On Marketplace alone

Many Duke students may complain about the quality or variety of food at the Marketplace, but most everyone agrees that the first-year dining plan is an integral part of community building during students’ freshman year.

However, the newly released Socioeconomic Diversity Initiative report shows that the dining plan is “inadequate and restrictive” for lower-income students. The first-year meal plan puts students on a shoestring food point budget, and students on financial aid cannot afford to eat often on West Campus or off campus due to limited food points. This becomes especially burdensome during lunchtime, when it may be inconvenient or impossible for freshmen to return to the Marketplace to use their breakfast equivalency.

The current structure of the first-year dining plan is unfair. Although communal eating at the Marketplace is vital for the freshman experience, it must not come at the undue expense of low-income students. The first-year dining plan should be restructured to accomplish both goals: community building and fairness.

Dinner and brunch are perhaps the most important meals for first-year students to share together. Evenings and weekend afternoons are generally more leisurely times for Duke students. Without class, most students can be expected to be on East Campus during dining hall hours. In addition, the buffet-style dinner and brunch at the Marketplace encourages a more social and prolonged eating experience. The first-year dining plan should primarily aim to attract freshmen to the Marketplace for these meals.

Breakfast and lunch are a different story. A variety of schedules and eating habits means that the first-year dining plan must allow ample flexibility in dining locations. The current plan does this for breakfast: Freshmen are allowed to swap their breakfast swipe for a $4 equivalency at the Great Hall. However, a lunch equivalency for use on West Campus does not yet exist. As a result, students more conscious of their spending are often forced to take the bus back to East Campus for lunch or to spend precious food points on West Campus.

A lunch equivalency at the Great Hall could enhance dining fairness. This way, students of all financial background will be able to access—minimally—a quality and conveniently located lunch. Since Bon Appetit Management Company runs operations at the Great Hall as well as the Marketplace, the $4 equivalency will not be a sunk cost in an already financially shaky Duke Dining.

In addition to extending the lunch equivalency to the Great Hall, the University should also investigate dropping meal equivalency amounts. In recent years, the swipe equivalencies for breakfast and lunch have dropped from approximately $6 to $4. At the same time, the ticket price for a Marketplace dinner has been increasing. In light of the recent dining subsidy, the University should investigate as to why Bon Appetit’s costs keep rising year after year.

The first-year dining plan must strike a balance between community building, fairness and choice. However, when lunchtime rolls around, low-income students get none of these three. The Socioeconomic Diversity Initiative report cites one student, who says, “It’s a status thing to be able to say you don’t eat at the Marketplace.” Status should not be the ethos of the first-year dining plan, and a lunch equivalency at the Great Hall can put a dent in this problem.