Metz Changes Campus Culture

Written by Katrin Surkan

Just three weeks before the 2022-23 school year, Metz Culinary Management became the College’s new food service provider. Named one of the top 20 management companies in the U.S. by Food Management, Metz excels at pleasing the students with quality food and greater variety of options and makes management easy by supporting their on-site staff with specialists and care.

Metz began the transition by hiring a manager unanimously beloved by his employees and coworkers, Paul Bowman, to oversee and coordinate everything Metz at Hillsdale College, including its 62 student employees. He smiled throughout the interview, happy to explain the improvements under the new management, including quick response time and recognition for hard work.

Students feel supported, too. Metz has made it more fun to work and purchase food and drinks at the three on-campus dining locations: Jitters, AJ’s Cafe, and the Knorr Family Dining Room. For starters, Metz created a warm and proactive student employee culture. Every student employee I talked to loves Paul’s leadership and his willingness to listen to their suggestions and concerns. This has, in turn, created a positive, proactive teamwork dynamic among student staff, including myself.

Metz also filled the on-campus cafes with a greater variety of merchandise including frappuccinos and milkshakes, Chex Mix, and chocolate-covered pretzels. The new snacks brought curious students to investigate the shops and made it easier to buy desirable snack foods on campus.

Most importantly, however, Metz brought quality food to the dining hall. I walked around during one dinner period and polled students about the food. Here are some of the students’ comments:

“Napkins on the table? Big victory.”

“Fresh fruit is a godsend.”

“Weekend options are a lot better.”

“Better burgers now!”

“They have higher quality teas.”

“The pizza’s definitely been upgraded,” followed by many nods and mumblings of agreement. 

“The new [belt] toaster is awesome!”

“They actually have stuff besides casseroles in Comforts.”

“The omelets are SO GOOD!”

“We like the waffle makers.”

“I really like the milkshake at AJ’s.”

“A lot more staff, which makes it flow a little easier.”

This year, student joy ranges from pizza to smoothies, tender beef to milkshakes, the fruit bar to bacon for the salads. The switch to Metz has brought general happiness and enjoyment to mealtimes. Though a significant change, everyone agrees that “The most important things are the same! … At Hillsdale, it’s the people.”


Katrin Surkan, ’25, has roots on the east coast but can almost always be found traveling. When not writing, reading, or chatting with someone new, she’s likely looking for a dog to pet or singing at the top of her lungs between classes with a cappuccino in hand.


Published in October 2022