To start the new semester strong, the President’s Office gave students a reason to eat at the dining hall: free food and music.

Throughout the week, TNS students could be seen lined up to enjoy an hour of complimentary “Bites and Beats.”

On Jan. 25 at 6:15 p.m., New School students formed a line spanning from the cafeteria to the front entrance of the University Center, awaiting the 7 p.m. start of the event. As the line grew longer, a student wove through the crowd trying to exit the UC. “Not this [event] again,” he muttered while rolling his eyes. The chaos, which grew from Monday to Thursday as more students learned about the event, seemed to overwhelm those who weren’t interested in it. 

“I don’t go to the mixers and things like that but this is really low key,” said Flora Mcdavid, a Parsons Associates degree student, waiting for the event to start at 7:00 p.m. “They have a lot of plant-based stuff so I’m trying out whatever they have that’s plant-based.”

While students began to find seats with their pizza, pasta, and vegan chili in hand, their peers from the Mannes School of Music and School of Jazz got ready to perform.

“For me, it’s romantic to have music,” said Parsons third-year Shixing Wang after having visited the dining hall to watch the performers during her class’s lunch break. This was something she had not yet experienced at The New School. “I never really get a chance to meet people from COPA,” said Wang.

Trumpet player and College of Performing Arts student Kal Feretti was happy to see everybody listening and smiling along to her trio’s jazz music on Monday and Thursday. “The school is very much known for being an art and design school and the fact is the College of Performing Arts is a smaller program, and we are here and a part of the community now,” said Feretti. 

For some, the purpose of the event was unclear. “I actually wasn’t even able to get a seat in the cafeteria because it was so crowded,” said Eugene Lang fourth-year Diamond Agyei. “It feels like a Black Friday sale rather than a moment to help students,” she said. 

Skeptical first-year Parsons student Jake Custodio said, “The only two reasons I could think of that they’re doing it is either they have a budget surplus or the food’s about to go bad.”

Despite an increase in foot traffic, cafeteria operations remained smooth.

“For the first time, there was nothing really, no hiccups, it’s all about managing the line,” said Executive Chef Christopher Gasher.

When the hour was over on Friday, Gasher was enthusiastic to do it again. 

“We loved it, keep [events like this] coming, everybodies morale was beautiful, we knocked it out, [the staff] did a hell of a job,” said Gasher.

“I would absolutely do this again,” said Mannes third-year Julieta Iricibar as she enjoyed her meal with her bandmate and friend who came to support their closing act. “I think it’s a great way of showing the diverse talent a whole year can have.”

Assistant Director of the Dining Hall CJ Rodger said, “We love seeing it. Everybody was very happy to be here and experience it if they weren’t on a meal plan.”