Don't Harvard Our Princeton
Next year, Princeton will require eating club and co-op members to buy a dining hall meal plan. This policy could destroy these beloved institutions.
Why This Policy is Wrong
Students don't want it
Eating club members already have two free meals in the dining halls and they use less than one per week on average. Now the University wants them to pay $900 for these meals.
It's an unfair financial burden
The University will require students who are not on financial aid to pay for this second meal plan. Many of them are already financially stressed and will be incentivized to choose a relatively cheaper dining hall plan.
It's a threat to eating clubs and co-ops
The University has been incrementally weakening student-run dining options over time. It's likely that a $900 minimum plan this year may become a $2000 or $5000 requirement next year to encourage more students to go to dining halls.
“The University could obstruct demand for eating clubs such that only a fraction remain financially viable. In this nightmare scenario, only a select few students would join the surviving clubs — making Princeton resemble Harvard, where a handful of elitist finals clubs dominate the social scene.
There Are Better Solutions
The GICC proposed alternatives that protect students and clubs.
Drop the Requirement
Students should have the choice on whether or not they want to enroll for those two dining hall meals. They are capable adults and should be treated as such.
Keep things as they are
If the University has conviction that these two dining hall meals are important to campus life, then it can continue providing them.
Expand meal exchange
If the motivation for this program is to give upperclassmen access to late meal and meals on breaks, then the current meal exchange program can fulfill that.
Don't Turn Us Into Harvard
At Harvard, all students living on campus must have a meal plan. This means that only a few finals clubs are financially feasible, leaving space for only 15% of students despite 38% of the student body expressing interest.
At Princeton, upperclassmen have had freedom to choose where to eat. This meant that many eating clubs are financially viable, and roughly 70% of students are in eating clubs, with additional space for more.
Princeton has a more open and egalitarian system. Let's keep it that way forever!
“In each eating club and co-op, members slowly adapt the organization to their needs, and the end result is that they become better suited for their constituents than a large, centrally administered dining hall ever could. This cultivates a sense of ownership and a strong feeling of community that their members cannot find elsewhere on campus.