In Search of a More Just Dining Experience

Fed up with being an Annenberg satellite, Adams recently shut its dining hall doors to first-years for the first time. Last week, the Adams House Committee (HoCo) unilaterally decided to extend its restrictions on Dartboard and his first-year friends for all lunch and dinner hours. The most restrictive dining hall policy in Adams’ history—Dartboard does not take the ban lightly. That the Adams HoCo was able to impose the ban without consulting affected first-years and non-Adamsians calls the policy into question.

First-years in the Union dorms—where Dartboard makes his home—and dorms on the far side of the Yard used to eat in Adams because of its convenient location. But with the new restriction, Dartboard and his marooned comrades will be forced to make the longer hike to Annenberg or other House dining halls.

Some Adamsians justify their new restriction by citing the now-mythical “Annenberg experience”—first-years mingling, engaging in profound discussions and leaving the meal as best friends. Yet Dartboard thinks that the real Annenberg experience for Union dorm residents—trekking through the cold only to sit with roommates—is not all that it’s cracked up to be.

“Eating in a prettier dining hall [Annenberg] is not worth the inconvenience,” said Robert Donnenfeld ’07. “And as far as meeting new people, it’s probably more beneficial to make upperclassman friends anyway.”

The real “Adams experience” is definitely no substitute for the convenience of Adams. When it’s miserable outside, or when it’s exam time—and walking to Annenberg simply isn’t an option for Dartboard—many first-years will have to wash their board money down the drain and order takeout from the Kong. Whereas Dartboard used to frequent Adams during winter snowstorms, he’ll now be forced to seek pay-for food in bad weather. Hurt by the new policy, Dartboard feels first-years should have been consulted in the decision-making process.

Upperclass Houses that are affected by the change also should have been consulted. The new restriction has hit Quincy hard. With first-years who used to eat at Adams flocking to Quincy, House residents and dining hall staff face overcrowding and overwork. In setting the new restriction without Quincy students’ input, Adams merely shifted its problem to another house.

The Adams HoCo, in unilaterally setting the new restriction, moved its overcrowding problem instead of solving it—and has caused Dartboard a serious inconvenience. Actually reaching a long-term solution that meets the needs of Adamsians, first-years and other upperclass students will require broader collaboration. An inter-House committee, charged with handling issues that affect students from different houses, could create a fairer and better solution to the dining hall crunch.