Islands Cafe
By Pamela Dean
Islands Café, CSU Channel Islands’ (CSUCI) main dining and campus gathering spot, normally provides 1,900 meals a day to hungry students, faculty and staff. When the University suspended all non-essential on-campus functions and implemented virtual learning, café staff quickly moved to serving take-out meals only.
“We’ve transitioned Islands Café to serve all food to-go so we can safely feed our guests,” explains John Lazarus, Executive Director for University Auxiliary Services (UAS). “We closed all other UAS dining operations for that same reason and to adapt to the lack of students, faculty and staff on campus. We've also opened Town Center Market a couple of days per week to help residents of University Glen get some much needed supplies.”
Lazarus estimates the café will serve 125 meals a day during the closure to essential faculty and staff, and to students still living on campus.
“It's been a fast-changing situation and that's required the entire CSUCI community to quickly adapt to ensure we are doing all we can to support our community,” Lazarus says. “UAS is honored to be able to play a small part in that.”