Campus Dining announced several changes to meal offerings for the 2024-25 school year on May 6. These changes will take effect in Fall 2024 and include extended hours at Rand Dining Center, three new dining locations and updated meal plans. Additionally, some residential dining halls will be closed for dinner on Friday and all day Saturday.
Custom smoothie bowls and pizza will be available at Rand Dining Center, while the new Oliver C. Carmichael College will get its own European-style café. Students will also have access to a greater selection of Halal and Kosher-certified cuisine. In addition to increased dining options, meal plans have seen significant changes. The four distinctive plans for each grade have been simplified into two, and meal money buy-ups have also been implemented.
Meal plan changes
Campus dining also made changes to student meal plan and meal money options. In previous years, seniors paid $3,336 for 225 meals with $325 in meal money each semester. This plan has been removed, with seniors now having to purchase the same plan as sophomores and juniors, leaving them to pay $589 more overall than the past year.
Additionally, all students living in Greek housing will now be required to purchase a meal plan, according to campus dining’s website.
Sophomore Ivy Lin said that while she views gaining meal money and losing meal swipes throughout her time at Vanderbilt as advantageous, she finds the number of swipes students receive to be excessive.
“My first year, I would very quickly go through my meal money while ending the semesters with at least a fourth of my swipes unused, and that was with me purposefully attempting to burn through my swipes, which ultimately felt wasteful,” Lin said. “I believe there should be a greater balance of the amount of meal swipes versus meal money or some sort of way for students to choose a ratio of the two they would prefer.”
First-year Lila Brody shared Lin’s concern about over-allocating meal money and sympathized with seniors regarding the increased cost of their meal plans.
“While I am not a senior and can’t share their perspective fully, it may seem unfair to force seniors to take part in a more expensive meal plan,” Brody said. “In addition, if this larger plan means more meals that may not be needed, then more food and money could go to waste.”
A representative from Campus Dining shared that the motivation behind the simplified meal plan tiers was to provide a more standardized dining experience. Dining did not comment on the increased cost of meal plans compared to last year.
“[The new meal plan] ensures all upper division students have the same access to nutritious dining options, regardless of cohort year,” the representative said. “Additionally, with the flexibility of [semester] block plans, graduating seniors who live on campus continue to be covered by a meal plan through Commencement Day.”
The introduction of meal money buy-ups enables students to add funds to their meal money in increments of $250, $500 or $1000 to use at on-campus dining facilities, Munchie Marts, food trucks and Taste of Nashville Restaurants.
Lin expressed uncertainty regarding the value of meal money buy-ups to students.
“I wonder if there are any real benefits to meal money buy ups when they seem to restrict your spending and are forfeited if left unused [by the end of spring semester],” Lin said.
Campus Dining said the meal money buy-ups will be beneficial to students as they will make purchases more “convenient” through students’ mobile credentials. Dining also highlighted that meal money purchases are tax-free, unlike credit or debit card payments, which are the only alternative due to all Campus Dining locations being cash-free since 2020.
Changes to Rand Dining Center
Rand Dining Center will now be open Friday and Saturday until 8 p.m. CDT, in addition to breakfast and lunch Monday through Thursday. Campus Dining said that there are currently no plans to extend Rand’s dining hours past 8 p.m. CDT, but they are continuing to assess capacity and demand to make further changes in the future.
A new Commodore Pizza Kitchen, with pizza and pasta options, will come to Rand. The pizza kitchen will not offer gluten-free options, but vegan pizza crusts will be available.
Rand will also house a new VandyBlenz location featuring custom açaí bowls and smoothies. This dining location comes from a partnership with BlenzBowls, a chain launched in 2018 at the University of Alabama. VandyBlenz will serve a variety of meal plan eligible items, including the smoothie bowls and smoothies. However, additional sizes, toppings and options will be available using meal money. Campus Dining stated that they do not expect VandyBlenz to be open by the first day of classes but that they are hoping to launch the location sometime in August.
Sophomore Alex Howard expressed excitement about the added dining options at Rand.
“Rand is my favorite dining hall due to its convenience and quality, so I am especially excited about the extended hours and look forward to trying the new menu additions,” Howard said.
2301’s “Power Plant” concept
2301, an allergen-friendly dining option previously located in Rand Hall, will be moved to E. Bronson Ingram Dining Hall. 2301 will feature a new “Power Plant” station focused on serving whole, unprocessed foods, fresh juices, global meats and local options in addition to the usual sauté bowls.
Junior Michael Carroll expressed hope that the relocation of 2301 will increase efficiency in the dining process.
“I am excited for 2301 to move to EBI as it may eliminate the congestion and lines at Rand,” Carroll said.
Campus Dining shared that the new Power Plant concept stemmed from increased student demand for whole plant cuisine. 2301 will strive to provide highly nutritional options while practicing environmental sustainability. To accomplish these goals, Campus Dining will offer cuisine from local farms and minimize its usage of animal protein, adhering to university and Menus of Change initiatives.
Residential dining hall updates
EBI, Zeppos and Rothschild Dining Halls will be closed for dinner on Friday and all day on Saturday, and these dining halls are only open for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday.
All menus at EBI will be Halal certified, and Zeppos Dining Hall will serve Kosher-certified items. Campus Dining was criticized for allegedly falsely advertising some food options as Kosher for Passover in April 2023.
According to Campus Dining, the decision to expand Kosher and Halal-certified menu options resulted from its commitment to “tending to the dietary needs of all students” and a desire to have a student-driven dining program. Campus Dining works alongside student organizations and campus partners, including Residential Colleges, the Office of the Provost, Student Affairs and the Vanderbilt Center for Spiritual and Religious Life to fulfill these goals.
Rothschild Dining Hall plans to serve the east Asian dishes previously served at EBI, and Zeppos will feature Mediterranean cuisine. Zeppos will also switch to retail style dining with predetermined amounts of food per meal swipe.
The new Oliver C. Carmichael College will house the Café Carmichael. The European-style café will be open from 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. CDT Sunday through Thursday and closes at 2 p.m. CDT on Fridays. It will serve espresso beverages, pastries, sandwiches and Italian-style flatbread pizza.
Campus Dining said the Café will provide a wide array of cuisine available to students through meal swipes as well as certain items that can only be purchased using meal money.
