Getting What We Pay For

There’s no such thing as a free lunch (or dinner)—even at Harvard. According to a recently published report by the Committee on House Life (CHL), there is no way to extend dining hall hours without increasing the $4,618 per semester board fee paid by each student. This led the Committee to conclude that, “Given cost constraints, the request to lengthen dining hours in each House is not feasible.”

We disagree. We’re willing to pay a bit more for better service, and we’d hazard to guess that a vast majority of students would agree. Unless we’re willing to fork over the cash at some point, the system will never be fixed.

It is simply unacceptable that no dining hall is open past 7:30 p.m. at a college where, according to Undergraduate Council (UC) survey data, over 50 percent of undergraduates stay up past 2 a.m. Sure, there’s always brain break, but even the most parsimonious undergrad wouldn’t call some cookies and an apple a healthy or filling meal—and that’s assuming the brain break food lasts long enough.

There’s certainly no disagreement about the benefits of more reasonable hours. UC survey data also indicates that 87 percent of students would eat past 7:15 p.m. if hours were expanded. As is, students are forced to spend their own funds on quick, and often unhealthy, late-night meals; on any given night, there will likely be more students eating in Lamont than in Leverett.

So if the problem is clear and the solution readily apparent, why the hesitation? Change costs money. It would be naïve to continue searching for a miraculous, cost-free, panacea for dining hall insolvency. The logic is fairly simple: If dining halls are to be open later, Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) will require more funding. And that’s exactly what they should get. Budgeting is about determining what priorities need attention, and dining hall hours have been a thorn in the side of the student body that finally needs to be removed.

Clearly, the administration and HUDS should work to find the most cost-effective way to expand student dining options. Staggering dining hall closing hours or providing more substantial food at brain breaks might be more economically feasible than an across-the-board extension of mealtimes. But whatever the decision, one thing is clear: the status quo must be changed.

The Committee’s report also comes out against a more flexible system of dining plans, in which students could choose how many meals to eat at Harvard. Here, the CHL’s conclusion is sound. One of Harvard’s greatest assets is its tightly knit residential communities, which are bound together largely through shared meals. The flexible meal plan proposal has the potential to turn Harvard’s dining halls from House kitchens into House restaurants.

Yet if we seek to build and maintain House community, an obvious first step is to implement more student-friendly dining hall hours. As with all questions of budgeting, we are faced with a choice. We could stick with the current system, and continue to complain about irrational and restrictive mealtimes indefinitely, or we could bite the bullet, pay the cost, and reap the benefits.