Simpson College’s new Sodexo general manager, Ken Coder, has high expectations for the future of Simpson dining, specifically Pfeiffer Dining Hall.
Coming to Simpson from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Coder has many years of experience working with college and university dining. He will use this experience to help change the way Simpson students view Pfeiffer and the other dining options on campus.
“For me, the food piece is really important. I understand in the past it has not been attractive over there [at Pfeiffer]” Coder said.
Coder is also a chef and believes making better food will be the ultimate attraction for students.
“If we put out rice that’s crunchy or mashed potatoes that are runny, students are going to say, ‘don’t even bother coming to Pfeifer today, it’s crappy’,” Coder said. “But if we put out roasted garlic mashed potatoes that have fresh herbs in it or something like that, people are gonna take pictures of it and say this is great.”
First-year student Owen Diediker eats at Pfeiffer three times a day. He believes there are many positives to Pfeiffer but also room for improvement.
“I think the best part about Pfeiffer is the variety of food,” Diediker said.
One meal swipe at Pfeiffer is all-you-can-eat, which means students can have a wide variety of foods in one trip, including salad, pasta, desserts and other rotating dishes. However, the food quality is still not up to par with what it can be.
“Sometimes the meat is a little too pink, sometimes everything is a little cold and it’s not as appetizing as it would be if it was hot,” Diediker said.
As the dining facilities in Kent Campus Center start to settle into their new hours, a full renovation of Pfeiffer is just around the corner. The renovation is planned to start in November of this year, and the biggest worry is how student dining will look for the 2025-2026 school year.
“Everything will come out of Kent, so we’ll have to look at how are we going to cook everything, how are we going to clean everything,” Coder said.
According to Coder, Tyler’s Grille and SubConnection will become more residential dining rather than retail restaurants. He is still unsure how the spaces will be modified to fit all Simpson students in one area.
The current goal is to finish the Pfeiffer renovation before the 2026-2027 school year, which means only current first-year and sophomore students will experience the new and improved dining hall.
As of right now, Coder is also focused on improving Pfeiffer for the rest of this year so all students can have a positive dining experience.
“Right now it’s all about survival with Pfeiffer. We do the best we can,” Coder said. “When I first got here everybody said it’s so old, it’s so old, and I said that I know it’s old, but that doesn’t mean it has to be dirty.”