Students and faculty attend opening of new Cabrini eating space, CRU5H

If you go to Cabrini University, you know that Jazzman’s is no more. Over the summer, the common area of the Widener Center was torn down and rebuilt into a shiny new eatery called CRU5H. The grand opening was this Wednesday, September 11th.

At 3:00PM, Father Carl and Sister Christine started the grand opening with a blessing of gratitude for the community, the food and the space. It was followed by a blessing from Catholic Relief Services for Global Wisdom and a traditional Catholic Meal Blessing.

When asked why a blessing is essential for this new space, Sister Christine stated that “We must give thanks to God for everything we have. Without Him, we have no food, no community, and no new space to be thankful for.”

Father Carl hopes that CRU5H will help students come together and that he will begin to see the number of students sitting alone deplete.

The “5” in CRU5H stands for the 5 menu sections: Breakfast all day, Sandwiches, Mexican, Appetizers and Desserts.

Student Noel Faragalli was first in line at the new ordering kiosks upon CRU5H opening.

“It’s just like Wawa, pretty straight forward,” she said. “You order your food, pay and get your ticket stamped and then wait for your number to be called.” Faragalli also stated that while CRU5H seems more expensive than Jazzman’s, she is willing to pay more for higher quality food and a wider range of options.

One issue that CRU5H hopes to fix is the craze of the “1:45 rush.” Many students and faculty flocked to Jazzman’s and the dining hall around this time, making the lines and wait times unbearably long.

Student Maria Merino said that she “only waited in line for about 10 minutes,” at the new CRU5H for her food. Longer wait times can be expected for the first few weeks as the excitement of CRU5H opening will surely peak curiosity in the new eating option.

You will see the same familiar faces working around CRU5H, as Cabrini has chosen to stick with Sodexo for dining. The Sodexo workers have a new casual uniform of jeans and a CRU5H t-shirt. Marion Pray, one of the original smiling faces of Jazzman’s, says she is excited for the new changes.

“At CRU5H, you have so many more options,” she said. “For breakfast sandwiches, you can now choose how you want your eggs cooked! We even hand make our burgers and have more options than ever.”

Pray foresees that CRU5H will become busier than the dining hall because of the wide variety of food choices. The only issue with CRU5H that Pray presented was the miscommunication that may occur between the machines and the people ordering. During her interview, she had to ask a student if he wanted his beverage hot or cold because the option was not made available on the kiosk screen at the time of ordering.

Many students, like Samar Dahleh, are especially excited for the new vegan and vegetarian options. Samar highlighted that living on campus poses difficulties for those with eating restrictions because food options are so limited.

Dahleh expressed her excitement for the new food options but also her concern about the separate lines and the payment options.

“How is this process going to work? And why does the seating area look like a hospital?” are some concerns voiced by Dahleh and a number of students.

Aiyana Martinez misses the comfort of the couches at the old Jazzmans.

“Why does it look like a highschool cafeteria?” Martinez says that although she is not happy with the set up, she will still hang out at CRU5H regardless because it is new and “there aren’t many other places to hang out on campus.”

On the other hand, Joe Fusco, head of Public Safety, says that he “would be thrilled to be a Cabrini student with all of the new renovations on campus.” Fusco thinks that Jazzman’s was due for some renovations, as it was getting outdated and needed to be brightened up.

“I attended the CRU5H opening and tried the chicken sandwich- it was really good,” Fusco said.

CRU5H is open from 7:30am until midnight, with late night menu options available.