Editorial: Feeding the masses

Every fall, many students arrive back on campus well before the official move-in day. For a large portion of these students, there is no way to eat without heading to restaurants in town, which can prove financially burdensome to many. And even once the rest of the student body returns to campus on the first official move-in day, a significant number of students are left without a dining plan during the days leading up to the start of classes. Since the eating clubs do not begin serving meals until the Wednesday before classes start, the majority of upperclassmen are left to find food on their own, an inefficient and costly option, particularly for those students on financial aid.

A plan similar to those offered during other breaks ought to be implemented to fill this gap. This plan could come in two forms, one tailored to students arriving before the official move-in day and another to students who would like a dining option for the week leading up to classes. Such a system would financially benefit those students who do not wish to purchase food in town, and it would provide a great opportunity for students to come back to the residential colleges and reunite over meals during this first week.

Obviously, this option would not be available without significant costs; however, if implemented in a similar way to the recess dining plans, much of these additional costs could be defrayed through the fee students would have to pay to have dining hall access. In fact, because the dining halls would already be operating to feed underclassmen — whose meals start with brunch on the Sunday of orientation week — the additional costs of hosting the students who purchased this plan would not be onerous. This plan would also most likely not attract enough popularity to create crowding issues, because a good number of students will still want to buy their own food during this period. Rather, implementing this plan would provide another helpful option for students during this otherwise precarious time.