Jessica McHenry

News Editor

Mississippi University for Women opened a coffee shop on campus for students and faculty this semester.

Common Grounds, a shop that serves Starbucks coffee, opened successfully on Aug. 14.

“When we first opened it was smooth sailing,” said Adell Saffore, manager of Coffee Grounds. “But the very first week of business, our truck [that had some of our supplies] got stuck in Houston, Texas, because of the hurricane.”

“The Starbucks here on Highway 45 actually gave us a few supplies to make it until our supplies came in.”

This didn’t stop the students or employees from enjoying the newest addition to campus.

“I think it was about time that they opened a coffee shop because there was talk for so long about getting one here,” said Rachel Willis, sophomore at MUW majoring in Political Science. “It’s cool to finally have somewhere to do my homework.”

Not only have the students been enjoying the amenity, the staff said they enjoy the interaction with students and staying busy each day.

With more than 200 drink options that are available to students, it will take some time for employees to learn them all.

“[The baristas] had 17 hours of training that I had to give them,” said Saffore. “It took about three weeks to finish training with everyone.”

Students were also given the opportunity to apply for these jobs along with current Sodexo employees. Applicants were called in the beginning of August for interviews and were soon given the proper information.

“I studied a lot [of the material], but I also watched a lot of YouTube videos, like how to make the drinks. I love coffee, but I had no idea how to make a Frappuccino, latte or anything like that,” said Rahel Sanford, a junior majoring in Health Care Management at MUW.

Common Grounds keeps a binder in the back of the store for employees to refer to when they have questions about certain beverages.

“All of the drinks taste the same to me,” said Willis. “I can’t really tell a difference.”

Common Grounds is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.