Mid-semester stress has officially landed, and the infamous dishwasher at the Cypress Lake Dining Hall has also finally had it.
Another round of frustration and confusion spread amongst the students and staff at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as they learned that the university’s dishwasher has yet again ceased to operate.
The university shares that the cause of the continuous failure of the machine could be due to a number of factors, such as its age and, even more, the increasing number of students utilizing the dining hall.
Enrollment at the university this year has drastically increased.
The Office of Enrollment Management shared that a total of 19,213 students enrolled at UL Lafayette for Fall 2024.
Dawn Miller, the director of Property Management, shared that 3,700 students currently live on campus but noted that not all residents purchases a meal plan.
Patrick Mould, the director of Retail Food and Beverage Services, spoke more on the dishwasher failure and a permanent solution to come by the end of the year.
“We’ve been well aware of the situation with the dishwasher for a while, and we’ve been kind of using duct tape and bailing wire to pull it back together.”
It has been a recurrent issue in the past years and would often receive a temporary fix for the time being, as Mould mentioned.
“It’s been going on for a minute, off and on,” Mould explained.”The problem is getting the parts sometimes.”
Mould shared that the dishwasher was first installed when the Student Union was rebuilt, which, according to The Advocate, was in the spring of 2015.
“It’s got some age on it, so sometimes getting the parts can be a little bit difficult.”
However, the recent uptick in student number over the years, Mould surmises, could have contributed to the unpredictable nature of the dishwasher.
“The real problem is that the dishwasher is not capable of keeping up with the volume we currently have. Back in the day, when we first got started with the new dining hall, the dishwasher was based on the potential volume, and our volume has increased to the point where it’s just not capable of keeping up,” Mould explained.
With the pressing conditions surrounding the matter along with past attempts to fix the issue failing, a new dishwasher for the dining hall appears to be on the horizon.
“We finally made the decision that we are just going to replace the dishwasher. We know it’s been an issue, and it’s been frustrating for everybody, including us,” Mould said.
Funding for the dishwasher was approved last week, and now it is the fact of choosing the most suitable machine.
“We have identified three different dishwashers that we’ve been looking at. Probably going to get a couple more quotes just to make sure we got the right dishwasher for our needs and move forward…it’s not a cheap endeavor,” Mould added.
“It’s a massive piece of equipment… unfortunately, the volume we are at now, it’s just incapable of keeping up.”
Mould hopes the dishwasher is installed during winter break or possibly sooner.
“Hopefully over Christmas break, we’ll be able to stitch it out. I’m hesitant to say sooner, but Christmas break is when we are trying to get it done.” Until then, students dining will use styrofoam plates, cups and utensils.
“We’re using disposables when the dishwasher is not in place, which works considering we’re not able to wash the dishes.”
Mould shares that despite the nature of the situation, students continue to receive their meals every day as they always have.
“I think if everybody keeps in mind, it just is a little inconvenience. It’s not something we want to happen, we want everyone to come in there and have a great experience. The bottom line is the students are still getting their food in a timely fashion.”
The Cypress Lake Dining Hall still operates in full operation, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner at its usual times daily.
The new year promises a brand new addition to the cafeteria that not only will ensure to work efficiently but also accommodate the demanding and growing university.