{shortcode-5e3175afd38e8a39278094b97c895054a800b205}I was having lunch with my friends in the Dunster dhall when I took the liberty of reading the HUDS newsletter placed upon each table. I noticed that BoardPlus was still $65 per semester this year, and I began to think: how long has that been the amount of BoardPlus each student has received each semester? After failing to find a Crimson article about the BoardPlus rate being raised (an oversight that would NEVER occur today), I decided to visit my trusty friend, the Wayback Machine.

I started by looking at February 2003, the month I was born. At the moment of my entrance into the world, the HUDS BoardPlus rate was $50 a month. Side note, this website layout is very fun.

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The value of this today, according to the first website I found, is $85. And this is BEFORE the increase.

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So, I looked for when the change occurred. In 2006, the BoardPlus rate was still $50 a semester.

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This is the equivalent of $78 in today’s money.

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But between 2006 and 2007, something changed. HUDS BoardPlus became $65, the rate we know and love today.

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This was the equivalent of… Can you believe it?!

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Ninety-eight dollars! That is almost exactly 150 percent of our current BoardPlus rate. Our BoardPlus allowance has been the same through several financial crises and a pandemic. Coffee and mozz sticks are more expensive than ever, and HUDS turns a blind eye. Not to mention that the price of board as an undergraduate has almost doubled since 2007.

So, basically, I should be getting 150 percent of the free coffee I am now… just saying…