Opinion: A Simple Solution to Food Service Inadequacy
(William Oehler/The Gettysburgian)
By Terra Hobler, Opinions Editor
Dining services are an integral part of any school; sustenance comes before all other needs. At Gettysburg College, however, a school where off-campus living has become increasingly difficult to attain, the need for adequate food options are even more necessary as many students lack the means to make food for themselves. Even those that can feed themselves are largely contractually obligated to purchase a meal plan from the school as a result of living on campus. With the vast majority of students being compelled to buy a meal plan at a school with over 2,000 students there is a need to have adequate infrastructure to support this population. However, as circumstances change and schedules become more streamlined, more and more students are running into problems accessing the schools food services they are largely forced to pay for.
The College attempted to redo the meal plan system last semester, with the plan restricting meal swipe usage at the Bullet Hole and therefore encouraging students to eat more meals at Servo. This plan was quickly met with intense opposition from the student body, which left many of the changes abandoned. The effort to reduce wait times at the Bullet Hole aren’t delusional; most of campus would likely agree in saying that the lines are simply too long, and often when you need the convenience of easy, quick takeout, the wait renders the Bullet Hole obsolete.
There are students on this campus with exceptionally busy schedules. I know a student who doesn’t get a fifteen minute break from 8:30 a.m. until 7 p.m. due to classes, extracurriculars and work. When this student needs lunch the most, right before noon, the lines would guarantee a late arrival to their next class. While having all the classes scheduled at the same time intervals is largely beneficial for taking the classes one wants to take, the downside of a universal lunchtime significantly reduces flexibility.
While creating another dining option on campus would be an ideal solution, the financial limitations of such a suggestion make this practically impossible, and claiming that is the only alternative would lead us nowhere. However, there is a relatively insignificant policy that some students might not even know about that plays a huge role in this discussion: the mandatory one and a half hour wait in between meal swipes.
This policy, for those unaware, means that a student must wait a full ninety minutes in between meal swipes. While there may be some legitimate reason for this policy, such as preventing Higher Bred from being overrun every Sunday night just before the meal swipes reset for the week, I believe the true motivation is to encourage students to purchase a more expensive and expansive meal plan to ensure that they can have enough meals to get through the week.
If a student could use two meal swipes back to back they would be allowed to go to breakfast and grab their lunch ahead of time, ensuring that the wait for Bullet does not determine whether or not they have time to eat lunch that day. Students could get maximum use out of the meal plan they are forced to buy and wait times could be reduced by virtue of students having the option to grab their meals for later and store them for use whenever. This plan would not necessitate new construction, hiring additional staff or any other direct increase in cost. It would increase convenience for students and improve the ability of busy students to make use of their meal plan.
This article originally appeared on page 20 of the No. 1 October 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
