The Cost of Fine Dining

Students often forget the age of our University. Yale has been around for over 300 years, and the short four that we spend here are but a fraction of its lifetime. Although this should not stop our community from demanding reform on the most complicated of issues, change cannot always come immediately.

Last week, staff columnist for the News Shreyas Tirumala ’18 raised a number of important considerations about Yale’s meal plan (“Gripes with grapes” Feb. 10, 2017). The Yale College Council realizes the key role that Yale Dining plays in undergraduate lives, and we constantly review the on-campus dining experience for that very reason. This year, for example, the YCC is looking into two main issues on the subject: the price and options of the meal plan and the flexibility of the breakfast swipe.

However, any sort of reforms to campus life — big or small — take time. While we would like Yale Dining to lower its meal plan prices, it cannot do so overnight. Even the Herbert administration’s proposal to add whole milk to Commons took months to execute. Unfortunately, that’s University bureaucracy, and it forces us as students to push for change over a multiyear time frame.

We on the YCC are always looking for ways to enrich academics, student life and University services at Yale. However, we need your help to do this. Every Yale experience is different, so I hope that you’ll talk with us so that we can better learn how the University can improve yours.

Christopher Bowman
Vice president of the Yale College Council