By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
LOWER MANHATTAN — Pace University will find a new company to run its cafeteria after a health inspection found serious violations there last week.
Pace administrators told students of their decision at a meeting on Wednesday, one day after students launched a boycott of the dining hall.
"I'm very happy with the administration taking responsibility and moving quickly," said Austin Delaney, 19, a sophomore who helped organize the boycott. "I'm very happy that they're opening the lines of communication."
A Pace spokeswoman confirmed Friday that Lackmann Culinary Services, which runs the cafeteria, a coffee kiosk and a late-night eatery at Pace, will leave the campus by this fall.
Lackmann did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
The city shut down Pace's dining hall March 24 after issuing 79 violation points for food stored at unsafe temperatures, workers touching food with their bare hands and other unsanitary conditions.
Lackmann made several changes to better monitor food temperatures, and the city allowed the cafeteria to reopen the following day. Lackmann also promised to hire a full-time sanitarian.
But students remained skeptical and mounted protests online and on campus.
At a meeting on Wednesday, administrators promised to give students a voice in picking a new operator for the dining hall, Delaney said. Administrators also said they would consider student requests to use their meal-plan dollars at nearby restaurants, Delaney said.
A Pace spokeswoman confirmed the commitments but declined to comment further.
Delaney said he was satisfied with the results, especially the promise of more input from students in Pace's decisions.
