The Marché is the new hot spot to hit up at night, especially if you are looking for some entertainment to go with your late-night grub.
This semester, UVM Dining Services introduced new hours for several locations on campus. The Marché is now open till 1:30 AM on weekends, according to their website.
“It’s awesome,” sophomore Scott Kalish said. “You go out and as you’re coming home it’s like, shit, the Marché is open; let’s go!”
The scene at the late-night Marché may be different from what occurs during daytime hours because some students were observed meowing randomly and lying on the floor eating ice cream sandwiches.
A few students said that they wanted coupons from Marché employees to buy lemons for tequila shots, while others only responded to questioning if they could be called Harry Potter.
“I usually only come here when I’m shit-faced so I don’t really know how much I spend, but when I do I am completely satisfied,” first-year Logan Bara said.
The satisfaction of students such as Bara is a direct result of the Student Government Association (SGA) listening to input from the student body, SGA President Julian Golfarini said.
“Every time someone asks me about [late-night dining], I get so excited to tell them that it is a direct result of the SGA advocating for students with the administration and Dining Services to make it so that UVM operates on the same timetable as the students that call it home,” Golfarini said.
The SGA has been working since last year to make the hours at places like the dining halls and the library more student-friendly, he said.
The SGA also wants the students to know that they are here to achieve goals like this and improve the UVM college experience for all, Golfarini said.
“[We want students to] let us know what changes they want to see on campus, what works and what doesn’t,” he said. “We want to know because we want to make it better.”
SGA worked closely with Sodexo marketing assistant Jay Taylor to create a plan that worked for both employees and students, wouldn’t cost the University much money, and to address students’ desire for all-night dining.
“Students are clearly psyched about late-night, however, we are already noticing that customer volume is very low at the end of the current late-night time slot, suggesting that extending any later would be unnecessary,” Taylor said.
Overall, students and workers are satisfied with the new schedule, Taylor said.
“Despite the late nights and long hours, dining staff at both Harris Millis and the University Marché had little trouble making necessary schedule adjustments and, with a few exceptions, students have been very happy and respectful during the late-night dining period,” he said.
While the response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, there are few issues that could be worked out, Marché worker Erik Taylor said.
“Everybody loves it,” Taylor said. “Our business is really good. We could probably be a little bit better staffed, but we are handling it pretty well.”
There have also been problems with students leaving large amounts of garbage behind for the staff to clean.
“The big drawback to it is everyone is really sloppy, like huge messes of ketchup all over the floors,” he said. “No one busses their own tables.”
There is also concern for the safety of having the Marché open so late.
“So far there haven’t been any problems with anyone being belligerent or something like that,” Taylor said. “Because we are open this late and during the weekend, I have the feeling something bad might happen, but I hope not.”
