Liberty University unveils major new dining center

The newly built Reber-Thomas Dining Center on the Liberty University campus will have its grand opening celebration on Aug. 23. As part of the festivities, Liberty Dining will raffle a privately catered dinner and movie for up to 30 people in the new event space while District Dietitian Rachel Sanders will be on hand to answer questions about allergen-friendly dining and her campus-based services. Liberty Dining will also showcase its new bear claw-inspired signature pastry, The Eagle Claw, created by campus pastry chefs. 

The newly constructed two-story building, christened with a ceremonial ribbon cutting on Aug. 9, has a 2,700-seat capacity, state-of-the-art dining technology and comfortable allergen-friendly spaces. 

Sodexo, Liberty’s dining services partner, will operate 27 food stations, including an allergen-friendly zone, a front-facing bake shop in the dessert area (including gluten-free baked goods) and an exhibition kitchen station for hosting student cooking classes. 

New features also include two on-demand Soft Serve Flavor Burst machines at which customers can choose from eight flavors—chocolate swirl, strawberry swirl, blueberry, cotton candy, piña colada, tropical orange, cheesecake and mocha cappuccino. The machine applies the flavors in ribbons along the outside and through the middle of the frozen treat.

“We felt that it was time to add something new and exciting to go in our new dessert station that would give customers even more options,” offers District Manager Duke Davis.

Another new feature is a CITROCASA machine from Citrus America that serves freshly squeezed on-demand citrus juice.

“Everyone loves fresh squeezed juice in the morning to give a refreshing start to the day, so when we saw this machine in action, we felt it would be a great addition to our breakfast program in our new dining hall,” says Davis. “The fresh taste instantly reminded me of the fresh squeezed juice I had in Spain and Italy.”

“It’s already been a thrill to see students coming back on campus and loving the new dining center, as well as some pre-semester events being held in our new event space,” Marketing Manager Shelby Burton notes. “We can tell the dining center is going to become a sought-out destination by students, faculty and staff, so we can’t wait to watch the sense of community grow as the semester commences.” 

Here’s a look at some of the spaces in the new facility…