Dartmouth Student Government’s top priority this year is “undoubtedly” dining, according to DSG President Sabik Jawad ’26.
DSG has been meeting with Dartmouth Dining “almost weekly” this term to advocate for usage of multiple swipes in one meal period, meal plan adjustments and changes to meal combos, according to Jawad, who ran for student body president on a platform emphasizing dining reform.
The focus on dining comes after a chaotic spring during which students raised concerns about rising prices, changing menus and automation. Food affordability has been the “top issue” in DSG’s annual Student Census for the last three years, Jawad added.
“There was a lot of student discontent last spring, and it became very obvious that it was emblematic of larger concerns with dining,” Jawad said. “The College is taking it very seriously following last spring, and that’s why I’m very hopeful about working with them this year.”
Jawad said that Dartmouth Dining has “shown interest to a certain extent” in working with DSG to make it possible to pay for meal combos at Collis Cafe and Late Night at the Class of 1953 Commons using dining dollars. Currently, students only benefit from combo discounts if they pay via meal swipe.
DSG and Dartmouth Dining are also “discussing” restoring students’ ability to use two swipes in one meal period, Jawad added.
The current meal plan structure requires students living on campus to participate in one of four available meal plans, each offering a different mix of swipes and dining dollars.
Meal equivalencies allow students to choose to use their swipes for entrance to the buffet-style ’53 Commons or for a certain value in dining dollars at on-campus cafés. The equivalencies give $6.25 for breakfast, $8.50 for lunch, $10.00 for dinner and $6.25 for late night dining, according to the Dartmouth Dining website.
Meal prices are determined based on a “range of factors, including food and labor costs, vendor pricing, operating hours and student feedback,” Dining Director Jon Plodzik wrote in an email statement.
Meal equivalencies are “set in ways that keep them fair, affordable and aligned with the value of a meal at ’53 Commons,” Plodzik added.
Students have complained that these equivalency values are insufficient to purchase a reasonable amount of food, despite rising food prices, in what Jawad calls a “double-sided squeeze” of students using meal plans.
“Year over year the cost of the meal plan [and the pricing at dining locations] is adjusted according to inflation, but the structure of the meal plans — the number of swipes or the amount of [dining dollars] — isn’t,” Jawad said.
Students lack “flexibility” in shopping for alternate food options, DSG East Wheelock senator Honiely Aviles ’28 said.
“If you live on campus, you have to have a meal plan, and it’s really hard to find one — especially when they’re all now equally priced — that actually meets your needs,” Aviles said, referring to the $2,375 per term cost of both the 115-swipe and 80-swipe plans, the cheapest options available for students living on campus.
“If [students] would rather cook their own meals, they should be able to do that,” Aviles said.
On Nov. 2, the DSG Senate unanimously approved a proposal to create a dining advisory council, one of Jawad’s presidential campaign promises. The council, which is set to start meeting formally during winter term, will “increase student involvement on some of the financial sides of dining,” Jawad said.
This new council would bring together representatives from the Office of Financial Aid, the Board of Trustees, senior administrators and dining representatives, according to Jawad.
“The issue right now is that there’s no way for students to be involved with all of [those offices] at the same time,” Jawad said.
“Dartmouth Dining continues to look for ways to make meal plans responsive to students’ needs and evolving dining habits,” Plodzik wrote.
Correction Appended (Nov 14, 1:48 p.m.): A previous version of this article erroneously identified Sabik Jawad ’26 as a member of the Class of 2027.
