Cash is King, Unless It's Crimson

Last year, the College shifted toward a policy of providing students who are staying on campus over spring break with Crimson Cash, rather than the cash stipends that were available the previous year. Then-Associate Dean of Students David R. Friedrich noted then that the College was “piloting different approaches to support students during breaks.” The College has since stuck with Crimson Cash, however, and it is unclear if they are considering a different approach.

Following the departure of Liquiteria and Boloco from Harvard Square, the number of food options for using Crimson Cash off-campus has dwindled down to just eight restaurants and eateries, along with CVS. Neither of the eateries that replaced Liquiteria and Boloco—Pokéworks and Zambrero—currently accepts or has publicly indicated plans to accept Crimson Cash in the future. Of those eight off-campus locations, two options, Sami’s Wrap & Roll and H-Mart, are located at the Longwood Medical School campus and in Central Square, respectively, making them difficult to access for most students on campus. Beyond that, Henrietta’s Table is less than affordable, especially for students looking to stretch $25 a day across three meals. The Clover in the Science Center, one of the few external vendors currently operating on Harvard’s campus, does not yet accept Crimson Cash, despite a promise from its CEO and founder Ayr Muir in Sept. 2017 that the location would accept Crimson Cash “soon.” Greenhouse Cafe, which Clover replaced following the renovation of the Science Center, previously accepted both Crimson Cash and BoardPlus.

The options for on-campus dining aren’t much better. While the Crimson Cash website lists a plethora of on-campus food options, few were open over spring break. In an email sent to students who received the spring break grant, just six retail dining operations were listed as being open during the break: those at Northwest Labs, the Kennedy School, the School of Public Health, Bauer, the LISE Center, and the Observatory Cart. The School of Public Health is far from the Cambridge campus, leaving just five options for students in the Square, all with limited hours. Notably, none of these locations are open for dinner, with two locations only serving coffee and pastries and most of the locations closing before 3 p.m.

While some Houses and offices like the Bureau of Study Council hosted meals for students on campus, these events were far and few between and certainly not enough to sustain students throughout break. It is unacceptable for students who are on campus over the break to have different levels of access to dining options just on the basis of the House in which they live. Moreover, freshmen had the opportunity to borrow kitchen equipment as part of the Freshman Dean’s Office’s rental program, but upperclass students were not afforded that same luxury, and many House kitchens don’t have their own cooking supplies.

On top of the shortcomings of the Crimson Cash system, this past week’s inclement weather further inconvenienced students staying on campus. Not only were events rescheduled, like the BSC’s pizza lunch, but the weather made getting to on-campus dining options more difficult, and a variety of off-campus options closed as a result of the weather.

Harvard University Dining Services staff deserve time off, and keeping dining halls open over the break may not be a feasible option to increase food options for students on campus over break. Offering students cash grants, hosting more meals for students in the Houses or at University offices, or increasing the number of locations that accept Crimson Cash would be concrete steps the College can take towards addressing the difficulty students face when they remain on campus for breaks.

Not being able to afford to travel or go home over break is already ostracizing enough for under-resourced students; limiting food options for those same students is even worse. If the College is truly committed to increasing socioeconomic diversity at Harvard, it is obligated to put its money where its mouth is and genuinely support those students once they get to campus.

Ben I. Sorkin ’20 is a Sociology concentrator in Leverett House.