Bon Appétit Answers the Call of Duty at MIT

Written by Guest on May 1, 2013in Community, Education, Featured, News - 0 Comments

The student-programmed video display at MIT’s Simmons Hall

By Jonnie Gummo, Simmons Hall Front of House Manager

When reports of explosions at the Boston Marathon quickly spread across the Charles River to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the entire campus community stopped what it was doing. Students and employees scrambled to attempt to reach loved ones, to check on them as well as reassure that they themselves were all right. As the city went into shock, Bon Appétit employees gathered with students around radios, televisions, and computers, waiting for news.

When the smoke cleared, the Boston area was on edge, but the Bon Appétit team at MIT tried to maintain a semblance of “business as usual.” But around 11 p.m. on April 18, Simmons Hall’s late night cashier, Iyunolu Adedeji, received word that there had been a shooting on campus. With beloved young Officer Sean Collier down and his gunman on the loose, MIT officials immediately put the campus on lockdown and ordered Iyun to close the café.

Simmons Hall front of House Manager Jonnie Gummo was still awake with her eyes glued to the news when she received the call around 6 a.m. from General Manager  Lauren Patterson.

“There’s been another shooting, and there is no public transit. We need all available hands on deck.” Continue…

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