For the first week of freshman year, the fro-yo shines like manna from heaven, the omelette station seems gourmet, and the chicken fingers taste like none you’ve ever nibbled on before. By the end of fall semester, though, many have had it with Leo’s. They’ve settled for cheesesteaks eight times, spent $300 on Chinese food delivery and only used half of the meals they paid for. In other words, the numerous limitations of the Georgetown dining system have become painfully clear. But the Corp’s bid to expand the meal plan to Vital Vittles has recently given hope to hungry Hoyas. Since the administration mandates that freshmen and sophomores purchase a meal plan, it must allow more flexibility to ensure that we can actually get our money’s worth.
Despite its relatively monotonous fare, the Leo’s experience costs students a price-gouging average of $9 per meal —assuming students actually use all of the meals purchased, which many don’t. This rigid plan doesn’t make distinctions between a feast and a light meal between classes and provides limited to-go options.
In addition to providing more varied and palatable selections than the dining hall, Vital Vittles gives you more food for your money. For those who tend to eat late at night and are unexcited by the congealed leftovers offered at Late Night or those who simply don’t have the time to go to Leo’s—particularly the forsaken denizens of Darnall and Henle—Vittles is a much more convenient option. It would reduce the number of prepaid meals wasted and the amount of money students need to spend out of their own pockets to eat.
The Corp’s proposal is a simple and obvious move that the University should take, but it is only the first step toward creating a dining system flexible enough to suit student life at Georgetown. A debit system, in which food is purchased a la carte, would enable students to use their plans at a variety of locations around campus on everything from fast food to coffee, without throwing away money on unused meals every week. A Leo’s swipe would still be all you can eat, but that competition could encourage it to provide food that is actually worth braving the bitter cold of a D.C. winter.
While this sort of culinary utopia may seem quixotic, this is the level of convenience which many other schools, such as Boston College and George Washington, already enjoy. But the change has to start somewhere. So the next time you’re in Vittles, sign the petition to expand the meal plan, with a smile and a flourish.
