Olivia Cyrus, Contributing Photographer

Last Thursday, the Yale College College Council, in collaboration with Yale Hospitality, reintroduced clementines to Schwarzman Commons Dining Hall.

The initiative was spearheaded by the Council dining team and team heads Sahra Wahedi ’27 and Anna Krans ’27. The collaboration was born from monthly conversations between the Council and Yale Hospitality Assistant Vice President Jodi Westwater and a survey the Council sent out to the student body last semester regarding clementines’ absence. 

“Students responded with disappointment, primarily because clementines provided a nutritional source of Vitamin C in their diets,” Wahedi said.

On March 5, the team hosted an event to bolster student enthusiasm for the citrus fruit’s return, where students emailed Yale Hospitality to advocate for this initiative.

Wahedi and Krans set up a table in the rotunda of Schwarzman near Commons, and over 40 students stopped by to support the push for clementines. In return, students who engaged received complimentary capybara plushes and clementine paintings.

Wahedi said that the reintroduction of clementines is a testament to the power of student advocacy when administration fails to address their concerns.

“It gives us hope that administrators are open to hearing student concerns and that our voices can have a tangible impact,” Wahedi said. “However, there is still more work to be done. The YCC must continue to foster dialogue between students and administration, ensuring ongoing advocacy to create meaningful change.”

Favour Akingbemi ’26 says that although she is not a frequent patron of Commons, the reintroduction of clementines gives her more incentive to go there.

Irene Nam ’28 says that she is “overjoyed” at the reintroduction.

“I am so happy. I love them so much, and I’m a first-year, so I never got to experience having them last semester,” Nam said. “I plan on eating one every single day.”

There are approximately 36.1 milligrams of Vitamin C in a single clementine.