op-ed Keeping the door open kills local restaurants

Author: Orin Adumas

As the Middlebury College leadership, in its infinite wisdom, readies itself to delve into the commercial restaurant industry, one has to wonder if this is an effective use of institutional resources. We see how precarious a situation it is for Carol's Hungry Mind Café and the entire restaurant sector. Not only is Carol's on the verge of collapse, but the same is true for a Middlebury icon, Fire and Ice. One could argue that the demise of another memorial, Dog Team Tavern, shows how dangerous an environment this is.

However, one has to wonder where all the customers have gone. It could be argued that the open-door policy at Middlebury's dining halls has caused a meager customer base. Now, I don't profess to hold a masters degree in economics. However, common sense dictates that people will not pay for something that they can get for free. Why would someone go to Mr. Up's or Otter Creek Bakery for lunch when they are welcome to go to a dining unit and eat for nothing?

So let's take a look at this open-door policy for a moment. It's not uncommon to see one in 20 people obviously not part of the board plan coming to eat on a given day. For argument sake let's say 720 people per dining hall. That's 108 potential customers per day eating au gratis in the dining halls. They are kindly asked for seven dollars for eating in a dining hall, which all told is too much. That's a grand total of roughly 190,000 a year in lost income.

The fact of the matter is the local restaurant industry hangs precariously on for events like parents' weekend, reunion and Homecoming. Times like these are when the local economy receives a much needed infusion of income to survive. That is not there, partially due to an open-door policy that makes no sense. And where does the money come from to feed these people for free? Does the College cut back on the quality or quantity of food purchased for board plan-paying students? No, they pay poverty-level wages to the hard-working employees of dining.

Perhaps these is wisdom to this policy. If one gives away free food and keeps the restaurant industry on the verge of collapse, they will keep their wages to their staff incredibly low. In turn, Middlebury College can justify paying below a living wage to its dining staff. Why pay more than fair market value for human resources? Maybe I do qualify for that economics degree!

The proposal now is to subsidize certain restaurants to offset the loss of business from a College eatery. It's very disturbing when we start deriving our economic model from the federal government. This will turn the town into a façade of economic prosperity. What's next? Is the College going to hire actors to portray happy citizens on visiting weekend? It's pretty scare if this is a component of the grand master strategic plan.

The reality is policies are instituted by administrators and managers who lack the wisdom, experience or sympathy for the ramifications of such decisions. The open- door policy in dining is a classic example. Perhaps we could close it and save another restaurant from going up in smoke.