My name is Yint Hmu. I am the President Pro Tempore of United Student Government at Lincoln Center and one of the two senators from the Class of 2017. If you know me personally, you may be wondering what I’m doing writing for The Observer. Well, there’s a simple reason.

On Friday, Dec. 4, 2015, Fordham University announced that it “issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to provide dining services to all venues and campuses of the University.”

This past academic year, it has been my privilege to represent the undergraduate students from Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) and Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center (GSBLC) as the Chairperson of the Food Services Committee. I’m writing in my official capacity to make the students aware of the ongoing RFP process. Before I delve into the minutiae, I’ll provide a brief introduction on what the Food Services Committee is.

The Food Services Committee is formed from members of USG, representatives from the Resident Hall Association (RHA), the Office of Student Leadership and Community Development (OSLC) and the Commuting Students Association (CSA), Dean of Students Keith Eldredge, Director of the Office for Student Leadership and Community Development Dorothy Wenzel, Ph.D., Dining Services Contract Liaison Deming Yaun, Sodexo Resident District Manager John Azzopardi and Sodexo General Manager Sue Irukulla along with other Sodexo staff members. This committee meets monthly to discuss ways to improve the dining services on campus from the Undergraduate Dining Hall to Jazzman’s Cafe.

I was made aware of the details of the RFP process recently. There are three companies placing bids to become Fordham’s new food services provider. They are Aramark, Chartwells and Sodexo. One of these three will be our food services provider come June 30, 2016.

By early March, each one of these companies will be giving presentations on how they will provide delicious food to Fordham. These presentations will be given at the Rose Hill campus. A decision will be made no later than April as to whether Fordham should retain Sodexo or replace it with another. If Sodexo is indeed replaced as our food services provider, they will exit from this stage along with their employees on June 30, 2016. In the meantime, they will continue to provide their services.

USG, in coordination with RHA and CSA, will be conducting a short survey to gather student opinions on the current level of satisfaction with the Ram Cafe and the Undergraduate Dining Hall. Senators from the two associations and USG will be walking around in the two respective areas until March 10. Take a minute to fill it out and express your views. The results will be compiled and presented to the committee which will make the decision.

It is very important that student voices be heard in such a major decision. This new contract will poten tially be a 10-year-long contract.

In the meantime, the Food Services Committee meetings will continue, and if there are any issues or questions regarding food services, email me at [email protected] and/or [email protected], or you can come up and talk to me when you see me around campus.