Students voice concerns over dining hall hours

Students living on campus have again voiced their concerns about dining halls on campus. Many students are unhappy with the dining hall hours of operation, which restrict students’ eating to certain hours of the day. 

Mary Jemison Dining Hall is open only on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., Red Jacket Dining Hall is open 7:30 a.m. – 9 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. on weekends, and Letchworth is open 4 p.m. – 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. on weekends. This schedule means that on weekends, students are unable to eat until 10 a.m., and that students on the North side of campus must walk to Red Jacket to eat past 7 p.m.

Sophomore history and political science double major Zach Horn said, “I’m not a big fan of the CAS meal plan or the hours to be honest. The food has been really kind of underwhelming at best. As a student who is in recovery for an eating disorder the hours are not at all accommodating to myself or a lot of people. When I get home some days at 8 p.m. and the dining halls are already shut and locked, I go hungry for the night. And I can tell you that has definitely taken a toll on my progress as somebody who is recovering mentally, emotionally, and physically from all of that.”

Horn expressed concern that if they were having difficulty finding time to eat with a normal schedule, other students with work schedules, clubs, and more difficult classes would find it impossible to eat at dining halls more than once a day.

“The fact that, due to my schedule as a student who is just involved in a couple of clubs and has an academic schedule that is very similar to everyone else’s, the fact that I can only eat one and maybe two meals a day is really disheartening,” they said.

In previous years, Red Jacket’s “Late Knight” dining options provided students with food options past other dining hall’s operating hours and became a favorite among students. Late Knight options were available until 11 p.m., a more accommodating hour for many students.

Horn said, “Last year with RJ’s late night program I was able to eat three meals a day because I could go there after all of my classes were done. The fact that the CAS administration cannot understand or sympathize with that is really aggravating.”

Many other students have voiced their frustration with this year’s dining hall hours, saying that they feel they are expected to stock up on their own food for after 9 p.m. despite the expensive meal plans they are forced to buy when living in dorms on campus. These students are often forced to buy unhealthy, premade food, or make what little they can in the small dorm kitchens in each residence hall.

These options are making it difficult for many students to maintain healthy eating habits, and more inclusive hours of operation in the dining halls would make the stress of a busy schedule much more bearable for students.