On Oct. 7, the Student Government Association (SGA) met Hopkins Dining and Student Health and Well-Being (SHWB) to hold dialogue on student concerns. Then, following the conclusion of the freshmen elections last week, SGA confirmed their new members.
The meeting opened with a discussion involving the dining services, which highlighted its focus on flexible options. The floor was then ceded to the representatives, who had a variety of questions prepared. Concerns focused on meal plan pricing and food options at Charles Street Market. Representatives cited the ongoing price hikes and asked for transparency on their origin. Hopkins Dining responded with data, explaining it was unable to purchase goods at bulk discounts like larger chains. As such, prices matched the manufacturer’s suggested retail price as usual. Price increases had simply mirrored those in the broader economy since the pandemic.
When asked about the recent lack of certain dining hall offerings, especially vegetarian options running out before closing, Hopkins Dining said it was adjusting to the current student body’s different meal preferences compared to last year. They stated that they had already changed their ordering quantities to ensure this issue did not continue. When prompted about the removal of options such as late night dining at Hopkins Cafe, they cited that there was a lack of student use for those alternatives. Yet, they also explained how they were open to finding a solutions to bring such options back.
In regard to a lack of diverse meal options at Charles Street Market, Hopkins Dining stated that while a new vendor was introduced this year to provide meals, they were also exploring other hot meal options to offer. Throughout the meeting, it was emphasized that approaching a Hopkins Dining team member with any concern was welcomed. Finally, Hopkins Dining discussed new meal options coming to campus, including the Agora Cafe inside the SNF Agora Institute and a dining hall in the new AMR I building. This will be complete with late night to-go options, more than 600 seats and an order-ahead feature for the sandwich bar.
The meeting then moved to SHWB, with discussion covering issues such as long wait times for mental health appointments, the need for health literacy education and inconsistent restocking of menstrual health products. SHWB highlighted the new Solution Sessions program, which provides one-on-one, 50-minute problem-solving sessions in a shorter timeframe, as well as TimelyCare services, which can reduce average wait times for mental health appointments from two weeks to about one.
When asked about increasing health literacy education, SHWB said that while blogs on navigating the insurance system are already published, workshops and more outreach are possible. Regarding menstrual product restocking, SHWB explained that facilities across campus restock their own supply and encouraged students to provide feedback on which buildings tend to run low.
After the conclusion of these conversations, SGA conducted the inauguration of their new members. SGA confirmed Freshman Class President Veda Kommineni and Freshman Class Council members Steve Yang, Isaac Zhang, Shreemann Patel and Kai Martin. Alongside, for the Programming Class Council, Ariana Lopez Orellana, Wing Chen and Thomas Koh were inaugurated. Freshman Katherine Zhu was confirmed as a new member of the judiciary alongside them.
