Dining Provides New Look Into SCDC, Val Updates

On Monday, Assistant Director of Dining Manny Lezama and Executive Chef Colin Hoyt addressed the Association of Amherst Students (AAS) to provide updates on the state of campus dining and the upcoming Student Center and Dining Commons (SCDC), which is set to open in Fall 2026. 

Hoyt began by addressing the new additions to Valentine Dining Hall throughout the fall semester, including pop-ups with vendor partners such as the Dirty Soda Bar from Coca-Cola, the extension of dinner to 8:30 p.m. on weeknights, and the addition of a breakfast sandwich setup on Wednesdays. 

According to Hoyt, the implementation of self-service in Val, which was introduced as a pilot program last spring, has been largely successful.

“We think that lines at lunch move more quickly,” he said. With regard to food waste, Hoyt said, “We’ve seen numbers [for certain dishes] go way down … [overall waste is] at least 10% down.” 

More dining events are planned throughout the rest of the semester, including a staff Halloween costume contest judged by students, and National Doughnut Day on Nov. 5, which will feature doughnuts from Adams Donut Shop in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The last day of classes will end with the return of the annual Late Night Pastry-Palooza. 

Additions to the Spring 2026 event schedule and menu have also been planned in response to the cancellation of Winterfest. “Winterfest, as you all know, has been canceled, but … we’re going to do some fun things during early February to try to keep that Winterfest vibe going,” Hoyt said.

Other improvements planned for the spring will include changes to the menu and pop-ups to honor Val’s history. “But in truth, this next spring semester, we’re going to be really focusing on that new dining center ... so the changes will be minimal, and that’s only because there’s only so much bandwidth that we have,” Hoyt said.

Hoyt and Lezama went on to outline their plans for dining facilities and programming for the upcoming SCDC. In January, the college plans to open a new cold prep facility near the Power Plant, designed to mass-freeze produce grown at the Book and Plow Farm during the summer months. The move is aimed at boosting efficiency and sustainability in dining services.

“[This allows us to] make sauces, soups, freeze them, stack them, and then basically serve [students] products that were produced, grown, and made all here on campus," Hoyt explained.

Hoyt confirmed that the SCDC will be the sole dining hall on campus beginning in the Fall 2026 semester. “We’re expecting to have parallel operations [between Val and the SCDC beginning in June]. In July, while that is happening, we will send the majority of our staff over to the Student Center on a rotational basis to be trained.” The SCDC is scheduled to fully open in early August. 

The SCDC will operate as a series of stations, each with a different menu, as opposed to the current dining layout, which serves three rotating hot meals per day, with satellite stations such as the Without-9 and Cornerstone stations. “We have a great opportunity for us to showcase 14 stations, including sushi, a wok/stir fry station, and breakfast all day,” said Lezama. 

“I’d say that the new menus will be 70 to 80% different [from the current Val menu],” Hoyt added. “You’ll see the return of some favorite dishes.” 

Other changes will include an extension of dinner hours to 9 p.m., and the SCDC’s cooking equipment will run completely on electricity instead of gas as part of the college’s efforts to become carbon neutral by 2030. 

Additionally, Late Night will occupy the same space Grab-n-Go will be located in the SCDC, maintaining its current hours of 9:30 to 11 p.m. The format of Late Night, according to Hoyt, will function similarly to the current Grab-n-Go setup, with fridges for drinks and desserts, and hot boxes that hold the main dish of the night.

Students will be able to swipe into Late Night and quickly take multiple items. As a result of the layout, Hoyt said that “there is seating right outside of Grab-n-Go in the atrium below the stairwell,” so students can sit and eat inside the building. To reduce traffic, seating for Late Night will be restricted to the first floor.

“I think … we have the greatest opportunity to showcase good culinary [practice] and that's our mission,” Lezama said.