Throughout my first two years at Dartmouth I constantly heard about sophomore summer. To me, this term seemed a magical, mythical time and place that was always light years away. I had so much to look forward to and so much to be excited about. I was told that sophomore summer would be everything I never knew I wanted and everything I would ever need. Over the first few weeks of term, I have come to realize that sophomore summer is not perfect and one reason falls under College policy. I as well as many others have suffered from the unreasonable hours and unnecessarily reduced services of Dartmouth Dining Services.
I really do like DDS offerings during other academic terms — I even wrote a column defending it. During the normal school year I can usually eat something different and interesting at every meal. Yet during the summer, both the kosher and World View stations at Class of ’53 Commons are closed. Though there are fewer students on campus, FoCo is packed with people when I walk in for lunch each day. The Courtyard Café is closed, and there is plenty of demand at FoCo. That demand should warrant the re-opening of those two stations. The meal plan is almost as expensive as always— it ranges from $1,570 to $1,798 for on-campus plans and $910 for the off-campus plan. During other academic terms, it ranges from $1,615 to $1,850 for on-campus and $935 for off-campus residents. Spread across the student body, those price reductions could justify closing the Courtyard Café.
My meal plan this term (SmartChoice5) costs $1,570. If you divide that number by 200 (10 weeks of term times 20 meals per week), you get $7.85 per meal — a steep price for reduced offerings. Normally I do not mind DDS costs, because normally I have plenty of options and am happy with the food selection. But paying $1,570 for meals that I am almost never satisfied with is egregious, especially at a school in which we are all (on- or off-campus) forced to buy a meal plan.
You may think I am being dramatic, but that is because you have not had the pleasure (or disgust) of witnessing my FoCo habits. I go back for thirds and fourths at the kosher station every single day during both lunch and dinner throughout the other academic terms. During the normal school year I could eat FoCo for lunch and dinner every day and be perfectly happy. Yet after two weeks of summer, I am already tired of the limited options (though at least FoCo has unlimited hummus).
Though I have expressed how much I love its station, I do not even keep kosher. What about those students that do? Even if DDS did find some way to accommodate them, the lack of a kosher station makes it extremely difficult for students with religious dietary restrictions to find healthy, tasty and balanced meals to eat (or even find meals to eat in general). This oversight is unacceptable.
Compounding the limited menu options at FoCo is the fact that we have no other choice for meals most of the weekend. Collis is only open from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. FoCo is literally the only weekend breakfast option during the summer, and it closes from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. That period is a dead zone for our DBA and meal swipes. At the very least, DDS should consider opening Collis on weekends for breakfast. Paying nearly as much for our meal plan, we deserve better food options during summer term. I am begging on my knees.
I am generally extremely pleased with DDS, but small frustrations build over a 10-week term. The little things matter too, Dartmouth. There are fewer students on campus, but those of us that are here deserve to be treated the same as we are any other term. FoCo needs to be fully operational— our weekends should not be spent running across campus just to make a meal swipe at the one place that will take it.
