At the second meeting for the 40th ASNMSU Senate, Sodexo, NMSU’s primary food service provider, presented a layout for the coming year.

Dwayne Wisniewski, General Manager of Sodexo, along with John Rivers, the company’s Marketing Coordinator, illustrated all of the restaurants that fall under their services.

They also said that meal planning is a primary part of their services, including planning meals for NMSU football players and others that have specific meal requirements as well as catering services.

The main point of interest in their presentation was a proposed resolution that will be introduced to ASNMSU senate to obtain a beer and wine license for Corbett Center.

Wisniewski said, “I personally have run a student union that served alcohol.” And that “it would enhance the student experience and enhance catering.” He also said that it would open the door to scheduling more events on campus such as weddings, which would bring even more revenue to NMSU.

Rivers mentioned that he had

worked on NMSU’s campus before for the WAVE program. He said, “I get to see this side of the commercial selling of alcohol. From Sodexo’s side, I am very impressed in Dwayne’s ability to understand alcohol laws.” He also expressed confidence in their ability to effectively implement safe alcohol practices on campus.

Wisniewski explained the process of the University obtaining a governmental license, which is reserved for government entities such as our land grant University.

Additionally, Wisniewski outlined that the University would not have the authorization for packaged sales, but essentially running Corbett like a restaurant that serves beer, wine and spirits.

Of course, this raises several questions about how students would treat this change. On one hand, this may send the message that drinking alcohol enhances the student experience like Dwayne Wisniewski said.

On the flip side, having alcohol available for students on campus may keep them on campus instead of going from bar to bar around the city to drink, increasing the likelihood of drunk driving.

Of course, the resolution must pass the ASNMSU senate, then the Board of Regents before being enacted. At that point, the University would apply for the license to sell alcohol.

Voting on this bill is set to take place at ASNMSU’s next Senate session in September, however many believe it will go through and could possibly be implanted as early as next August.

Sodexo’s other restaurants include: Taos Restaurant, Corbett Food Court, Aggie Grill (formerly Blake’s Lotaburger) College Canteen and Third Floor Bistro at Aggie Memorial Stadium. 

The next ASNMSU meeting will be September 8, 2016 @6:00pm in Senate Chambers Conference Room