Starbucks At Mville

It is the year 2016-2017: the year when I first walked onto the Manhattanville Campus as a freshman. I walked into the lower section of the Benzinger Hall where the Bookstore and the Game Zone are located for the first time, on my first day of classes. That first day I ate lunch at the Pub cafeteria. Although it contained some nice features such as the comfy, red couches, the cafeteria was dull, with a big space where people would sit on those high chairs and eat food on the high table while behind that table there was that empty space. Not a lot of students preferred to eat in the Pub because it did not contain any special features; it was just this big, empty space waiting to be filled up. When I came back during the beginning of sophomore year in August, the cafeteria was closed for renovation. Three months later, everything changed.

The Starbucks place had opened at Benzinger Hall during November. There was the ribbon cutting ceremony that marked the grand opening of Starbucks at Mville. Students had lined up to get their favorite drinks from that mini Starbucks stand on that cold day. It was amazing how the construction workers managed to transform this empty space into a Starbucks stand just to get more people to eat at the Pub; it was the highlight of the semester as 2017 comes to an end. The only drawback to this idea is students are not allowed to use their Starbucks gift cards; they can pay in either cash or Pub cash during mealtime hours. Other than that, we have observed that the addition of a Starbucks has solved a lot of problems students had experienced. For example, during the cold weather, especially on snow days, students no longer have to struggle to drive off campus or call an Uber to go to a nearby Starbucks restaurant. They have easy access to Starbucks without leaving campus at all! This is an advantage to those who are living on campus during the school year. Starbucks is also a great place for people to chill with friends without leaving campus. Throughout November, more students are visiting the Pub during mealtime hours and are willing to get a cup of Starbucks coffee or any other drink before morning classes and during the evening with friends.

The major outcome of the Starbucks stand is Mville is getting better each year. In addition to the new stand, new comfy brown chairs have been added outside the Pub cafeteria to replace the red couches and all the old tables and chairs in the Pub have been replaced by new, fancier ones. The ceiling is also a job well done; the lights make the cafeteria look fancy, like you are going to a regular restaurant. Everything that has been part of the renovations has been successful; the campus has never looked this better and more entertaining. The reason is because Mville is working to become as beautiful as possible so that upcoming freshman will have the proper dining experience.