Students were told that the college has adjusted the pricing of meals to “set” costs, in an effort to address the cost food on campus, but Principia College students say they’re still confused about the changes. 

The college president announced that a meal at lunch will now cost students 4.50 points and a meal at dinner is 5.50 points. A “meal” is made up of an entrée and two sides. Lunch entrees are priced at 2.5 points and dinner entrees at 3.5 points, while sides are 1 point each. These prices are after the 33% student discount. 

Additionally, all prices on food items will be clearly marked, according to a Watercooler announcement from College President Dr. Daniel Norton who said this change was made “to ensure everyone can make more informed purchasing decisions.” 

The Piasa Pub is set to change its pricing as well. The announcement said student discounts will apply there and students will be reimbursed to compensate for what they had previously purchased this semester from the Pub.

 “Points will be added back to student accounts according to the amount of dollars spent in the Pub this fall,” according to Norton. This process is expected to take up to two weeks.

These changes come after months of complaints from students, faculty, and staff. However, Students say they are still confused about who prompted the changes, how the new entree system works, and if points will be added back to their accounts. 

“I don’t really understand,” sophomore Jonathan Pombo said, “if you wanna get like a second serving, does that mean it’s another five points on top of that, or does it work differently?” 

The Pilot reported last month that faculty had taken their own steps to tackle food insecurity at the college after food costs increased, but the point system did not change, leaving many students low on points unexpectedly. 

College Senior Olivia Scott said she felt “betrayed.” 

“For the last three and a half years,” Scott said, “essentially, I have been operating with the standard plan, I’ve been able to successfully afford 16 weeks worth of meals with plenty of points left over, and yet this semester operating on the same plan under the same purchasing habits I had for three years, was now finding myself rapidly running out of points.” 

Scott thought trying to have conversations with dining was “I think the most discouraging point of it.”

“I was really grateful,” Scott said, “There were some people who took my complaints very seriously, like staff and faculty outside of dining services, like my professors, as well as my athletic coaches, my RC, Tina [Hussey], but those were legitimately the only people listening to us. to all of our complaints.”

Freshman Madeleine Waters said she is nervous about running out of points. While she knows she can add more points, she is “confused on how to add more points if I do run out.”

In response to changes needing to be made in dining services Senior Brett Walker responded, “It’s just so ridiculous. Are you kidding me?” Walker said that his eating habits have changed because he has had to force himself to eat less due to a shortage of points. 

“I eat less,” Walker said, “I lose weight every time I come to school and I’m always hungry and I am over budget all the time. Currently, I’m below a hundred points now and I have cut back everything.”

Junior Arianna Williams said she is at less than 100 points, though her meal plan and eating habits have not changed since freshman year. 

“It was definitely a change from last year,” Williams said, “because I had at least like 300-400 points at the end of last year,” she continued, “I have no points… I’ve never been at 100 [points] for the past three years I’ve been here. It’s always been 200, 300.” Williams shared that at the end of past semesters she could stock up on drinks or snacks from the dining room, or share her points to help others. Williams said, “now I can’t even do that. I’m scrambling for my own points.” 

Williams is also confused about the refund from the pub. “Are they gonna give us our point back or is it just up in the air?” Williams said, “Did they say it just so we can be quiet? That’s my question.”

Sophomore Emmanuel Mazhuhwa stated that prices had changed and students weren’t informed at the beginning of the semester. Mazhuhwa said the lack of communication, “makes me feel like shit.” He continued, “I feel like it’s a good step in the right direction, but I feel like it’s too late for this semester. I’m out of points, I’m not gonna be able to use that system that they have going on.”

Freshman Madeline Dilley disagrees with the new changes. 

“I don’t really agree with it,” Dilley said, “because I think certain things shouldn’t be worth the same amount of points. I feel like pasta and sauce shouldn’t necessarily be the same as a regular entrée. It kind of discourages me from getting those sorts of things.” 

Sophomore Miyala Gallegos is confused on why the changes are only happening now. Gallegos said, “my freshman year, which was last year, a lot of freshmen were like, ‘I don’t have any points,’ and they would come to me [to feed them,] because I had a surplus amount of points.”

Students received an email to sign-up for Spring 2025 meal plans with a deadline of Nov 10. Students have five meal plans to choose from:

Deer which is 818 points.

Panther which is 1118 points.

Bobcat which is 1618 points.

Coyote which is 1918 points.

Eagle which is 2118 points.

The Panther plan is the baseline. If students do not sign-up for a spring meal plan, the  will default to the Panther plan, 1118 points, with a Plus account balance of 100 points. 

Students have the option to change their Plus account balance as well. This account starts with a default of 100 points. You can increase the amount of plus points from the baseline. 

According to Dining Services, a meal plan is a combination of goods and services that Dining Services provides for students. The Plus account is used for the College Store. The Plus account can also be used in the dining hall once the meal plan account balance has been completely used. 

This was not the first time points were retroactively added due to complaints from The Principia College community. In 2022, Dining Services made “a one-time adjustment to student meal plans based on averages spent thus far,” according to a Watercooler posted by Director of Dining Services Trey McCart. 

At that point in time, the monetary cost of the meal plan as it related to the number of points had not accounted for inflation. 

Scott still wants to know, “what was the final voice that made this complaint require action and how did we come to that agreement and also, like, how are we going to make sure that this doesn’t happen again in the future and that it gets addressed properly?”

While out of points since week 9, Pombo said, “I guess the changes help a little bit.”

Even though he is graduating this semester Walker said, “It’s not my problem anymore, but I still care about it because I feel bad for the rest of the students that I have to go through it.”

Students said they feel it when they don’t have enough points.

“I have to rely on asking people to get me food. So that really sucks,” Mazhuhwa said. “How do I focus on my studies when I’m hungry, you know?”