Name: Kate Lowry
Major: Politics
Minor: Chinese
Year: 2015
Career Aspirations:
Still in the works, but I’m interested in consulting, entrepreneurship, and public policy work. I hope to have many different happy careers…but first I plan on enjoying my last year at MHC!
What do you do on campus?
On campus, I’m the executive manager of Jorge’s Trading Post, a project manager on Intervyou.me (a web start-up spearheaded by MHC students), and for the past few years chaired Multifaith Council facilitating interfaith dialogue and coordinating community service events through the faith groups. Last year I brought the Who Needs Feminism campaign to campus with Jesse Ward. I’ve also spent time as a student senator, and orchestra, French horn quartet, and woodwind quintet member.
Can you talk a bit about your involvement with dining services?
I joined dining services committee as an SGA representative my sophomore year at Mount Holyoke. The committee is composed of student dining hall workers, dining services staff, and an SGA representative. Most of the work I did with them was in an attempt to develop an effective forum for student comments, requests, or complaints to be heard. There’s now a functional link on the dining services page where students can submit their praise or any issues they have – check it out!
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/dining/feedback
What are some changes implemented this academic year from the dining services that you are content with?
I’m excited to see the expanded vegan and vegetarian options in Blanchard, and happy to see the dedication on behalf of the staff to ensure that M&C’s continue in all dorms.
What are some areas that still need some improvement?
I think there are strides that could be made in the efficiency and layout of many dining services processes. I would love to have industrial engineering students from UMass come take a look to rearrange some of the dining halls (for example, moving the desserts to the Wilder salad bar to avoid people ducking in for cake and holding up the line, or standardizing the format of dish put aways). And maybe some healthier snacks in Blanch (almonds, granola bars, and dark chocolate anyone?) But, I think a lot of people don’t realize how limited dining services is by kitchen layouts (most of the kitchens were built to feed only the number of the residents in that hall, and serve far more than that; Blanch was not originally on the students’ food plan, and feeds hundreds more a day than it was structured to accommodate) or contracts with food and beverage providers. It’s my understanding that a lot of our food is purchased in bulk with the other colleges, to keep costs low.
Favorite dining hall?
Oooh, that’s a tough one. I’d have to go with Wilder for their redskin mashed potatoes and melty chocolate chip cookies. But they all rock!
Tell us something interesting about yourself:
I like to make pop art out of photomicroscopy (microscope pictures). If you take a look at the wall next to the circulation desk in the library, those are some lab photos of mine!