For many students, academic recesses are defined by delicious home-cooked meals. Those who remain at the University throughout breaks, however, face a dilemma because of the temporary closure of the University's dining facilities. This often leaves students with two rather unappetizing options - either using their own money to eat out every day or abusing their health by subsisting on packets of ramen.
Therefore, it has been encouraging to see Student Council cater to these students through its Hooliday Dining initiative, which most recently offered free food events and allowed the use of meal swipes instead of Plus Dollars during Spring Break. Hooliday Dining holds out great promise for the future, but only if Council expands it to include Fall and Winter Break and incorporates more dining options that are healthy and sustainable into the program.
The initiative first was implemented during last semester's Thanksgiving Break, when it granted students the ability to use their meal swipes rather than their Plus Dollars to purchase food from The Crossroads at Observatory Hill Dining Hall. The program was popular, with almost 400 student meal swipes registered during the break, and Council subsequently sought to broaden its scope. "This semester we wanted to do the same thing, but expand it because [of the] longer break," said Carrie Filipetti, co-chair of Council's Diversity Initiatives Committee. "So we tried to reach out to local businesses as a way to support them, as well as to provide a benefit to students."
The result was a broader selection of food items during Spring Break that was available at different times during the day at a number of locations on Grounds. Students could continue to use their meal swipes in lieu of Plus Dollars, this time at West Range Cafe near the Lawn, and also were able to take advantage of free food in Alderman Cafe that was donated by Dunkin' Donuts and Guadalajara Mexican Restaurant. Additionally, Webb Lounge hosted a free pizza night and a Chinese dinner that was put on by Assoc. Dean of Students Peter Yu. Perhaps most impressively, Filipetti said the program's cost was "fairly negligible" because of contributions made primarily by faculty.
There is much to be improved upon, however, if Hooliday Dining is to become a flagship Council initiative. For one, it must be extended to other academic recesses. With the experience gained from the program's first two run-throughs, it should not be difficult for Council to implement it during the four-day Fall Break. More challenging will be finding a way to offer Hooliday Dining during the University's month-long Winter Break. "There is discussion going on about offering sporadic services during Winter Break," Filipetti said. "First, we need to determine when most students are on Grounds [during break]." Although it may be logistically impossible to offer food throughout the entirety of Winter Break since some restaurants close for the month and the University vastly scales back its staff, options nevertheless should be made available to students who are unable to return home because of travel costs.
Moreover, Hooliday Dining needs to offer a wider variety of healthy and sustainable foods. To its credit, Council is moving the program in the right direction by allowing meal swipes to be used at West Range Cafe, which offers prepared salads rather than the pizzas, burgers and sandwiches available at The Crossroads. Council can improve the quality of the program's offerings even further, however, by reaching out to restaurants with menus featuring more vegetarian options and locally grown ingredients. Thus far, the outside food that has been donated - wings and barbecue from Wild Wings Cafe, donuts from Dunkin' Donuts and burritos and quesadillas from Guadalajara - has not adequately met the needs of students with concerns about their health or the environment.
To ensure that these improvements are made, students must convey their desires to Council. "The feedback from the fall semester is largely what we used to make changes for the spring semester," Filipetti said. In addition, the new Council that soon will take office must not lose track of the program during its transition. If students and their elected representatives can work together, then Hooliday Dining has the potential to redefine an overlooked aspect of University life.
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