Brooks Great Hall Future Plans

Since 2007, the Great Hall inside Brooks Residential College has provided a unique dining experience for the Brooks community and other Baylor students, faculty and staff. However, a recent internal review has revealed that fewer and fewer individuals are choosing to eat at Brooks. In fact, less than 10% of campus dining is delivered in the Great Hall, while the costs to operate the facility as a full-time dining hall continue to increase.

As a result, and as a tangible demonstration of Baylor’s commitment to being a good steward of student tuition dollars, the decision has been made to repurpose the Brooks Great Hall away from dining, effective at the end of lunch service on May 14.

It is not unusual for colleges and universities to repurpose buildings and spaces based on changing needs, capacity and other factors, and this decision allows Baylor to maximize the Great Hall footprint for future student meeting and event space as well as other campus and community needs.

With this transition, the dedicated Chartwells Higher Education employees [including student workers] who have faithfully served the Brooks community will be assigned to other dining halls on campus. They will not lose their jobs or benefits, and they will remain a vital part of the Baylor community.

In addition, the longstanding Sunday evening dinner tradition for Brooks College residents will be preserved as a catered, family meal. Furthermore, Brooks dining favorites like “chicken nugget Thursday” will be incorporated into other dining hall menus as much as possible. Brooks residents will still have mandatory meal plan expectations, but many will now have more dining options available to them. If students have questions about meal plans, they should contact Baylor Eats campus dining.

As the first residential college on Baylor’s campus, Brooks College will continue to be the engaging and vibrant community that is open to all academic majors and classifications – serving both male and female Baylor students. Other Brooks College features such as the Henry Library and Robbins Chapel will remain open and available to enrich the spiritual, emotional and intellectual development of Brooks students and the entire Baylor campus.