Zoe Berg, Senior Photographer

Starting this fall, Yalies will no longer be able to regularly take their food to go from Yale’s dining halls.

In an email to the News, Yale Hospitality confirmed the end of a policy allowing students to use provided take-out boxes to eat their meals outside of regular dining times and locations. Alexa Gotthardt, senior marketing and communications manager of Yale Hospitality, wrote that ending the lenient take-out box policy is part of a wider series of updates to protocols established during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sick students can still request to-go packaging, per Gotthardt. 

Other changes include closing Commons on Fridays, expanded Friday lunch hours for Davenport, Grace Hopper and Trumbull colleges, communal napkin dispensers instead of individual table dispensers and an increased $12 value to Bow Wow swipes. 

When asked about their reactions surrounding the new restrictions on take-out boxes, 18 out of 20 students surveyed by the News characterized their feelings as negative. The remaining two characterized their reaction as neutral.

“Sometimes I don’t have time to sit in the dining hall and eat. I have to rush to class or sometimes I just hang out with people who have food allergies and can’t sit and eat in the dorms,” Nicole Manning ’27 told the News. “Not having to-go boxes is just very inconvenient.”

Gotthardt wrote that take-out boxes were introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic “as a safety measure and to adhere to social distancing and isolation protocols.” Now, she said, “protocols and practices have been updated per the University’s guidance.” 

Meal plans allow students “to have as much food as they would like” to consume in the dining halls but with “no food removed for later consumption,” according to Gotthardt.

Yale College Undergraduate Regulations state that “food may not be taken from the dining hall to be consumed later unless specified.”

Gotthardt explained that closing Commons on Fridays would allow “preparations for weekend events to occur on Fridays with fewer interruptions to the dining schedule.” Gotthardt added that the change in Commons’ dining schedule does not reduce working hours for any Yale Hospitality employees. 

Gotthardt also clarified that sick students can request to-go packaging and dining managers will assist in those cases. She clarified that mobile ordering and pick-up are still available through Smart Meals on the official Yale Hospitality app and said that if a diner is “in a hurry,” the Bow Wow is also an option. 

Yale College Council Vice President Esha Garg ’26 wrote to the News that the YCC has been “actively engaged in efforts to revive the old to-go box policy.”

Garg wrote that she and YCC President Mimi Papathanasopoulos ’26, in collaboration with the YCC dining policy team, had conveyed student concerns surrounding the new take-out box policy with leaders of Yale Hospitality and other administrators. 

“Providing to-go boxes for students is crucial for health and accessibility and a necessity for students with busy schedules,” Papathanasopoulos said. “We will continue to work with Yale Hospitality to develop creative solutions that meet student needs while committing to sustainability and overall waste reduction.”

Yale Hospitality is located at 246 Church St.