Mae Green Cox, lovingly known as Ms. Mae, was transferred to a new position on SLU’s Medical Campus on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Known as the bright face of Grand Dining Hall, this decision was not taken lightly by her many supporters on campus. An online petition soon began to circulate, adding up to almost 1,800 signatures to date. 

A St. Louis native, Ms. Mae’s first job at the University was serving priests at Jesuit Hall. Upon its opening in 2017, she moved to Grand Dining Hall—now, she is coming up on ten years of working in SLU’s dining halls. 

Ms. Mae’s warm personality and representation of the University’s values led to her very own section of Grand soon after its opening, called “Miss Mae’s Comfort Corner.” She found out about this through a Facebook post and described that she felt “love, excited and all of those other good words.” 

Upon seeing the new sign for the Comfort Corner in Grand, Ms. Mae became emotional. “All of my friends thought I was sad, but they were happy tears,” she told the University News. 

Some students, upset with the transfer, think the problem lies with Sodexo, the food service that manages Grand’s dining. When Ms. Mae was offered a higher paying position at SLU Hospital, Sodexo “did nothing to try and keep Ms. Mae in our dining hall,” said Tyler Guist, the creator of the online petition. When Sodexo did not fight for her to stay, “she was hurt” Guist wrote. 

Gary Prellwitz, Resident District Manager of Sodexo addressed one student’s concerns about Ms. Mae’s transfer at the SGA Senate on Oct. 16. Prellwitz stated that the Hospital’s branch of Sodexo “seems to be agreeable to sharing her” and that Ms. Mae will be returning to Grand once a month. 

“She has committed to, I think, to come back in for the late night breakfast. She always played a pretty important role in that, welcoming all the students to the building,” said Prellwitz. 

In a Facebook post a day before she started her new position, Ms. Mae wrote “I will always be there for my babies,” and that she wants to thank everyone for their support and encouragement in this tough time. 

Although they will miss Ms. Mae’s famous sayings about all students being “her babies” and that “we’re all a big family,” the SLU community is proud to have such a warm representative for them in their Hospital’s cafeteria. Still, when students come to grab a sweet treat from Miss Mae’s Comfort Corner, they will think of the influential woman it was named after.