The Pizza At Hendrix College

I evaluate colleges by pizza. Other factors figure in, but the quality and quantity of pizza served in the dining hall matters. That's either every good news or very bad news for Hendrix College in Conway, AR. The pizza served in the school's dining hall is fabulous: Homemade, plentiful and gourmet. The chef offers favorites like pepperoni and also introduces specialty pizzas on a regular basis--mac 'n cheese with ham last Tuesday, another day it was chocolate chip with cheese. If a student wants special toppings on his/her pizza, the chef will make it as long as the student and friends commit to eating all of it. In other words, Hendrix offers fantasy pizzaland, which makes me question if the Hendrix experience is tough enough. I talked to a Hendrix student, Near-Grad Girl, not about pizza, but about her soon-to-start life after college. I asked if she was graduating college with much debt. Near-Grad Girl isn't, as she received a modest scholarship and her parents paid the rest. I asked if any of her fellow graduates were worried about debt. She told me that money issues aren't something Hendrix students discuss. We also talked about Hendrix's Odyssey program. It helps students make themselves into better people and the world into a better place. As part of her odyssey, Near-Grad Girl taught English at an orphanage in Cambodia. She volunteered that she didn't want to go to Africa, as it seems that everyone does service in Africa. With her odyssey complete and her time at Hendrix close to done, Near-Grad Girl is interviewing with an internet magazine based in California. She definitely plans to move there. I predict a future filled with equal shares of soggy and burned pizza. It's hard not to fall in love with Hendrix. The campus is beautiful, gifted professors lead mind-engaging classes and at least some of the students really want to change the world. I don't know what to think about the pizza. If Birdie picks Hendrix, there will be no dining out when I come to visit. The pizza's darn good and I've earned the right to a huge slice of it.