By Joshua Luckey ’23, First-Year Representative on Student Life
The Student Life Committee engages with the greater student body to address issues that most directly and immediately affect our lives on and off campus, including topics such as housing, campus safety, and student clubs. Last block, the committee received input concerning meal plans for students living in the two small houses on campus, Fleming and Salazar.
According to Colorado College’s contract with Bon Appétit, juniors and seniors living in the small houses are required to be on Meal Plan A, with exceptions granted only in select cases, such as for students with disabilities, dietary restrictions, or financial restrictions. As a result, the majority of small house residents are essentially required to eat exclusively on-campus if they do not want to or cannot afford to spend extra money off-campus.
The consensus among these students is that CC should make Meal Plan A optional for juniors and seniors living in small houses to make it easier and more affordable for them to eat off-campus or to cook their own food regardless of where they live. At $4,700 per year, Meal Plan A makes it far too expensive for small house students to spend outside money on groceries at the supermarket or at off-campus restaurants.
Meanwhile, students in apartments and off-campus housing live on partial or no meal plan, which are far more accessible options. Especially in East Campus housing, students are more likely to cook their own food or eat off-campus on a regular basis, which carries the potential to exclude small house students from social outings and activities due to a lack of affordability.
The Student Life Committee is currently working to address this discrepancy for juniors and seniors living in Fleming and Salazar. We believe that making apartment meal plans available could actually alleviate the lack of community that is a common complaint within these small houses.
For more information or to voice a concern about this issue, reach out to Fran Grandonico ’22, the Vice President of Student Life. (f_grandonico@coloradocollege.edu).