University of Maryland Dining Services launched a new punch card program Wednesday to encourage students to visit more cafes across campus.
Students can pick up a punch card at any of this university’s 12 on-campus cafes and earn punches by making a purchase at any location, according to Dining Services spokesperson Bart Hipple. If students collect punches from 10 different cafes before spring break, they’ll earn a coupon for a free coffee each week starting after the break, Hipple added.
Hipple hopes the punch cards will allow students to experience the uniqueness that each cafe offers.
“We’ve worked hard to give each cafe its own individual personality … and we’d like people to know about that,” Hipple said.
Emily Shoemaker, a sophomore information science and philosophy, politics and economics major, helped come up with the program during her sustainability internship with Dining Services.
The project aims to encourage students to visit cafes on the edge of campus that don’t get as much foot traffic, such as Rudy’s Cafe in the business building, Shoemaker said.
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“They’re great cafes and the people that do go really like them, but the students don’t often see a reason to go,” Shoemaker said.
Shoemaker designed the punch cards in collaboration with Jason Gembicki, a senior graphic designer with this university, according to Hipple. Shoemaker and Gembicki made posters, yard signs and counter signs to advertise the program, Hipple said.
Shoemaker hopes the program will inspire underclassmen specifically to explore more parts of campus.
Freshman math major Gabriela Christian said she’s excited about the prospect of free drinks and anticipates the program may inspire her to visit new cafes that she has not yet been to.
“I’ve always wanted to go to the Quantum Cafe, so I feel like this might actually make me … go there,” Christian said.
While Hipple is unsure whether this specific program will return next semester, he said he expects similar programs in the future. The promotion’s success will be measured by student participation, he said.
“We have a couple … little glitches that we’re ironing out,” Hipple said. “We’re excited about making it work really well.”
