Dining hall renovation set for this summer

Charleston Southern University announces a $5 million renovation of the campus Dining Hall and Student Center. The project, scheduled for May to August 2025, will heavily modernize the 18,000-square-foot facility providing updated technology, varied and stylish seating, sustainability, themed food stations, and expanded menu. 

This project is a coordination between Charleston Southern and Aramark, the university’s dining services provider.  

“This is a strategic investment in the most popular gathering place on campus,” said CSU President B. Keith Faulkner. “Its convenient location will now feature even more opportunities for our students, faculty, staff, and guests to fellowship, learn, and serve in a modern space. We have made intentional steps in planning, from navigation and aesthetics to menu options, that will make dining an even more enjoyable and enhanced experience for our campus.” 

The more notable changes will include the removal of the stairs to a mezzanine in the dining hall, enclosing the mezzanine with glass, and expanding the space in the Student Center’s Buc Stop to include additional seating. Food stations in the dining hall will be branded with themes offering unique options, such as: 

• Global Kitchen, offering menu variety from around the world; 

• Graze, a self-service salad bar; 

• True Balance, an already popular station that avoids the most common food allergens; 

• Achieve Kitchen, a high-protein, high-energy station; 

• Urban Kitchen, offering daily Buc favorites;  

• Savory Stack, a sandwich and wrap station; 

• Upper Crust, serves pizza by the slice or made-to-order pies, as well as flatbreads, calzones, and strombolis; 

• Root, a culinary vegetarian and vegan station for natural good eating; 

• Confectionary, a special dessert bar showcasing soft serve ice cream and decadent treats; and, 

• An all-day breakfast bar. 

“On behalf of the student body, I can confidently say that we are excited to see this space rejuvenated and once again become an area where the whole CSU community can gather and fellowship together,” Elizabeth England, CSU’s student body president, said. “The changes in both seating and layout will provide updates that students have been asking for and SGA has long advocated for, enabling this space to serve us best.” 

The Buc Stop, a 2021 addition to the second floor of the Student Center, will also receive a renovation that includes an aesthetical update as well as expansion of a mobile-order fast food hub. The lounge will continue to be open 24/7 to students and will follow campus holidays and closures.  

“The 1964 Hospitality Group is proud to partner with Charleston Southern University on transforming multiple spaces on campus to create new opportunities for CSU students and the campus community,” said Ben Davidson, general manager of Aramark’s 1964 Hospitality Group. “Revitalizing these locations will help foster growth, learning, and collaboration, and our team couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity to serve the students and the University in these new spaces.” 

The renovation is planned on a 100-day timeline, for completion by the time students return in the fall.