Creating Community on Campus

The public-private partnership between Aramark Educational Services and Eastern Kentucky University opened the new Case Dining Facility in the heart of campus in January of 2018.   The addition of this new building is part of an ongoing revitalization happening in EKU’s core academic campus.  The three-story, 68,000 square-foot facility includes an 800-seat all-you-can-eat main dining hall, numerous retail dining options, private event area, multi-purpose spaces, small classrooms, and offices.

More important than the excitement around the facility is the community that now exists in the heart of campus.  EKU hosted the building’s grand opening event where Dr. Benson so warmly described the impact of students dining together.  This is now a place where students can meet new friends, share experiences among classmates, and bond with fellow Colonels.  He recalled the words of Food Network personality Guy Fieri, who once said: “Cooking is all about people. Food is maybe the only universal thing that really has the power to bring everyone together. No matter what culture, everywhere around the world, people get together to eat.”