Campus Dining and Student Government Association brings Late Night Food Truck Program to campus

Auburn students had the opportunity to spend their campus dining dollars in a new way this spring through a test-run of the Late Night Food Truck Program, which was developed by Auburn’s Student Government Association, or SGA, and Campus Dining.

“For continuous weekends, students realized how long many lines were for the few restaurants that were open in the later hours,” said Michael S. Thomas Jr., SGA executive vice president of initiatives. “Along with that, many students spoke about how they wished that they could use Tiger Card money during the weekend, and it was a large conversational topic easily spoken about on campus.”

SGA brought the opinions of Auburn students to Tiger Dining and from there it was figuring out logistics and making sure the safety of students was a top priority. The late-night program utilizes similar operations that students are used to throughout their day on campus. Additionally, the W. Magnolia location is close to an Emergency Blue Light and the Lyft Ride Share Program is still available for students.

The test program ran for three weekends in the month of April and was open to all on-campus food trucks. Across the three weekends, food trucks saw an average of around 100 transactions per night, with the busiest night being 150 transactions, according to Director of Operations for Aramark John Holloman.

“We have received a lot of positive feedback from students on the program and have made some alignment adjustments in an effort to make the program sustainable for long term execution,” said Holloman. 

Heading into the summer semester, another test run will take place May 20-May 22. Engagement during that time will determine if the program continues through the remainder of the summer or if the program will begin planning for a fall return.