Students interact with professors, staff, and other employees of the College on a regular basis, but often only within the confines of the classroom or regular routines. New this month, the “Take Your Professor to Lunch” program will provide an opportunity for students to enjoy a new kind of engagement.
The program is a collaboration of efforts from the Kitchen Cabinet and the Health and Housing Committee on Student Senate. Junior Sam Panzer serves as chair of the Health and Housing Committee as well as a student representative on the Kitchen Cabinet, and has been largely responsible for the organizing efforts.
“In the student survey we sent out this winter we had really clear feedback that students wanted more opportunities to engage with faculty, so there was a well demonstrated need for this service,” Panzer said.
Panzer said that the program aims to facilitate a new social dynamic.
“At its core, it’s an attempt to engage students with professors, they may or may not have the connection in the classroom, in kind of a newer social setting. It’s really tied into our communal mission of the College and building kind of a cohesive group that students and professors can contribute into,” Panzer said.
Student Senate Co-Presdent Hayden Goldstein said that students are not restricted to asking professors to lunch.
“At its core, it’s an attempt to engage students with professors.”—Sam Panzer
“We really want to emphasize that this can be anyone. It can be your advisor, it can be a professor, it could be a work supervisor, it could be a custodian you see every other day in the hallway. It’s open to all faculty and staff,” Goldstein said.
100 meal pairings will be available, and students can request a ticket at the CAO desk until May 8. Tickets can be redeemed for a meal in the Gustavus buffet, which is open 11 to 1 on Monday through Friday.
Logistically, Panzer said that budgetary concerns have been carefully addressed and that no student dollars will be wasted. He expressed hopes that in the future the program may be included within the student activity fee, and that every student would be able to take advantage of the program over the course of the entire academic year.
Student Senate members will not take part this year, but Panzer mentioned he intends to invite and treat a professor to lunch in the spirit of the program.
Philosophy Professor Lisa Heldke, a member of the Kitchen Cabinet, said that the idea has been entertained on campus in the past, and that many other colleges have similar programs.
“We noticed here that even though students and faculty and staff are in the same place we’re not necessarily in the same place, that is the table, I mean obviously they’re segregated, and while we do see people having meetings or things like that and sometimes classes, there’s not a lot of just kind of ‘hey, let’s have lunch together and talk about x,y, or z,’” Heldke said.
According to Heldke, when Panzer heard about the notion during one of their Kitchen Cabinet meetings, he seized upon the idea, bringing it back to Student Senate, and making the program a reality.
Heldke said that she hopes students will utilize the opportunity to engage with professors in a voluntary manner, and to enjoy conversation over food.
“I’m a big believer in the power of hospitality. It’s one of the undervalued virtues, and as students you have here an opportunity to be host to your professor, and when you are the host you can in a really important way set the terms of the exchange, and invite someone into your world a little bit, and invite them to take up questions that are of interest to you. You get to frame things, so I think that can create an opportunity for a different kind of discussion than the kind that happens when you come to our office hours, for instance,” Heldke said.
Goldstein praised Panzer for his efforts, and also appreciated the advertising conducted by Student Senate Public Relations Chair, Delaney Sweet. He noted that while the program is in a testing stage, he’s excited to view the outcomes on campus which arise from the engagement between students and faculty or staff members of the College.
“I would say we have some of the best faculty and some of the best people I’ve ever met working here at Gustavus, and so taking up any opportunity to continue that interface with individuals that [have] really hectic schedules to be honest, I think is a great thing to do,” Goldstein said.
-Libby Larson