I am very upset and disappointed by the Boston University Dining Services decision to replace the Warren Towers Taco Bell with a Starbucks, especially due to the fact that it did not ask for any student feedback before making the decision. BU Dining Services often claims that it has been making an effort to include students in decisions affecting dining options on campus. A few examples of this effort include Rhett’s in the George Sherman Union and the focus group mentioned in the article (“Baristas to Replace Burritos at Warren,” March 28, p. 1). Then why, I ask, did it fail to include students in this case? If asked, I am sure that many students would have voiced their objection.

Taco Bell provided an inexpensive option for students looking for an alternative to dining hall food. If Dining Services had no other option but to close this fast-food venue, then why not replace it with another place where students can have lunch or dinner? I am unable to understand why it was replaced with a Starbucks, especially since there is literally a Starbucks two blocks east of Warren in SMG and two blocks west of Warren in the GSU. Hopefully, Dining Services will come to its senses and open another alternative to the dining hall in the remaining retail space beneath Warren Towers.

Hersh Parekh

SMG/CAS ’09