Less is Not Always More: The Issue with Eliminating JA/Freeman Dining

This opinions piece was written soon after the SGA Open Forum held on May 2nd, as detailed by Dean of Students Victor Arcelus in his email to students on April 26th announcing ideas of future changes to JA/Freeman dining halls, including turning JA/Freeman dining into a “pop-up” restaurant. On May 10th Dean Arcelus sent another email thanking students’ feedback and instead proposing to consolidate JA and Freeman dining areas into one south campus dining hall. 

“No doubt, my favorite thing about Conn is the food.”

My professor’s bewildered expression told me that that was an unusual statement, to say the least. However, for freshman me, that sentiment was entirely accurate and a subject which I took very seriously as I considered whether or not I wanted to transfer. After all, I had heard horror stories about other college campuses where the dining halls were few and far between and simply not open at convenient hours. Thus, when Professor Baldwin asked me to make a pros and cons list about staying at Conn, food was the first factor that came to mind. While I had a few suggestions on how to improve campus dining, I was quite satisfied with the food services at Connecticut College.

During my freshman year I lived in Harkness — one of the residence halls at the South end of campus. Although I sometimes envied the “Plex privilege” of my other classmates, living in South campus was a nice way to transition to college due to Harkness’ close proximity to dining halls and cafes, academic buildings, performance spaces, and other residence halls. My roommate and I usually ate at JA three times a day, only saving the long hike to Harris for the weekends when the JA and Freemen dining halls were closed.

On the weekends, I usually only ate one or two meals a day. I preferred to work in my room for the most part, and it simply did not make sense to make the ten-minute trek three times a day for meals that would vary from a few minutes to an hour in length. Harris’ inaccessibility turned from an annoyance to an inconvenience the day that I awoke one Saturday morning with nausea, dizziness, and knife-like cramps that caused me to buckle over when I tried to stand up. My roommate was gone for the day on a trip, and I didn’t have any other friends at the time who would be willing to bring me a bagel from Harris. Neither my roommate nor I had brought a refrigerator or microwave to campus, so we did not have much in terms of food in our room. After all, we were on the meal plan. That should have sufficed, right?

For a while, I contemplated what to do. My hunger slowly ate away at my already pained stomach, yet the idea of walking to Harris was simply not feasible. My one solace was that there was a coffee shop attached to Harkness that served bagels, pasta, and sandwiches. After taking Advil and some deep breaths, I shuffled my way downstairs and ordered a $7 pasta dish no bigger than the size of my phone. The sustenance made me feel a lot better — I suppose we do need food to survive, after all — and even though I stayed in bed for the rest of the day, I felt a lot better than I had that morning.

My experience made me think a lot about accessibility services on our campus. My illness that infamous Saturday morning became the impetus for writing a policy about accessibility for Roosevelt, our campus’ policy-making club. I believed that JA and/or Freeman should be open on the weekend so that in the case of injuries, illnesses, or inclement weather, students in South campus would not have to walk all the way to Harris just to receive the food they were promised when they paid the $3,000 dollars for their meal plan. So, when I learned that the administration wanted to replace JA and Freeman with a “pop-up” restaurant (which would not be a part of the meal plan), I was a bit peeved. Suddenly, the issue I faced every weekend during my first year of college would be faced daily by students living in South campus.

Dean Arcelus first introduced the plan at an SGA meeting, the details of which were shared to the rest of the campus via email on April 25th. Supposedly, only 3% of Conn students eat at JA/Freeman for most of their meals according to data from the meal-swipe machines, so the administration would like to “not only create new dining options but also provide the kind of social space on south campus that you have been asking for,” with the “you” referring to the participants in the “student social life focus groups” held by the Office of Student Engagement last year. 

At the very end of the email, Dean Arcelus adds that these funds would be reallocated to clubs and varsity athletics. Evidently, the renovation would be less about creating the social space that “you have been asking for” and more about saving money.

By the end of the day, I forgot about the email. Dean Arcelus said the proposed renovations were merely “ideas,” I thought that they probably wouldn’t be seriously considered for a while. After all, the campus had greater issues at hand—moldy dorms, faulty electrical wiring in KB, the general lack of accessibility on campus—than a randomly proposed change to the dining system. However, a week later the campus received an email from SGA to remind students of the Open Forum Dean Arcelus mentioned in his email to discuss the possible changes to JA and Freeman. The author of the email (sent April 30th) notes, “We are sure the announcement may have prompted a lot of questions, excitement, and nervousness.” A more accurate list of nouns would have been “outrage, distrust, and confusion.” To elaborate, a whiteboard advertising the Forum stood in the main entrance of the library urging students to protest the plan. “This open forum is being held in the middle of finals, when most students are too busy to attend,” read one comment. “NOT EVERYONE CAN AFFORD THIS COLLEGE, LET ALONE EXTRA FOOD COSTS!!” exclaimed another. Some students took to social media, urging their followers to attend the meeting.

The forum was held on Thursday, May 2 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at Ernst Common Room. Since I work until 6 on Thursdays, I walked in a half-hour late. Before the official completion of the meeting, I noticed that almost all of the 30 or so students (mostly SGA members) who were initially in the room had left. Perhaps they too had jobs to go to or meetings to attend, or perhaps they simply thought the meeting was going on for too long. Either way, by the time I spoke up, there were only about ten students remaining in the room.

I had not planned to speak. Most of the well-articulated comments had already emphasized my point of view. One student noted how big and anxiety-inducing Harris is, and how students with eating disorders find JA a better place to eat without feeling watched. Another person noted how dancers, singers, and actors often have rehearsals from 5 to 10 pm during tech week, and how their half-hour window of break is maximized when they eat at JA since the hall is a two-minute walk from Palmer and Evans. Athletes who live in South campus noted how they cannot get meal passes for breakfast, and that eating at JA helps them make it through morning practices. A couple of students asked questions about the plan and made suggestions on how to make the changes more accessible to affected students, such as keeping at least one of the adjacent dining halls. A student who works in JA asked how the workers would be affected by the change. Luckily, the dining staff would not be fired and would still work the same number of hours that they normally do, just on a different schedule (although the fate of the student workers seemed a bit more unclear). Other students who supported the plan had more of a the-college-said-this-will-happen-and-we-will-learn-to-adjust mindset than a this-is-what-a-majority-of-students-want mindset — even though the proposed changes are meant to enhance the student experience.

It was one of these latter comments that sent my heart racing and blood furiously pumping through my veins. The idea that someone thought that the concerns voiced were whiny complaints was enough to set off my fight-or-flight response. Almost without realizing it, I lifted my hand so the monitor could add me to the queue of students waiting to ask questions.

“We could talk about theoretical situations all we want,” I stated, “but I actually lived in Harkness for all of last year, and since JA and Freemen were closed during the weekends, I know what it’s like to live in the situation we are now proposing.”

The fact of the matter is that some students do not have extra money to spend on expensive pop-up restaurant food, and some students with injuries or disabilities do not have the energy to walk to Harris for every meal. Sure, we can try to prepare for this situation, but what of the incoming first-years and transfer students who have no idea what our dining situation is like? What about these first-years and transfers who will be going through a tumultuous transitional period, where food and proper nourishment are not only important but essential to their survival at college? The limit on affordable and accessible dining options will only encourage students to skip meals, eat less, and disorder their eating habits, impacting their performance and experience at Connecticut College. Why are we asking students to prioritize the whims of the college over their own wellbeing and health?

When the Forum ended, I exited Blaustein with my friend Sophia. My skin still felt hot from the frustration of other’s comments and the nervousness that comes from speaking one’s mind in front of important people. Yet, as I took in a deep breath, a calm sort of gratitude settled upon me. One year ago today, I was going through a terrible depressive episode and felt uncertain about my decision to stay at the college. Now, my opinion has shifted to a much brighter point of view.

Nothing is set in stone. Attitudes change, people change, lives can change. As much as the college policies frustrate me at times, they are still subject to change. We can change them.

I thought back to the day when I met with Professor Baldwin to discuss whether or not I should stay at Conn. Ironically, and unfortunately, she would eventually leave due to the limitations of the College’s tenure track process.  

“If you decide to stay here, you could really shake things up,” she said with a knowing chuckle. Of all the words she spoke to me during our few meetings, those were the ones that have stuck with me to this day.

I may not be nearly as certain now as I was freshman year in the idea that the best thing about Conn is its food. However, I still know my decision to stay here was precipitated by a vow to make the campus better in whichever way I could. We all enjoy complaining about the campus from time to time — I would argue that it’s a necessary part of college life. However, we need to make sure that our words are backed by actions.

A few weeks after the forum on May 10th, Dean Arcelus sent out a follow-up email stating that, per student feedback, a South campus dining hall will in fact remain open. JA and Freeman will combine into one larger dining space in the JA residence hall. The campaigning of the students will in fact have made a difference on the decisions of the College.

But that was on May 10th. The April 30th version of me remained hopeful that a student-triggered outcome would manifest. 

As we walked from the meeting, I turned to Sophia.  “Want to get dinner?”

She smiled. “Sure! How about JA?”