Last week, Mercersburg Academy announced that all food deliveries must now be made to a centralized location outside the Edwards Room. The location was selected to limit traffic on campus and so that the address, “2 Rutledge Road,” will be impossible for incoming delivery drivers to miss. An additional Campus Safety Officer will be stationed on site to monitor the area.
The move followed a series of events that raised safety concerns for the school community. Chief Financial and Operating Officer Rochelle Hargraves said, “[Several] incidents occurred. [In one of them,] a delivery driver insisted that a student get into his car to give directions. Additionally, we’ve had multiple instances in which food or grocery delivery drivers have entered the dormitories.” Associate Head of School Jen Craig said, “There was way more access and much less safety around different deliveries; [drivers] were driving too fast around dorms.”
The location change will centralize deliveries and make enforcement of campus rules simpler and more effective. “[Those incidents] pose a safety risk to all students, and our primary goal is to ensure the safety of our community,” stated Hargraves. “By moving the food delivery location to the Edwards Room entrance, we are ensuring that delivery drivers do not enter our campus and aiming to reduce in-person interaction between the delivery driver and the student placing the order.”
School leaders attributed the surge in delivery frequency to the limited on-campus dining options. “The fact that we don’t have a True Blue Café [most likely leads] to an [increase] in food deliveries at this moment,” said Craig.
Naturally, students’ responses vary depending on their dorm’s distance from the delivery location. Main Hall prefect Eric Cittadine ’26 commented, “It’s really annoying having to walk that far, especially when it’s so cold. But I guess it isn’t too far, especially compared to some of the other dorms.” Swank Hall resident Paris Zhang ’27 said, “Honesty, it’s not a big hustle for me. I do see why they want to protect our safety, but I feel like there are better ways [to do so] than making people walk all the way to Keil.”
“I think it’s inconvenient for people who live far away, like people in Tippetts. I know it’s temporary; hopefully it will change soon,” Matthew Orders ’27, a Tippetts Hall resident, noted.
Swank Hall resident Renny Rana ’26 added, “My thing is that it’s kind of inconvenient when you’re just quickly studying, and then you have to go all the way to Keil [Hall], so I have to walk all the way outside my dorm just to go to the Edwards Room.” Rana continued, expanding on an experience in which she received a behavior notification for sending her food delivery to the wrong location: “I ordered Panera, and I forgot to switch my address. And then, [Campus Security] took a photo of me getting my food. Later, [Kristin] Ahlgren talked to me, and I got a behavior notice.”
Although this solution is intended to be temporary, the school administration has yet to reach a consensus on a permanent solution. Craig discussed the long-term plan for food delivery: “We’ve begun to talk about it, but no, there are not any specific plans as of this moment.”