Whereas, the majority of classes for undergraduates occur on Central campus during traditional breakfast and lunch hours (8AM – 3PM);
Whereas, Oakenshields is currently the only Central Campus eatery that accepts meal swipes, leading to lunchtime overcrowding and inconvenience for students, particularly those on the Agriculture Quad (College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College Human Ecology, Brooks School of Public Policy);
Whereas, Oakenshields does not serve breakfast, and so there is no meal plan breakfast option on Central Campus;
Whereas, over 1,200 Cornell undergraduate students are varsity student-athletes, whose schedules involve a substantial amount of time on East Campus far from meal swipe dining halls;
Whereas, the Cornell Student and Campus Life website describes Trillium as “in the heart of Central Campus,” and “one of our most popular food courts;”
Whereas, Trillium Dining Hall currently offers two breakfast meal options on a daily, pay-per-item basis to a relatively low density of students, many of whom are varsity student-athletes;
Whereas, Trillium Dining Hall, located on the east side of Central Campus, exclusively operates on a pay-per-item basis, making it inaccessible to students reliant on meal swipes for their breakfast and lunch dining needs;
Whereas, during the start of the academic year, due to the worker strike, a temporary Meals-To-Go program was implemented, demonstrating that Trillium has the capacity to serve pre-boxed meal swipe options efficiently;
Whereas, many peer institutions offer a combination of pay-per-item and meal swipe options in centralized campus locations to increase student accessibility and convenience;
Be it therefore resolved, the Student Assembly urges Cornell Dining to introduce a permanent ‘meal swipe option’ at Trillium Dining Hall, offering pre-boxed meal options for swipe usage via expanding the Meals-To-Go program to include a pick-up option at Trillium;
Be it further resolved, the Student Assembly urges Cornell Dining to allow Trillium Dining Hall breakfast to become a meal swipe option;
Be it further resolved, the Student Assembly urges Cornell Dining to allow Trillium Dining Hall breakfast to become a meal swipe option from 8AM - 10:30AM daily;
Be it further resolved, the Meals-to-Go program should be available at least during peak lunch hours (11 AM - 2 PM) to alleviate overcrowding at other meal swipe locations;
Be it finally resolved, the Office of the Student Assembly President and the Student Assembly Dining Committee shall work directly with Cornell Dining and the University Administration to develop an implementation plan ensuring feasibility, affordability, and accessibility.
Respectfully Submitted,
Zora de Rham ‘27
President of the Student Assembly
Eeshaan Chaudhuri ‘27
Brooks School of Public Policy Representative, Student Assembly
Caroline Grove ‘26
President, Student Athlete Advisory Committee
Student Athlete Advisory Committee Liaison, Student Assembly
Christian Flournoy ‘27
Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion of the Student Assembly
Ezra Galperin ‘27
Chair, Dining Committee, Student Assembly
Undesignated Representative At-Large, Student Assembly
