MSG served with their new meal plan options

Mackenzie Zent, Opinion editor

Mercyhurst has been listening to what we want… they are no longer requiring all students to have an unlimited meal plan!

At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, Mercyhurst had announced that they would require everyone to have an unlimited meal plan, instead of just freshmen.

Even after efforts by students to speak out against this, the school still required an unlimited meal plan for every student starting with the freshmen class in 2021.

Nearly two years later, Mercyhurst Student Government announced that upperclassmen no longer have to have an unlimited meal plan.

While every residential student is still required to have a plan, there are now different options that are cheaper but still allow students to

have full meals often at the dining halls.

What is great about these new meal plan options is that some of them offer Anchor Bags Hello Hurst meal kits.

Every plan includes either $150 or $300 in bonus bucks too, which I know is a selling point for me.

Two different unlimited plans are still options to choose for every student if they wish—the Laker Unlimited plan for freshman and sophomores and the Hurst Unlimited plan for juniors and seniors.

The Green plan is offered to juniors and seniors and includes 225 meals per semester, as well as $150 in bonus bucks and one Anchor Bag and Hello Hurst kit per week.

The other plan for juniors and seniors, the Blue Plan, includes 150 meals, $300 in bonus bucks and one Hello Hurst kit per week.

I am really excited about the Blue Plan because I love spending bonus bucks here. I currently have $300 that I started the semester with, and it is the perfect amount to buy coffee from the bookstore pretty frequently and any snacks or food from the Anchor Express.

I also feel that I do not eat at the dining hall enough to make up for what I pay in my unlimited meal plan right now. 150 meals will work just fine for me next semester, especially since I can cook my own food in my kitchen because the money I do not spend on my meal plan can go to groceries.

The lower meal plans are helpful for students who have dietary

restrictions or food allergies because now they will not be paying for something they cannot have.

The dining halls have limited options for those who have food allergies, and many people are paying for something they cannot use just because it is a requirement by the school.

These new meal plan options will allow for flexibility and will be more cost effective for those who want to cook their own food to fit their dietary needs.

I want to commend MSG for listening to the voices of students

and working hard to come up with the new meal plan options for us.

We are still waiting for the prices of the meals plans for next year cause that also influences the selection for many of the students.

For more information on the new meal plans for next year check out @msglakers on Instagram! More details such as prices will be announced in the coming weeks as we get close to the end of the semester.