YuLin Zhen, Staff Photographer

This year, dining halls will offer three Black History Month dinners. The reduced number of dinners — compared with nine in 2023 — was met with disappointment among some students.

Although there were originally only three days of Black History Month dinners in 2024, a scheduling conflict at Timothy Dwight created a fourth day of dinners. This year, Yale is returning to three days of dinners. 

Yale Hospitality wrote to the News that they started offering such commemorative dinners in 2022 where Black staff members integrated their personal recipes into dining hall menus. In 2023, they began offering nine standardized nights of dinners across all the colleges.

Since then, Yale Hospitality has “revised the schedule to avoid long lines and running out of food before everyone is served.” They also confirmed that aside from last year’s scheduling mishap, the number of dinners this year is the same as last year.

During February, the “busiest month for themed dinners,” Yale Hospitality also serves dinners for Superbowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day.

However, students have still felt the reduced offerings.

“It’s more than just a meal. It’s more than just food. It represents how the university regards its minority students,” said Madlynn Huff ’27. “It shows a value for a culture that was not historically represented on this campus.”

Huff told the News that despite the intended schedule, she did not believe reducing the number of dinners was the correct course of action. She emphasized the importance of the University recognizing Black History Month.

Huff said she appreciated the events hosted by the African American Cultural Center throughout the month and hopes that the University should not only continue to encourage and aid in the House’s efforts, but to support them to a larger degree.

“I’ve always really enjoyed the Black History Month dinners, as they’re such a meaningful way to celebrate and foster community,” said Elijah St Martin ’27. “It’s a bit disheartening to see the number of dinners decrease, as they provide a space for connection, reflection, and honoring Black culture.”

Shela Mensah ’27 echoed these remarks. Mensah, who currently works in the Morse and Stiles dining halls, noted that the “Breaking Bread” MLK dinner hosted on Monday, Jan. 20 included a TV screen explaining the significance of the menu options.

She emphasized that the meal was a way to introduce students to Black culture. Mensah added that she hoped that the number of meals would be increased, although she acknowledged the logistical difficulties of organizing the events.

“But where there’s a will, there’s a way,” said Mensah, adding, “I think they can find a middle ground, maybe not taking all the way back to like nine meals, but five or six.”

Yale Hospitality wrote that it “looks forward to serving memorable meals to commemorate Black History Month and the many other special occasions throughout the year.”

The Afro-American Cultural Center was founded in 1969 and was Yale’s first cultural center.