Whatchu Cooking, Twin?
- Apr 13
- 4 min read
By Mathew Cole
If you walk through the halls of Weber on a quiet Tuesday evening, you might catch a scent that doesn’t belong in a dorm: sautéed garlic, simmering tomato sauce, or perhaps the spicy kick of a home-cooked curry.
While most of us are surviving on meal swipes and cereal, a dedicated group of campus culinarians is keeping the cooking spirit alive in the university's single communal kitchen.
Since its official opening in September 2023, the Weber Hall kitchen has stood as the only designated space for residential students to trade their meal cards for cutting boards.
But behind the pleasant aromas, there is a recipe for frustration. The Buccaneer took a look at the residents who use it, the students who avoid it, and the housing department to see if this facility is a hidden gem or a half-baked effort.
The Home-Cooked Connection
"Stew peas and white rice." That is what Matthew Clarke, a senior from Jamaica, majoring in biology pre-med, thinks of when he needs a taste of home.
Clarke is one of the kitchen’s most frequent flyers, especially when the rest of the campus goes quiet.
"I really appreciate that there’s a kitchen students can use," he said, noting that he used it extensively over the summer and Christmas breaks. For international students or those staying on campus during the off-season, the kitchen isn't just a luxury: It’s a lifeline.
"Mulgikapsad" (mashed potatoes blended with sauerkraut and seasoned with pork fat). For Robin Tartar, who hails from Estonia, the kitchen is about cultural connection and control.
Tartar agrees with Clarke that during the height of the semester, the cafeteria is usually the more efficient choice.
"When the workload is heavy, it’s just easier to go to the cafe," Tartar admitted. But efficiency isn't everything. "There are times you just want to cook good food where you know every single ingredient. It’s about having that food from home that the dining hall just can’t replicate."
The Weekend Alchemist
Between the busy schedules of Clarke and Tartar, we caught up with the student responsible for many of those mouth-watering aromas.
"Jamaican stew chicken, curry chicken and sometimes cookies." That is the specialty of Rianna-Ashley Williams, a junior majoring in pre-professional biology. Williams claims the space on weekends to prepare traditional meals.
"I enjoyed using the kitchen because the stove cooked food quickly," she said.
However, her experience highlights a disconnect between policy and practice. To use the space, students must request access at Weber front desk and be escorted to the space.
"There were several occasions where I was locked out, which made access inconvenient," she said.
According to the Housing Department, the kitchen is designed to be a "shared, temporary-use environment." The rules are clear: The kitchen operates daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. (unless an event is held in Weber Grand Hall).
The procedure is structured for accountability:
Check-in: Trade your ID at the Weber desk (or Weber 137 during business hours).
Escort: A staff member unlocks the door.
Clean-up: Students must wipe surfaces, dispose of trash and turn off appliances.
Inspection: Staff checks the kitchen for cleanliness before returning the student’s ID.
Housing notes that custodial staff cleans the room every weekday morning and RAs conduct daily rounds to ensure safety and compliance. But if the "patrols" are happening, why are students still finding messes?
The "Two-Month Spaghetti" Incident
The gap between the housing department’s policy and the student experience often comes down to individual responsibility. Matthew Clarke shared a harrowing story of a student who once left a massive pot of spaghetti in the fridge for over two months.
"No one member took the initiative to clean it out," he recalled.
While housing explicitly states that no personal items or food may be left in the kitchen, the "spaghetti incident" proves that rules only work if the community respects them. When a student leaves a mess, it doesn't just hurt the facility; it burdens the next student—like Williams—who often has to clean the kitchen before she can even start her own meal.
While the Weber kitchen is a hub for some, for residents of Bevi Hall on the other side of campus, it’s a distant dream.
"Sheperd's Pie." Giovanni Davenport ,a Bevi freshman tells us, "I’d love to cook, but trekking across campus with groceries and a heavy pot is just too far." For these students, the lack of awareness about the 10:30-10:30 hours or the ID-swap process have made the hurdle even higher.
A Call for Community
The Weber Hall kitchen isn't just a room with a stove; it’s a test of our campus community. Housing provides the hardware and the morning cleaning, but the "soul" of the kitchen depends on the students.
To make the experience pleasant for everyone, students may have to move beyond just "following rules" and start "owning the space."
The verdict? The Weber Hall kitchen is a vital part of campus life, providing a taste of home in a busy semester. But for the recipe to truly work, the final and most important ingredient is us.
Next time you’re in Weber, ask yourself: Did you leave it better than you found it?
There Is a lot I would do for a college kitchen like this one at my university. There are few feelings better than coming home on a break and cooking some of your family favorites. The story did an excellent job of capturing the clear Impact this has on a student body, how a simple kitch means so much to so many. Additionally, the spaghetti situation referenced was Incredibly relatable. Living with a number of roomates, when someone leaves their stuff out for too long Its very frusterating but also something I never want to personally clean up, which allows for a build up of mess over time. Very relatable. In all I'm glad I read this story.
As an Italian college student who can't function without a kitchen, I found this very interesting to read. Although dining halls make a lot of sense, I grew up making Sunday lunch with my family, so when I came to college and didn't have that option, it was very difficult for me to adapt. The "Two-Month Spaghetti" Incident is something very fixable and should not determine whether colleges should open kitchens in dorm buildings. Also, there are staff who can clean them if it's really that big of a deal. Overall, I hope this article inspires college students who value tradition to keep these areas as clean as possible and fight for kitchen areas, so students can have the option…
I enjoyed reading this article. As a college student this really hit home. Feeling home sick is one of the worst feelings and being able to bring a part of home with you to college is life changing. Food is also such a powerful tool to only connect people but to connect cultures. By sharing food and recipes in unites people. Having access to a kitchen is so important for the community. Hopefully people can respect the shared cooking space more! In order to keep this amazing shared kitchen running everyone needs to do their part. But overall, the positives overtake the negatives, the shared cooking space is a brilliant idea and I hope more colleges can learn from this!
For me, the biggest barrier to using the communal kitchens in my dorm is the lack of basic cookware. I tried to cook in it once, but I realized they had no pots, pans, spatulas or any other tools – we were expected to bring our own. Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense for me to purchase every kitchen item I would need, since I wouldn't use the kitchen that often. Barriers like that can make it difficult for students to use the kitchen casually, because they're forced into the commitment of buying every piece of cookware for themselves. However, I understand that communal cookware can also have its issues, especially regarding cleanliness, as mentioned in the article.
This article does an incredible job of highlighting how the Weber Hall kitchen cultivates community, as well as challenges, for students. I liked how the perspectives of multiple students were featured, creating a nice balance between positive aspects and issues. The final message about shared responsibility was very creative and tied the story together very well.