Students who had already signed up for a Block Plan began using their meals Monday at a la carte dining locations after Northwestern decided to honor the original wording of the meal contract.
At the same time, about 15 people gathered at The Rock to demand that all students who switch to the Block Plan be able to use their meals outside the dining halls.
After acknowledging Sunday that errors made in the meal contract, Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis said students signed up for the Block A or B plans prior to Monday would receive meal equivalency for the remainder of the academic year, as stated in the contract.
Banis said he could not comment on how much money NU or SodexhoUSA would lose due to the reinstatement of meal equivalency.
At the rally, students who had not signed up for the Block Plan before Monday expressed frustration that they could not take advantage of this ruling. Consequently, those who chose to switch later will not be able to use their meals at dining locations such as Willie’s Food Court, Willie’s Too, Lisa’s Cafe, Tech Express and the new Sbarro.
Students painted The Rock black and white before the rally Sunday night and gathered there at 4 p.m. to voice their discontent.
“It’s really unfair that they won’t grant meal equivalency to people who haven’t already signed up for the Block Plan,” said Dan Macleod, a Weinberg sophomore. “I didn’t sign up for it because I wanted to wait and examine my choices when I got back to campus.”
Macleod said the university’s decision to honor the contract evaded rather than resolved the issue.
“It was more administrators trying to cover themselves legally than actually deal with the issue,” he said.
Rally organizer Michael Cohen said while he was disappointed, but not surprised, by the low turnout.
Cohen, a Weinberg sophomore, said he was expecting Sbarro to provide free pizza for students rallying to bring back meal equivalency but said the manager changed his mind after learning of the university’s decision.
“I’m pretty much happy, but some students were unfortunate not to switch to the Block Plan on time,” said Cohen, who added he does not plan to pursue the issue any further.
“It’s not going to be as big of an issue because the decision has defused people who really care about it,” said Communication senior Stephen Clark, who joined in the protest. “Some students are still angry, but not nearly as many. Since it’s mainly an issue that’s driven by selfishness, the movement has just lost a huge amount of momentum.”
Associated Student Government Student Services representative Eileen Keeley stopped by the rally to learn about the current meal plan issues. She said she believes meal equivalency is a good option because many students dislike the dining hall food or cannot orient their schedules around dining hall hours.
Keeley said she does not see a way to make meal equivalency financially beneficial for students but added that it may not matter to some.
“What the last two weeks have shown us is that students would rather be ripped off a little more and have meal equivalency,” she said.
