A new online system to facilitate meal swaps will launch at the start of the Fall 2026 semester. The Interclub Council (ICC) and the Graduate Interclub Council (GICC) have collaborated with the University to develop a platform following the decommissioning of the University-sponsored MealX system, which the University deemed too expensive to continue maintaining.
Meal exchange enables students in different eating clubs or on different meal plans to dine together by “trading” a meal from each plan.
“The GICC has been working with students from the ICC to design a new portal to facilitate meal exchange, both club to club and club to university,” GICC advisor Carol Cronheim ’86 wrote in a statement to The Daily Princetonian. “The transition should be fairly seamless for students, with some improvements to fluidity and flexibility.”
Cronheim noted that the GICC will now handle “the technical and financial management of the program.”
In an email to members of Terrace Club obtained by the ‘Prince,’ club president Madison McNeal-Martinis ’27 wrote that the new system will allow students in eating clubs to exchange meals regardless of the meal’s time block. Previously, lunches and dinners were not interchangeable.
Furthermore, those on a block dining hall plan will now have to use two of their dining hall swipes in exchange for one meal at an eating club — an increase from the one-on-one exchange under the previous system. The change will primarily impact students who select the Block 128 meal plan, which is now required for students not in an eating club or co-op.
The new meal swap system comes in the wake of significant changes to campus dining.
In September 2025, the University announced a number of changes to the dining system, such as the removal of the “Independent” status and a requirement for all students living on campus to enroll in a meal plan. While parts of this plan were eventually walked back, the independent status still remains discontinued. In February 2026, the ‘Prince’ reported that the previously-used meal exchange platform MealX would be decommissioned, with the ICC and GICC announcing that they would work together to develop a new system.
Now, a new system has been finalized. In a statement to the ‘Prince,’ University spokesperson Ahmad Rizvi shared that University administrators met with the GICC and ICC leadership over the summer “to support their development of the new application,” but affirmed that the new system’s development remained entirely led by the ICC and GICC.
“We appreciate the clubs’ leadership on this initiative, as the ability for students with different dining affiliations to dine together is a priority,” Rizvi added.
The ICC and GICC collectively govern the eating clubs on Prospect Street. The ICC is composed of the presidents of each of the ten currently-active eating clubs. Upperclassmen have the option to join one of these clubs through the sign-in or Bicker processes beginning the spring of their sophomore year. These clubs effectively replace the University dining plan for their members beginning in the fall of their junior year.
Most ICC members declined to comment on the new system and whether club members have been made aware of it. McNeal-Martinis wrote in an email to the ‘Prince’ that she had been made aware of the new changes via the ICC, and had informed Terrace members of the change.
The University has not yet released an official statement regarding the new meal exchange system. However, according to ICC President Allison Lee ’27 and the GICC, the University is currently working with the ICC and the Undergraduate Student Government to communicate the changes about the new system to the student body, and a meeting between the three is scheduled soon to discuss how to best communicate the information with students.
“The Clubs, the USG, and the University plan to share more details in the coming weeks in a joint communication,” Cronheim wrote.
Kimberly Hutchinson is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030 from Suwanee, Ga.
Riley Price is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030.
Grace Beckish is a News contributor for the ‘Prince’ and a member of the Class of 2030.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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