was at least three swipes per day.
3) Tortellini Tuesday
Tortellini Tuesday last existed in fall 2021, and although it was a short-lived dining experience with changes of its own, it is greatly missed. Picture this: a cold Tuesday evening, maybe “Red (Taylor’s Version)” is playing in your AirPods, and you stumble over to Branscomb Munchie Mart for the first time as a first-year. Tortellini Tuesday was a weekly dining pop-up that served build-your-own tortellini bowls in — yes, that’s right — the Branscomb Munchie Mart. In fall 2021, all dining halls closed at 7:30 p.m., so having an extra option on a Tuesday night was necessary. However, this was short-lived in the 2021-22 school year and has not returned since.
2) Food trucks
The fall 2021 semester saw many short-lived Campus Dining pop-ups. One of the most popular and unique was the daily food trucks for lunch and dinner. Each day, there were one or two food trucks, such as Spread ‘Em, Califarmia and Delicias Colombianas, stationed around campus at Commons, Alumni Lawn or Highland Quad. The best part? All meals were meal swipe-eligible. Not only was this a nice alternative to dining hall food, but it also supported local Nashville businesses. Sadly, the food trucks have not consistently appeared on campus since 2022.
Honorable Mention: Daily $50 meal money credit
The daily $50 Meal Money credit from fall 2021 is my most missed Campus Dining loss, but I put it in an honorable mention spot as this only existed for one singular week. During the first week of my first semester, all dining halls experienced extreme dinner service food shortages. (Lines were out the door at E. Bronson Ingram, and Zeppos literally ran out of food.) To compensate, Campus Dining announced that students would receive a daily credit of $50 from Aug. 24 to 29, 2021, and unused credit expired at the end of each day. Students also received a one-time rollover Meal Money credit of $15 that did not expire. This was truly like Christmas in August. Students were able to splurge for sushi dinners and Jeni’s ice cream pints. It was a nice way to allow dining hall workers to adjust to the new influx of students, and students were able to explore the Taste of Nashville program.
1) All Residential Colleges open for breakfast and dinner
The most dramatic change and loss for the 2024-25 academic year is the changes to Residential College dining hall hours. EBI, Zeppos and Rothschild Dining Halls are closed for dinner on Friday and all day on Saturday, and they do not serve breakfast Monday through Thursday. Although Rand opening for dinner was not on my senior year bingo card, neither was the Residential Colleges closing for breakfast. While there is no shortage of food on campus, the loss of three dining halls for breakfast has been interesting to navigate, as all of main campus must file into Rand in their pajamas to face an early morning social hour we had all avoided for years.
