Editor’s note: The message below recounts TCU Dining’s response to the February 2021 winter storm, authored by Swati Bharathi, marketing director for Sodexo, on behalf of the TCU Dining team. Many thanks to all our front-line employees for their dedication to our students – in rain, sleet, snow and sun.

February was an unusual time for Texas. As many major cities across the state had been without electricity, water and food following the unprecedented winter storm, universities focused on how to care for students. At Texas Christian University, our Horned Frog family teamed together as always.

Our Sodexo management team and employees who could make it through the weather stayed in campus apartments and nearby hotels. With no idea what to expect, we planned for the worst-case scenario and worked through the daily obstacles.

General Manager Scott Majestic worked closely with Retail Director Rick Flores and Resident Dining Director Lamont Meriwether to devise a plan to provide meals with a limited team. On average, it takes 150 employees to run all campus locations. Of the usual total, we only had 15 managers and a handful of employees from Sunday to Wednesday to serve roughly 4,600 students that who live on campus.

Emergency hours were implemented, which meant we were open for shorter periods of time for each meal period. During closed hours, the same team that served would start prepping food for the next meal.

The challenge was multilayered as the majority of restaurants and major grocery stores were closed, and gas stations were running out of gas. Students needed a way to get meals, snacks and beverages while normal dining operations were down.

We limited our menus at Market Square and Caliente so we were able to still focus on the quality of the menu items. (Students love pasta night, so we made sure to include pasta!) We also made the grab-and-go area in Market Square accessible to students so they could take snacks back to their rooms.

The challenge grew as students living off-campus started losing electricity and water. TCU opened the doors for students to stay on campus at the Rec Center, so we began to make sure those students received hot food and snacks.

With this growth in numbers, our team had to use our local resources. With Performance Athletic Dining closed and home games canceled, we used products from the stadium and catering. 

Aside from these issues, two things became vitally important. The first was communication. Communication about dining hours is generally for on-campus students. Yet, during these uncertain times, parents were concerned about what we were doing to take care of their students. TCU Dining’s marketing partnered with TCU Marketing & Communication and on-campus hall directors to provide dining updates and hours of operation. TV screens across the campus displayed updates. We also made sure the same information was communicated to parents, so they were aware of what was happening on campus.

The second key was relationships. Our relationship with the entire TCU team played a crucial role in being successful during this weather crisis. Jude Kiah, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs, worked closely with our Sodexo team to make sure communication between TCU and dining services was clear. Miles Oller, assistant director of facilities, worked on logistics and served as our liaison for external resources. Housing representatives Rachel Hopper and David Cooper organized rooms for our team. Kathy Cavins-Tull, vice chancellor for student affairs, and Adrian Andrews, assistant vice chancellor for public safety, supported our operations team during meal periods.

Hall directors and resident assistants helped in shifts for five days of three-meal periods with traffic control, staffing registers and grab-and-go, and also cleaning tables. 

Relationships within dining services also helped maintain motivation through the week. Our teambuilding over the years showed well through these times. Managers checked in with all employees whether they were working or staying at home with their families. We offered cases of water and food for employees and managers who were without electricity. Moral support was given to the employees who stuck around the entire week away from their families. We even celebrated the birthday of our supervisor, Ruby Cheeks.

By the end of the week, snow was melting, restaurants and stores were opening, and the city slowly returned to normalcy. Our employees and managers made it back home safely to their families and loved ones. This crazy week was just another story to remember how the Horned Frog community came together once again.

Our team would like to give a big thanks to the students, faculty, staff and parents for being patient as we navigated plans and communication. We would also like to thank the volunteers from housing and administration that helped us in our dining halls. Our team is extremely blessed to be a part of such a beautiful community. 

-The Sodexo Team