The SMFA at Tufts student body has been affected since the beginning of the academic year by an unjust meal policy that was imposed on them. Currently, students are given thousands of dollars in “meal money” which can only be used at one location—the SMFA Cafe. Not at any other dining location including, but not limited to: all Tufts Dining Halls, Rhino Bucks accepting locations, and Jumbo Cash accepting locations. 

Moreover, the SMFA Cafe is open for limited hours, and does not offer dinner options during Friday’s, Saturday’s, or Sunday’s. On long weekends (including the past President’s Day break), the Cafe was closed and offered no meal options at all to students. The supposed solution was the introduction of “Rhino Bucks”, however it is a finite amount of money that can’t cover a student’s needs. How much? $260 per semester. Many students do not have the disposable income to spend their money on the art supplies needed for their classes which causes students use their Rhino Bucks to buy said art supplies.

What the students demand is access to the funds of the meal plan that they are all mandated to be on. Instead of having only $260 to spend in Rhino Bucks, the other $1900 of meal-money-per-semester should be made available to the students in the form of Rhino Bucks or as a disbursement. Several student last semester had hundreds if not a thousand dollars left in meal money that will vanish at the end of the year if not used. If not, the well-being of the SMFA student body will be deeply hindered. 

This petition was created by Rhino Rights, a student-run activist group that is concerned with the wellbeing of the SMFA community. 

Please share this petition with anyone that is a part of the SMFA community or the Tufts community. Please help us make a difference.