Despite faculty push to retain current Dining Services General Manager Steve Santo, he will leave DePauw as Sodexo makes its exit at the end of the semester.
Four days after DePauw announced a dining service provider switch from Sodexo to Bon Appetite on March 21, an online petition titled, “Keep Steve Santo at DePauw” was created. The petition has since gathered over 60 signatures from faculty members, students and alumni.
“Mr. Santo is a fixture in DePauw dining services. He is friendly and helpful, and he is constantly working to improve DePauw dining services,” senior Janelle Thixton wrote on the petition page. “I don’t think you could ask for a better or more dedicated employee.”
The dining service switch announcement also inspired action amongst faculty members. An email thread circulated amongst some faculty members who expressed opinions about keeping Santo.
“A lot of people responding to that email chain talked about how helpful he was,” Eric Edberg, a professor from the School of Music said. “We just love working with Steve so much that if there was some way he could stay on that’d be great.”
Every year, Edberg’s freshman seminar class does a multi-genre concert at the end of the semester. Edberg said that Santo is always very cooperative and helpful in allocating a food budget, figuring out menu items and gathering input for food selections at the event.
Nahyan Fancy, professor of history, said in an email that Santo has gone out of his way to make sure Muslim students who keep halal are still able to eat in the university dining halls.
“Steve is just a great guy and you hate to lose someone from the community like that,” Edberg said. “Especially when he’s been supportive of so many people.”
Even outside of the petition, students have expressed similar opinions.
“Just because DePauw decided to switch service providers, [Santo] shouldn’t be out of a job,” junior Katie Sherman said. “It’s not his fault that Sodexo is substandard to begin with; he’s done a great job.”
Theatre and communication professor Tim Good called Santo’s departure “insanity.” Good praised the way Santo handled problems.
“Every time there’s been discontent or a mini uprising, he didn’t try to silence it-he tried to solve it,” Good said.
Professor Jeff Hansen, professor of chemistry, expressed concern for Santo as well as other Sodexo employees, who he has worked with over the years, especially in collaboration with his winter term cooking class.
“They’re a part of our community in many, many ways,” Hansen said. “That’s going to be a huge loss for a lot of people.”
Santo did not respond to attempts made to contact him.