After sluggishly moving through the lunch line for an eternity, pushing through the overpopulated crowds as I go, I eagerly walk to the table with my food, only to realize that all the seats are taken. It seems that everywhere I go, it is way too crowded. Populated chairs hang off the edges of tables, and not a quiet moment exists.
How did this problem happen in the first place? What can we do to fix it?
Most importantly, one thing is clear: A-lunch is overcrowded, whereas B-lunch is often emptier. Why is this?
Upper School Dean of Students Mr. Luqman Kolade points to Haverford’s schedule as one factor in the disproportionate lunch crowds.
“I don’t think people realize that they can wait: it’s actually easier if you just wait the first fifteen [or] twenty minutes if you have double lunches, and then come in.”
Mr. Kolade
“If you have a free, no one waits for Second [Lunch]; they always go to First Lunch,” Mr. Kolade said.
A significant portion of the A-lunch crowd includes students with free periods during lunch. Thanks to Haverford’s scheduling system, students with a free block during lunch may choose which one to attend. The majority of students in this situation rush to A-lunch to eat as soon as possible. However, this perpetuates the dining hall’s congestion.
Many possible solutions to the free-period overcrowding of A-lunch present themselves. To start, students should be incentivized to wait until the end of A-lunch or later before venturing to the dining hall.
Mr. Kolade largely agrees.
“I don’t think people realize that they can wait: it’s actually easier if you just wait the first fifteen [or] twenty minutes if you have double lunches, and then come in,” Mr. Kolade said. “You can still eat sometimes with your friends, but then also not have to deal with a line.”
The prospect of shorter lines alone should provide free-period lunchgoers with a reason to wait a little longer before eating, yet clearly this is not happening. The school should instead provide a tangible incentive to eat during less crowded times; for example, points totaling to individual dress-down days could easily be implemented.
Besides the lines, dining-hall tables are too often at capacity. Students need another place to eat besides just the dining hall. However, there are not that many alternatives available: tables outside the dining hall provide some extra seating, but are almost always taken; some students have ventured to the basketball or football fields, but this has been banned because some have failed to clean up after themselves.
So, where can students go?
In the case of warm weather, more outside seating is needed; three tables do not suffice. Adding a few more tables outside, even on the grass in the Quad, would alleviate pressure on the strained seating arrangement inside. For colder weather, outdoor seating would not work, so we must consider indoor options. The Big Room and the Durham Community Room are some places that could serve as prime lunch nooks.
However, without constant supervision, such as during Advisory time, these places would accumulate rubbish faster and more frequently than they already do. Tables could be added to so many other places if there were no problems with trash. The behavior of our student body is ultimately what hinders more and better seating for lunch.
Largely, though, incentivizing those who can to wait fifteen minutes before going to lunch may solve more than one might assume.