SGB discusses upcoming Eatery town hall

During its weekly meeting on Tuesday at Nordy’s Place, Student Government Board discussed the upcoming town hall to address food safety issues and announced the addition of two new assembly members.

Board member Evan Levasseur gave details of the town hall that will be held in The Eatery on Oct. 23 at 5:30 p.m. to address ongoing food quality issues, featuring representatives of Chartwells, the company that manages Pitt Eats. 

“This will be a very, very, very good time to voice your concerns and any questions you have for Pitt Eats,” Levasseur said. 

Since receiving initial reports of undercooked chicken and pests in food, Pitt Eats has held several virtual town halls for parents and students to voice concerns. The in-person event will feature a panel that includes Chartwells’ vice president of operations, the marketing director and one of Pitt Eats’ head chefs. 

“[Chartwells] did say they were working with their vendors on increasing quality assurance, so Pitt never receives vegetables with pests on it,” Levasseur said. “They’ve also begun retraining their team.” 

Levasseur, who has had ongoing conversations with Pitt Eats representatives since the first incident reports in September, has cited meal swap options and food allergen safety as his top initiatives at previous meetings. 

“I set the meetings up at first to regain access to fruit in the market since they were taking fruit off the meal swap. I didn’t understand why it was taken off, and I wanted to try to get it back,” Levasseur said. “Obviously, with all the food safety concerns that came up this year, we pivoted that meeting to focus on food accessibility, food safety and food diversity.”

Board member Andrew Elliott, who has worked closely with Levasseur in improving conditions at The Eatery, added that free meal swipes will be available during the town hall for students without a meal plan who would like to attend and check out The Eatery.

Students can enter The Eatery from the Forbes Avenue entrance for free access to the town hall. 

“This is an opportunity to really communicate to the higher-ups about how we’re feeling with The Eatery,” Facilities, Transportation and Technology Chair Olivia Budike said. “It’ll be such a good opportunity for everyone.” 

Budike also discussed her committee’s developments to improve SafeRider, a complimentary transportation service that provides non-emergency service from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. for Pitt students, faculty and staff. 

“We’re going to try to advocate to improve SafeRider, whether it’s little things like them updating their website or putting a sign that they’re a SafeRider on their van, just little improvements like that,” Budike said. 

Vice President Lauren Rubovitz introduced a bill to add the Halal Muslim Student Association and the Rainbow Alliance to SGB’s assembly. The assembly is the lower-level branch of SGB composed of various student leaders who advise and communicate with the board when needed. The bill was passed unanimously.  

Allocations: 

Heroic Hearts requested $7,950.76 to attend an event. The board denied this request in full. 

Scene at Pitt requested $49,590.26 to purchase new equipment, but the board postponed voting on it until a later date. The allocations committee recommended denying the request in full.

Ballet Club requested $2,400 to rent a performance space. The allocations committee recommended denying the request, but the board approved the request in full. 

Some of God’s Children Gospel Choir requested $5,450 to hire a director and accompanist. The board amended this request to $3,800 and approved it. 

Middle Eastern and North African Student Association requested $3,506.12 to hold an event. The board postponed this request to be voted on at next week’s public meeting. 

Bioethics Bowl requested $9,820.85 to attend a competition. The board amended and approved this request to $6,000. 

Ethics Bowl requested $4,875.88 to attend a conference. The board amended and approved this request to $4,579.12.

Musical Theatre Club requested $3,129.64 for production rights. The board amended and approved this request to $3,673.64.