In Spring 2021, the UofA Student Unions expressed an intention to make meal plans mandatory for freshmen living on campus. Student backlash was immediate. Among the main arguments expressed by student leaders were the following: That mandating meal plans would drive low-income students off-campus, decreasing their access to academic resources; that most of UofA’s dining options are fast food joints housed within the Student Union, which is detrimental to students’ health; and the only grocery shopping available on campus is convenience-store-esque and extremely overpriced, which is why most students prefer to not buy a meal plan and shop off-campus instead.

The Student Unions withdrew their plan and promised to involve students in the planning of any future changes to meal plans. In the Fall of 2021, a student committee was formed with representatives from several different student organizations, almost all of whom advocated for the improvement of dining options; the installation of a real grocery store on-campus; and for the Student Unions to get financial support via a university-wide, relatively low student fee rather than by mandating meal palms for any portion of the student population. Those who expressed favor towards mandatory meal plans all emphasized that it should be a last-resort effort, accompanied by considerable improvements to campus food.

In Spring 2022, the Student Unions announced a new plan for the consideration of the Arizona Board of Regents: to implement a university-wide student fee, and to make meal plans mandatory for freshmen residents, with a selective waiver system to allow students to apply for exemption. Plans were also expressed to install more vegetarian options, more culturally diverse food, and an on-campus grocery store, but communication of these plans and their timeline of completion was markedly vague.

The purpose of this petition is to convince the Student Unions to not make meal plans mandatory for freshmen on campus. Freshmen are already overwhelmed with college paperwork, especially first-gen and international students, and having to fill out extra forms to buy a meal plan or apply for a waiver will make campus housing inaccessible to those students. And since there’s no guarantee that exemptions will be approved, and plans for dining improvements are vague, all of the original concerns for harm to the student community still stand. 

Please sign this to tell the Student Unions not to mandate meal plans for freshmen campus residents!