During the most recent inspection on Tuesday, April 28, both the Zorn Dining Commons and Lloyd’s Marketplace scored highly, showing improvement from previous inspections. The Dining Commons scored a 97 and Lloyd’s scored a 99.
Sam D’Angelo, the director of dining services, said that the main concern was not related to food safety.
“We scored highly on the whole thing,” D’Angelo said. “The only thing was facilities with ceiling tiles.”
Jen Ferrell, associate vice president of student affairs, spoke on the scores and the work the team has put into the dining facilities.
“We’re really happy with those scores,” Ferrell said. “And all of the sort of work that has been ongoing in both of those spaces. We’re not surprised because we thought that they would [pass].”
As previously reported by The Equinox on Jan. 27, 2025, when dining facilities were inspected for the first time since 2023, Lloyd’s scored a 98 and the Dining Commons scored a 69, mainly due to incorrect temperatures.
“We had a very challenging inspection last year where most of the issues were facilities-based and stuff that needed to be updated,” Ferrell said. “And so all of those have occurred. All of those occurred fairly quickly after that inspection.”
Ferrell said the ages of the buildings contributed to the issues as well, as the Dining Commons is over 20 years old and the Student Center is over 30 years old. Aging buildings affect how quickly the team can keep up with issues that arise.
Ferrell praised the work she has seen the team put into the dining facilities in the past year.
“Coming out of last year, and the more challenging inspections, the team took that really seriously,” Ferrell said. “And I think they implemented a number of things, both in facilities support and updates, and in training and thoughtful things for employees, in a way where students would know that they took that seriously and cared very much. So I’m really happy that they received these scores.”
D’Angelo added that in regard to issues such as these, the dining team reaches out to facilities and discusses the path forward with them. She said dining has a “great working relationship” with the facilities team.
D’Angelo highlighted the improvements she has seen since the 2025 inspection.
“We have an ongoing focus on safety,” D’Angelo said. “Always on reinforcing, dating [and] temperatures. We’ve seen clear progress.”
The next inspection is expected to occur in the fall, possibly in October, although the team does not know the exact date.
“We don’t know when they come,” Ferrell said. “They do that so you’re not planning for it, so it’s just a regular day for the team, going about regular operations. They didn’t know they were coming this week either.”
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
cerno@kscequinox.com
