On Nov. 18, Calvin Dining Services sent out a mass email describing changes to the hours of both dining halls, Peet’s, and Johnny’s that would be effective immediately. The changes included closing Knollcrest for lunch on weekdays and changing its weekend to a continuous 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. block.

Also, Johnny’s Cafe will now be closed on Saturdays, Peet’s will close earlier on Saturdays, and there will be changes to Uppercrust’s hours. These changes were designed to “meet the higher demand closer to your classes and make dining options more efficient,” according to the email. 

Despite the promises of “quicker service, better quality, and more convenience throughout your dining experiences on campus” that the email stated, many students now find it harder to get the food they need.

Sam Smith, a member of the acrobatics team, told Chimes that since the changes it has been harder to find lunch and dinner. “We have practice from six to eight, but Knollcrest is closed…Yesterday Uppercrust was also closed due to staffing,” Smith said. Smith also shared that it’s particularly hard to build a meal schedule around practices on Fridays when Uppercrust closes early. 

Smith noted how even when it is possible to stop at the dining halls for lunch, long lines and poor seating make it difficult. “If I go to lunch, there are no spots. I cannot find a place to sit, so how was I supposed to get food? So my food today was an ice cream and a yogurt,” Smith said. 

This reality is common for many students, and it is compounded by the inability of students to take food from the dining hall without paying for the Green ToGo program. “I’m a broke college kid, I pay too much for meal swipes already. I can’t pay for things that aren’t included in my meal swipes,” Abby Kuiper, one of the student supervisors at Peet’s said. 

According to Kuiper, some of the benefits to student workers in Dining Services that made it easier to get food on a tight schedule were revoked with the changes. Before the changes, for every shift Kuiper would work she would receive an employee meal voucher. This voucher was good for “a meal swipe at the dining hall, but would also work as up to twelve dollars off Johnny’s hotline or a housemade item, or a bagel and drink at Peet’s. One day our student managers popped over and told us ‘by the way these don’t work anymore. They only work in the dining hall,’” Kuiper told Chimes. “So, we got our benefits revoked without explanation and it really sucks because now I can’t eat lunch.” 

Kuiper relied on the meal vouchers on days when her schedule didn’t allow her to stop at the dining hall between work and school. “I would leave class, swing by Johnny’s, grab a salad or sandwich from the cooler and use one of my meal vouchers to buy it, then go eat it at work. But now I can’t do that, so I just don’t eat lunch,” Kuiper said. 

The reason given to the campus as a whole was “efficiency” of dining services, and Kuiper did note some positive changes to the Peet’s schedule. But overall, she said, “we have not been given an explanation other than efficiency, but I don’t see how depriving me of lunch is efficient.” 

Representatives from Creative Dining Services were contacted, but did not respond for comment.