Boston University Dining Services will be serving Philly cheesesteaks at all dining halls after losing a friendly wager on the outcome of Super Bowl LII with Temple University Dining Services in Philadelphia.
BU Dining made the wager with Temple Dining over Twitter on Jan. 28, stating that if the New England Patriots won, Temple Dining would serve their students New England clam chowder, and if the Philadelphia Eagles won, BU Dining would have to serve students Philly cheesesteaks.
“This way #Philly can taste some good for once!” BU Dining Services tweeted.
Temple Dining responded to the wager by tweeting, “Hey @TempleUniv Owls, what do you think? We may have to teach @BUDiningService the #FlyEaglesFly fight song this week.”
BU Dining Services Social Media Coordinator Robert Flynn wrote in an email that the idea for the wager came from the marketing team, who thought it would be a fun bet, as many BU students are from Pennsylvania.
Flynn wrote that BU Dining loves engaging with students over social media and finds that the students equally enjoy the interactions.
“It was great to see the back and forth of friends that go to BU or one friend that goes to BU and their other friend goes to Temple,” Flynn wrote, “or one where a person was torn because she was a BU alum but her mom was a Temple alum.”
He added that creating conversations online is a great way to connect with students and raise awareness for the BU Dining brand.
While the wager wasn’t a factor for who College of Communication junior Brittany Kubicko rooted for this Super Bowl, she wrote in a Twitter message that she still found the wager funny.
“It’s very light-hearted and a great way to get involved with the Super Bowl,” Kubicko wrote. “…When it involves food, it doesn’t really matter in the end.”
Flynn wrote that BU has made wagers of this kind before with Boston College and Harvard University for the annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament.
“Both times, since we lost, we brought over Raising Cane’s chicken to the winning school and treated their students to something that BU students know and love,” Flynn said.
This time, with the Patriots losing to the Eagles 41-33, BU Dining will be holding up their side of the bet by serving students Philly cheesesteaks. Flynn wrote that cheesesteaks would hopefully be available in the West, Warren, and Marciano Commons dining halls sometime this week, depending on the recipe.
Some Eagles fans are wary of the quality of the cheesesteaks, including Questrom School of Business freshman Nick Carbonara.
“I think the cheesesteaks probably aren’t going to be that good,” Carbonara said. “I’m from around Philly and anywhere outside of Philly has pretty bad cheesesteaks.”
Other students, like Garrett Pahl, hope BU Dining Services continues to engage students in more friendly wagers like this one.
Pahl, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the dining hall wagers could engage students who would otherwise be uninterested in the Super Bowl.
“[The wager provides] an incentive to prefer a team if you have no ties to either of them,” Pahl said.
BU Spokesperson Colin Riley said that to many students, social media is a part of their social experience, and BU Dining Services works to engage students in a fun manner through their social media presence.
“It lets people know we care about students and that we take seriously their dining needs,” Riley said, “… and this is another avenue to keep them engaged the way they would in their own life.”
BU Dining Services tweeted that they will let students know when to expect the cheesesteaks.
