Student dining services on weekends will change starting in September, administrators announced on March 14. Beginning this fall, only residence halls designated as luncheon centers will serve meals on weekends, and there will be no "M&Cs" (snacks) in any residence hall on Friday and Saturday nights. Nonluncheon centers will close after breakfast on Fridays and remain closed, except for Sunday brunch, until breakfast each Monday. Students will be able to dine in any luncheon center they choose.
The changes are being made as part of an overall effort to bring the College into financial equilibrium. Administrators were asked in fall 1995 to find ways to reduce dining services costs, and director Dale Hennessey proposed making changes to weekend dining since usually 50 percent or fewer students eat on campus those days. The specific changes were developed following consultation between Hennessey, director of residential life Michele Rosenthal, and students. For example, it was a student suggestion to serve Sunday brunch in all residence halls rather than serving Sunday dinner in every hall.
The changes will save the College an estimated $92,000 annually. Some of the savings come from a reduction in student jobs. Business manager Wayne Gass and interim dean of the College John Rapoport noted that many of these jobs will be reallocated to other areas of the campus. "Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing an appropriate level of student jobs," they stressed in a written statement. In addition, the changes will mean a loss of three dining services staff positions. Hennessey said, "In anticipation of the approval of this change, two of the three positions that became vacant recently were filled with temporary workers. I am optimistic that the third position can be handled by attrition rather than a layoff, since this has been our experience in the past."
Rapoport and Gass's memo to students noted their hope that the changes will not only save money, but will also bring "additional benefits including the opportunity for students to explore dining facilities other than their own and greater interaction between students across campus."
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