Lehigh Dining and Lehigh Athletics launched a pilot student-athlete dining hall in Stabler Arena on Jan. 30 for the 2023 spring semester.
David Joseph, director of Lehigh Auxiliary Services, said they started the program with the intention of providing student-athletes with a convenient, healthy food option. They also hope to help decrease the crowding and heightened stress of on-campus dining in the wake of the University Center closing.
“This (project) killed two birds with one stone for us,” Joseph said.
Joseph said Dining Services collaborated with a former professional sports chef, the athletic department, on-campus dietitian Keri Lasky, and the athletics strength and conditioning coaches to ensure the menu provides student-athletes with the necessary nutritional support to perform at a Division I level.
Sue Troyan, deputy director of Lehigh Athletics, said the most important time for an athlete to fuel their bodies is directly after practice — from a nutritional development standpoint.
“To be able to do it here with quality food that’s designed for athletes — that makes a big difference,” Troyan said.
Coaches were allowed to dine for free at the beginning of the launch to taste what athletes would be eating. After trying the meals, Joseph said Lehigh’s football coaching staff bought faculty and staff meal plans to dine with their athletes.
The program will use the swipe system for student-athletes, and those who aren’t on meal plans can pay at the door to dine in.
Student-athletes were encouraged to give feedback on their dining experience on a Google Form. Joseph said they shared positive responses to the launch.
Softball player Lindsey Martin, ‘25, said she looks forward to the hall’s opening because it will give her more flexibility to eat dinner.
“It’s super beneficial for our team, especially because right now we’re sharing Rauch Field House with a bunch of other teams,” Martin said. “It’s helped when we’ve had practice until 8:45 (p.m.) or we get out at 4:30 (p.m.), which is an awkward time to go eat. It’s nice to all comeover and eat together.”
The program hours are tentatively 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Joseph said, but the hours are flexible to adhere to different sports’ practice schedules.
Joseph said Dining Services has worked with athletics to learn the teams’ practice schedules and gauge when there will be surges and lulls in dining hall attendance.
Cait Gillard, assistant director for Athletics Leadership Development, said she hopes the dining hall will help alleviate stress for student-athletes struggling to balance their time between practice and meals.
“One thing I know of our student-athletes is that time is of the essence always,” Gillard said. “I’m hoping that this feels like it gives people a little bit of time back and that it helps eliminate a little bit of stress when it can.”
As of two weeks into the program, Joseph said the Stabler dining area sees on average around 155 students on regular days and closer to 170 students on basketball game days.
He said coaches must send in a Google sheet with the list of athletes attending the pilot program on the Tuesday of the preceding week of their intended dining to calculate attendance.
Joseph said permanence and expansion of Stabler dining will be based on the trial’s success.
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