Tom Driscoll, University Housing food service director, walks into the half-finished café, marveling at corkboard announcement wall, finished countertop and cupboards. When this café inside the Hamilton housing complex is finished, it will be called Common Ground Café.
“I hope to see the students see [the café] as a space they can use and feel like home,” Driscoll said.
He said it promises to be a welcoming place with comfy chairs and sofas, booths with computer ports and the java kept warm until midnight every night.
Students living in the residence halls can use their meal card points in the café to buy coffee, sandwiches, soups and baked goods, he said.
Driscoll added that the student-staffed café will provide selections for vegetarians, too, and students can buy food and drinks at Grab ‘n’ Go and enjoy them next door at the café.
Students living in the residence halls last year took a survey about life in the halls, Driscoll said, which reported that students wanted a place they could go and hang out late.
From that report the idea for the café came about, and a group of students joined together with members of the housing staff to come up with ideas for how the café should be designed. Driscoll said it will be colorful, have hanging lava-shaped lamps above the counter and will ideally have an open mic night.

“I think it’s a cool idea,” said Tom Harder, a sophomore at the University who lived in the Hamilton Complex last year. “I’m glad they’re actually doing it.”
With yet another place that students can use their meal cards, the “freshman 15” may become more of a threat to those just entering the residence halls.
Karlyn DebOw, a clinical dietitian at Sacred Heart Medical Center, said the freshman 15 can visit people for various reasons.
“I think it’s a combination of poor food choices and a lot of out-of-dorm eating,” she said.
At the Carson Dining Hall’s all-you-can-eat buffet, DebOw suggests picking the leaner foods rather than fatty foods, such as desserts and fried foods.
Homesickness, less exercise and late-night study breaks to visit the vending machines can also mean a less nutritious diet for students, DebOw said. Sometimes extra cash in the pocket means ordering pizza or eating fast food, which can add up to extra fat or calories.
Now, students can go the café rather than vending machines for a healthy snack. Harder said the convenience of the café caters to students up late at night.
“Now you don’t have to walk down three flights of stairs to get a cup of coffee, then have to go back to your room,” Harder said.
According to the University Health Center’s “10 Healthy Eating Tips for the Busy College Student” on it Web site, food should be savored as well as used for nourishment. Other tips include not skipping breakfast, eating foods rich in calcium and keeping healthy snacks on hand for late-night study sessions.
Driscoll said all students are welcome to check out the café during its open house in early October. Those on the University campus should keep their eyes open for fliers announcing the opening of the Common Ground Café, he said.