Backing off from initial enthusiasm towards a Yale College Council proposal to install take-out bins in residential college dining halls, Yale University Dining Services has turned down a proposed pilot program that would have begun this term.
The proposal, drafted by Pierson College representative Matt Eisen ’10, worked its way through a series of YCC committees and YUDS meetings before receiving measured support from Interim Director of Residential Dining Operations Charles Bennett. Bennett, who admitted the need to overhaul the University’s “on-the-go” meal options for busy students in a December interview with the News, informed the News of the YUDS decision Friday.
The proposal prompted significant resistance from the Council of Masters, who cited concerns over the problems such a change would create in managing the presence of food in public college spaces, such as common rooms, computer clusters and lounges. In their capacity as professors, Bennett said masters also voiced reservations about the prospect of students eating full meals in class, which a take-out option would have facilitated, and about the effects such a policy would have on food eaten in University libraries.
Bennett said he will work with dining hall managers to streamline Yale University Dining Services’ current take-out option, which allows students to request a bag lunch 24 hours in advance in lieu of sitting down for a dining hall meal. Because students’ inability to forecast their meal schedules that far in advance was a major push factor in the YCC’s initial proposal, Bennett said one possibility would be to reduce the notification time to 12 hours in advance. Such a change would allow a student to request a bag dinner the morning of, or a bag breakfast the night before the student’s conflict.
-Zachary Abrahamson