Each Wednesday, an array of local food trucks lined Normal Road, selling delectable food and drinks that ranged from burritos to frozen custard to lemonade. Dozens of students could be seen eating in MLK Commons or huddled around the trucks.

This amount of traction should tell NIU to bring them back next year.

Beginning Aug. 30, NIU began what is known by all students and staff as Food Truck Wednesdays. 

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Wednesday, the food trucks were stationed on Normal Road which offered a perfect break for students to get a bite to eat since it was in the middle of the day. Most students have class breaks around this time and are usually hungry after lectures. 

The weekly event ended on Oct. 25; and for most students, it begged the question of whether or not the trucks would return. 

“I went to the food trucks every Wednesday. I thought they were already coming back next year, so I would be devastated if they didn’t,” said Sam Lepien, a senior environmental studies major. 

These trucks allowed students to try new food, especially if the dining hall was getting too repetitive. 

For students who don’t have cars and who don’t mind taking the short walk to MLK Commons, getting a little something from the trucks might have been exciting – especially since there were new trucks each week. Some trucks returned more often, such as Burritoville, Ka-Bao! and Main Squeeze. 

NIU needs to make Food Truck Wednesdays a tradition, bringing them back not only next fall but after spring break in mid-March.

The weather will be warmer, which gives students the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the food trucks again. Long lines of hungry students flooded Normal Road, highlighting the undeniable popularity of the food trucks.

Given how boring NIU is with its lack of traditions that students actually enjoy, keeping Food Truck Wednesdays as an ongoing, semester event shouldn’t even be in question. The food trucks should come back every year since this semester has shown how many students delighted in the new variety of food that came each week. This also gives students and faculty a chance to support the local businesses that bring their trucks out to NIU. 

The City of DeKalb closing off Normal Road gave NIU the perfect chance to begin the food truck event – let’s continue the tradition.