Ellie Park, Multimedia Managing Editor

Last month, the Yale College Council introduced a policy proposal recommending that the Elm and Ivy begin accepting meal transfer swipes as payment options. This proposal would allow students to use their meal swipes the same way that they do at Commons or the Bow Wow. 

Owen Setiawan ’27, the primary sponsor of this proposal, emphasized that students require a way to still have a meal while balancing academic, extracurricular and work commitments that occur at the same time that the dining halls are open. He hopes this proposal will make meals at the Elm and Ivy more accessible financially and fit better with student schedules. 

The Elm is a café open on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and serves a wide selection of drinks, breakfasts, pastries and lunch items such as sandwiches, soups and salads. The Ivy is its neighboring late-night eatery catering “pub fair” that includes tacos, sliders, sushi and more. 

“I initially was driven to draft the proposal out of the combined removal of to-go boxes this year and my experiences as a first-year last year on the full meal plan,” said Setiawan. “During my first year, I rarely bought food at the Elm and Ivy due to the fact that I didn’t have dining points on my meal plan.”

The Elm and Ivy currently accepts Eli Bucks, Yale Dining Points and credit cards. However, students that pay $4,300 per semester for the full meal plan, which does not include Eli Bucks or Dining Points, must pay out of pocket to enjoy offerings at either location. 

For many Yale first years, who are required to purchase the full meal plan for their first year, this entirely rules out the Elm & Ivy as a dining option. 

“I can’t afford that. Why am I going to spend money on that?” said Abi Herr ’28 regarding her choice not to dine at the Elm or Ivy. “Also, why don’t we get dining points? Like, okay, I paid for the full meal plan. I should get dining points too.”

The charge can make it harder for all first-year students and anyone who opts into the full meal plan to participate in the central campus dining locations. Yale’s website boasts the Underground as a comforting and lively student center intended for students to come together and enjoy. 

“The atmosphere here is amazing,” Kelly Wu ’28 said. 

She made her first venture into the space during the last week of classes and shared that the only reason she waited until now was her meal plan’s incompatibility with the locations. 

Additionally, many upperclassmen schedule interviews and meetings for extracurriculars at the Elm “over coffee,” which students on the full meal plan must finance themselves. 

“If it was a meal transfer, I would definitely want to come here. But I feel like a lot of people I talk to just end up not coming here because they know they have to pay for it. And some people don’t want to do that, some people can’t do that. So it kind of makes the space a little obsolete sometimes. But I really do want to use it,” said Dawit Bonga ’28.  

The Elm and Ivy’s unique payment system is also a source of confusion for many first years still adjusting to the Yale landscape. 

Carter Flemming ’28 described how her first trip to the Elm turned from exciting to embarrassing.

“The first time I went to the Elm in the first week of classes, I didn’t know I couldn’t use the meal swipe. I guess maybe that’s my fault, but I don’t know where I would find that. And so I waited in the line, got to the front and then had to put all my stuff back. And it was sad,” Flemming said.

Flemming was not alone in this experience; Bonga shared a similar story about his introduction to the Elm and Ivy. When he realized he could not use his meal swipe, he “walked away.”

In addition to first years, the proposed YCC policy would expand options for any student on the full meal plan and provide additional payment options for upperclassmen on the flex or connect meal plans. 

“I do think generally that it would be a great idea to have the cash equivalent to be able to redeem that at Elm and Ivy because I do find a lot of times that I don’t always use my swipe,” said Elm diner Stuart Baker ’25. 

Another leading factor behind the proposal to make the Elm and Ivy more accessible is to address frequent difficulties students face when it comes to getting meals and working around the strict open hours of residential dining halls. 

For those with busy schedules, it has grown increasingly challenging this year to find quick, on-the-go options given the elimination of to-go boxes from dining halls, according to Setiawan.

“There are so many times where I have extracurricular obligations or discussion section at 7 p.m. or 6 p.m. And all the other dining halls are doing family hours from five to six now,” said Isabel Matos ’28, describing the challenges she faces finding reliable dinners at Yale. 

Setiawan specified that this issue inspired the YCC to submit this policy proposal. The YCC has observed that while locations such as the Bow Wow and Steep, which accept meal transfer swipes, allow students more flexibility and faster lunch options, there is no equivalent location available during dinner hours. 

The Ivy, which is open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. allows students on the flex and connect meal plans to use their dining points even if they swiped into dinner, but students on the full meal plan who miss dinner hours at residential dining halls cannot purchase food there even with an unused meal swipe. 

“I think it’s generally better to have more options for people so then they can use their plan as they see fit,” said Baker.

When asked for comment on this proposal, Yale Hospitality Senior Marketing and Communications Manager Alexa Gotthardt told the News that Yale Hospitality receives feedback regularly from the Student Dining Advisory team and will continue to work collaboratively this school year.

“I hope that the suggested change will allow students the ability to have meals while still attending to academic, extracurricular, and work commitments,” said Setiawan.

The Elm is currently serving two seasonal drinks: an apple cider chai and a pumpkin spice latte.