Meal plans limit student flexibility
ByJillian Law
jlaw766my.madonna.edu
As a campus resident, Wayne Breckenridge III, a Secondary Education major with a Social Studies focus, spends almost all his time at Madonna University. Between going to class, putting in hours for his scholarship, and engaging in campus events, there is little time or money for anything extra, especially going to eat off campus. However, with Madonna’s new meal plans, he and other Madonna students will have even more limited options when it comes to eating on campus.
Madonna has launched new meal plans for residential students. Under the new plans, meals will be mainly used in the University Center Dining Hall and can by only used at Take 5 from 7 to 10 p.m. Otherwise, Crusader Cash can be used at the Dining Hall, Take 5, or Stacks.
Residential students now have three options for meal plans:
These new meal plans are a shift from Madonna’s previous plans, which offered a block of meals for the entire semester to be spent as much or as little as students pleased. Now, under the new meal plan, students must use one meal for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner on any given day. Extra meals can no longer be used for friends or guests.
Under the new meal plan, students like Breckenridge with Meal Plan C, the cheapest of Madonna’s meal plans, only have two meals a day and nothing for the weekend.
“If you run out of your meal block swipes for the week, you have no options for the weekend because the places that accepts points is closed for the weekend,” said Breckenridge. “I am literally losing weight, and my blood sugar is getting low because of the need to manage my meals per week.”
Kederick Davis, a Broadcast and Cinema Arts major, also dislikes the changes to the meal plans and feels that the changes in Madonna’s meal plans are negatively impacting students.
“As a full-time student as well as an athlete, the meal times set by the school does not allow for me to eat consistently throughout the week,” said Davis, who also has Meal Plan C. “So, I miss meals, or I have to go once a day and load up on food.”
With more limited flexibility and a reduced number of meals, it is understandable why Madonna’s new meal plans are disliked by some of its students.
“To be entirely honest, I hate the new changes because it restricts my freedom with my meals and points. If I want to spend a number of points in a week, let me do that,” said Breckenridge. “The least Madonna University can do is give me the freedom to eat when I want and how ever I want within the confines of my meal plan.”
“I don't like that they are charging students more money for this year’s meal plan and limiting us on how many meals we can eat,” added Davis. “It’s just ridiculous, and I really don't like how the meal plan was handled this year.”
jlaw766my.madonna.edu
As a campus resident, Wayne Breckenridge III, a Secondary Education major with a Social Studies focus, spends almost all his time at Madonna University. Between going to class, putting in hours for his scholarship, and engaging in campus events, there is little time or money for anything extra, especially going to eat off campus. However, with Madonna’s new meal plans, he and other Madonna students will have even more limited options when it comes to eating on campus.
Madonna has launched new meal plans for residential students. Under the new plans, meals will be mainly used in the University Center Dining Hall and can by only used at Take 5 from 7 to 10 p.m. Otherwise, Crusader Cash can be used at the Dining Hall, Take 5, or Stacks.
Residential students now have three options for meal plans:
- Meal Plan A--19 meals a week plus $60 in Crusader Cash per semester
- Meal Plan--14 meals a week plus $165 in Crusader Cash per semester
- Meal Plan C--10 meals a week plus $225 in Crusader Cash.
These new meal plans are a shift from Madonna’s previous plans, which offered a block of meals for the entire semester to be spent as much or as little as students pleased. Now, under the new meal plan, students must use one meal for breakfast, one for lunch, and one for dinner on any given day. Extra meals can no longer be used for friends or guests.
Under the new meal plan, students like Breckenridge with Meal Plan C, the cheapest of Madonna’s meal plans, only have two meals a day and nothing for the weekend.
“If you run out of your meal block swipes for the week, you have no options for the weekend because the places that accepts points is closed for the weekend,” said Breckenridge. “I am literally losing weight, and my blood sugar is getting low because of the need to manage my meals per week.”
Kederick Davis, a Broadcast and Cinema Arts major, also dislikes the changes to the meal plans and feels that the changes in Madonna’s meal plans are negatively impacting students.
“As a full-time student as well as an athlete, the meal times set by the school does not allow for me to eat consistently throughout the week,” said Davis, who also has Meal Plan C. “So, I miss meals, or I have to go once a day and load up on food.”
With more limited flexibility and a reduced number of meals, it is understandable why Madonna’s new meal plans are disliked by some of its students.
“To be entirely honest, I hate the new changes because it restricts my freedom with my meals and points. If I want to spend a number of points in a week, let me do that,” said Breckenridge. “The least Madonna University can do is give me the freedom to eat when I want and how ever I want within the confines of my meal plan.”
“I don't like that they are charging students more money for this year’s meal plan and limiting us on how many meals we can eat,” added Davis. “It’s just ridiculous, and I really don't like how the meal plan was handled this year.”
