Collegiate Times

The Virginia Tech community will say goodbye to Shultz Wednesday, May 9, as it closes its doors for the last time.

The 55,390-square-foot building was first used in September 1962 and has gathered many memories over the years.

One of Shultz’s most popularized memories emphasized the world of pirates. The Pirate Meal was one of the biggest events Shultz has ever hosted and even won a National Grand Prize for its outstanding efforts.

For the event, Shultz was decorated with everything from ship-resembling tables, to a Captain Jack Sparrow impersonator.

“He actually went around campus all day, and I believe he used that (videotape) as an audition for Vegas,” said Jason Ludy, Shultz’s assistant manager.

In addition to the Pirate Meal, Shultz had a memorable moment occur during a Thanksgiving meal a few years ago.

“We had this Styrofoam turkey as a part of the decoration,” said Luther Moseley, the assistant director of Shultz. 

“About half way through the meal, a couple of cadets escorted a man in and they had the turkey with him. Apparently this guy had stolen it. They walked him down and made him turn around and turn himself in.”

Moseley said there was never a whole lot of trouble in the dining center and the amount of morale from the students was honorable.

Although there have been many memorable moments, the current staff has known about the closing of Shultz for a while now.

“We were getting ready for (it),” said Melissa Farley, food production supervisor. “We knew a couple years ago Shultz was going to close.”

The different staffs at Shultz have made a growing relationship with the customer’s who eat at Shultz on a regular basis.

“We build a little bit of that comradely with the corps,” Farley said. “So we’ve been learning their names — I like to interact with the customers, corps or not, a customer is a customer.”

Some of the staff even took the extra effort to know the student’s on a first name basis.

“We had a lot of the same customers here and you get to know a lot of them by name,” said Meladie Daigneault, a housekeeper at Shultz. 

“I at least recognize them by face every day.”

The fact that Shultz will close next week has started to hit some of the staff and students that frequent the dining hall.

“It is more sad now than it was then,” Farley said. “Now it’s like a week and a half and we are finished.”

One of the most missed characteristics of Shultz is the cheap buffet breakfast students can get in the morning.

“My best memory at Shultz is every morning, with my best friends, (we would eat) a great breakfast to start off the day,” said Steve Hamilton, a sophomore majoring in
history.

Breakfast, according to the staff, has been a student favorite.

“Everybody is going to miss the breakfast,” Farley said. “And hopefully they will miss
us.”

A version of this article appeared in the May 2 issue of the Collegiate Times.