RICHMOND, VA – Duke University allows between twelve and fifteen food trucks to do business on its campus, ranging from French Baguette to Unique Dumpling. Elizabethtown College’s late-night weekend bus serves cheesesteaks and mac and cheese burgers to its students. Could the University of Richmond be the next college campus to provide mobile cuisine?

WCGA President Taylor Michals spoke with University of Richmond Dining Services staff near the end of last semester to gauge if late-night food trucks could become a reality on campus, she said. The idea spurred from an online survey Michals sent out to Westhampton College students over the summer.

The results showed that late-night food was a strong desire, she said.

Westhampton College junior Julie Brau believes it would be beneficial to all parties to bring the trucks on campus, she said.

“Companies would make a solid profit on weekend nights,” Brau said. “Plus, I’m a huge fan of the food trucks, so I’d be excited to see it happen.”

Blake Widdowson, retail operations director for dining services, has been aware of the budding trend of food trucks on college campuses, he said, and has been in communication with WCGA members to find a solution.

The search has been unsuccessful so far, though, because no food trucks in Richmond work late night hours. Most close at dusk, he said.

Michals said she was still confident a solution would be found at some point, whether it were a late-night option or during the day.

“I’d rather have something during the day than nothing at all,” Michals said.

Westhampton College Dean Juliette Landphair has discussed the idea with Michals, she said, and hopes it will succeed.

There is potential for the idea, Landphair said, but it is still “just a skeleton” at this point. It would be interesting to see where the idea is a year from now, she said.

The idea for food trucks carries credibility, she said, because there has been similar implementation recently from other college campuses.

Find the entire article by Scott Himelein at The Collegian <here>