After months of heated council meetings, administrative forums, Facebook protests, and newly formed task forces, Barnard administrators officially announced on Monday that all students will be required to participate in a meal plan program.
Previously, only first-year residents and students living in the Quad were required to be on a meal plan. The possibility of a required plan was leaked in December by Barnard housing, but at the start of the spring semester, administrators said that nothing was final—despite a December email that presented the plan as official. Now, months after the issue was first raised—to the chagrin of students who protested that it was purely for financial reasons—administrators confirmed that the plan will be implemented, with some alterations.
In an email sent out on Monday, Dean of the College Dorothy Denburg and Chief Operating Officer Gregory Brown announced the new requirement, but said that the plan offers students more flexibility in terms of meal plan options.
Last month, Denburg and Brown met with a task force of twelve students—six students from Barnard’s Student Government Association and six from the general student body, including one student self-identified as having allergies and one commuter student. After the students made recommendations to Denburg and Brown, they came up with a meal plan that administrators say offers students more options.
“We are pleased to announce that we have a meal plan structure shaped by the priority paramount to this discussion, namely, increasing choices for all members of our diverse community,” Denburg and Brown wrote in the email.
First-year students will still be required to take the unlimited meal plan. Upperclassmen living in Quad housing can take another meal plan option with fewer meals and at a lower cost. All other full-time students can choose from three meal plan options for $300 per semester. Kosher options will be available in all meal plan options, but at a relatively higher cost.
“Dean Denburg and VP Brown were incredibly receptive to student input and the nature of the new meal plan is shaped almost entirely by student suggestions on the taskforce,” Mitzi Steiner, BC ’12 and sophomore class president, said in an email. Steiner was a member of the task force.
“I’m really impressed with the way the administration was able to respond to the students and try to work out something,” Clare Korir, BC ’12, said, adding, though, that she was initially wary of how this might play out.
“I think it’s a better option than before,” Charlotte Fassler, BC ’13, said. “I think it’ll make more people want to live in Hewitt,” she said, referring to the reduced requirements for upperclassmen living in Hewitt.
But some students expressed frustration with the financial situation.
“The $2,000 for an unlimited meal plan seems a little over-the-top to me,” Elina Myagkaya, BC ’12, said.
Meera Sahni, BC ’12, who currently lives in Hewitt with an unlimited meal plan, said that though she appreciates that the new meal plan program has more flexibility, spending money on food outside of Barnard is cheaper and longer-lasting.
“I spend $25 on groceries that I need to get me through in-between meals per week,” she said. “Even putting down $300 towards temporary cafeteria food takes away from the freedom of how I would like to spend my money on packaged food from a supermarket that would actually last longer.”
Some members of the task force said that while issues came up because of the varying needs of students, the group was ultimately able to arrive at a decision that addressed the needs of different parties.
“Issues that arose usually had to do with the different interests of the students present (i.e. the commuter student requesting a smaller meal plan) but I think the flexibility of the meal plan will resolve these differences,” Steiner said.
“The process definitely showcased a productive give-and-take between students and administrators that resulted in compromise and greater understanding from where each of us was coming,” SGA President Katie Palillo, BC ’10, said in an email. “Someone would throw out a suggestion and we’d mull it over, debate it a bit, and bring our experiences into the discussion, and then explore it further once it seemed feasible.”
Carly Silver contributed reporting.
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