Free food is always nice, but the days of scouting out events for food are over. For first-years, at least.
Starting Sept. 11, first-years can eat dinner all seven days of the week and still have brunch on the weekends. Previously, first-years would need to skip two dinners during the week to use those saved swipes for weekend brunch at Marketplace. Many students were excited about the change, noting that they would not need to worry as much about their next meal.
“People ran out of our dorm in Pegram and just started screaming outside on the quad,” first-year Jamal Burns said. “They were like, ‘Yes!’”
First-year Jabril Wilson said the change is “just amazing.” Wilson said he enjoys that he will no longer need to budget his meals throughout the week.
Burns and Wilson both said the former policy led them to search for free food, often in a group with their friends. They even created a group message and notified each other of free food events on campus. Burns said he also had trouble keeping track of his swipes, so he would skip several days, unsure if he needed to save a swipe for later.
“I never really understood why Duke did that anyway,” Burns said. “This just seems more logical. The meal plan before was super complicated.”
First-year Alina Perez also said planning her meals with seven brunch or dinner swipes was difficult. Although she was able to find free dinners in the first week, it became more difficult as classes started. She said she was also very aware of the limited amount of food points.
“[The change has] definitely taken a weight off my shoulders,” Perez said.
Some students also said their upperclassmen friends had mixed reactions to the change, since it was not implemented in previous years. First-year Valeria Silombria said her resident assistant was happy for the first-years, but also jealous. Wilson said his RA had much the same reaction.
“They were like, ‘I am high-key upset about your meal plan,’” Wilson said.
Robert Coffey, director of dining services, wrote in an email that the change was prompted by "feedback from our customers."
“I like that they listened to people’s complaints,” Silombria said. “I thought that was really cool of them. They really care about their students, and they paid attention.”
However, first-years Natalie Wilkinson and Daniel Kingsbury said though they like the change, they feel the meal plan could still be improved by including more options, particularly on West Campus, for equivalency.
Students who miss breakfast can only apply a breakfast equivalency of $4.55 at the Skillet on West or lunch equivalency at Marketplace. If they miss dinner, they can apply a dinner equivalency of $8.75 on the same day at Trinity Cafe. Even these are limited to specific times that students may find difficult to work into their schedules.
“We will continue to monitor plans H and I moving forward,” Coffey wrote, in reference to the first-year meal plans. “Our goal is to provide options for students that desire a meal plan to cover all meals, a plan that provides more flexibility.”
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