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Retail

Albany Unveils
Renovated

Campus Center

ith the completion of a major renovation of the Campus Center
D’ONOFRIO JOINS at the University at Albany in New York, students now have
DINING AT ALBANY Wa variety of new retail outlets to enjoy.
“We wanted it to be the hub of the campus,” said Stephen Pearse,
executive director of University Auxiliary Services at U. Albany.
evin D’Onofrio has joined UAl- “It is currently called the Campus Center, and there has been some
Kbany Dining as resident district discussion of calling it the student center. We want it to be the place
manager with Sodexo, the campus that students want to congregate, to see and be seen, to share time and
foodservice provider. meals and experiences with their classmates and, hopefully, professors.”
He brings with him more than 39 When the renovation of the main part of the building began two
years of dining service experience, years ago, an east addition was added to the space to offer retail
with the last 29 years spent as the choices during construction. That space was revamped for the re-
opening as well.
director of the Culinary Group at the United States Mili- The east addition houses an in-house developed Caribbean venue
tary Academy in West Point, N.Y. called Calypso. “We have two chefs from Haiti, but one in particular
While at West Point, D’Onofrio was responsible for created the concept, the menus and the recipes,” he said. “We have a
leading a team of 350 foodservice professionals and pro- very diverse student population, and when I met with the woman who
viding oversight for dining, catering, café, food hall, bar/ is the director of our EOP [Educational Opportunity] program about
eatery, food truck, Starbucks and concessions operations. the different venues that we will be having, she mentioned that she
During his tenure at West Point, he created a world-class didn’t feel there was anything representative of many of the students
dining program guided by the premise that good is not who participate in her program, whether they be from New York City
good enough. His passion for dining and his drive for excel- or various places in the Caribbean or Central or South America. This
lence are characteristics that earned him the On-Campus cuisine, even though it is Caribbean-based, appeals to everyone. The
Hospitality and National Association of College Auxiliary food is really good. But there are students who feel it really gives them
Services (NACAS) College Food Service Excellence award a touch of home. The sales are not as high as some other venues, but
in 2012, several National Association of College & Univer- the students who go there really appreciate it.”
sity Food Services (NACUFS) Loyal E. Horton awards and The Caribbean venue was also chosen based on meetings with
the prestigious International Foodservice Manufacturing student groups and instant polling. “In January, before any of the
Association (IFMA) Silver Plate award in 2014. concepts came online, Steve was going to various areas on campus
“I am thrilled to join UAlbany Dining and the Sodexo and giving lectures on the meal plans and the new concepts coming,”
team,” he said. “My goal is to make UAlbany a showcase said Michelle Bowen, senior director of marketing and communica-
for Sodexo’s College and Universities division. I am lucky tions with University Auxiliary Services. “We decided to do an instant
to have a talented and dedicated team helping me to polling so that students would answer the polls on their phone. The
serve over 18,000 students. Working for the students results would come up instantaneously on the screen. We had a bunch
who will be making a difference in the world through of ethnic food, and Caribbean was just a huge percentage of students.
That wasn’t a concept that we had on our list. It helped that we had
their careers is inspiring.”
two Caribbean chefs already on campus.”

14 | NOVEMBER 2017 ON-CAMPUS HOSPITALITY