Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Leo’s Weekend Slump Weighs Students Down Physically and Financially

As a result of Georgetown’s laudable effort to correct the notorious American eating problem, health-conscious students can choose from an eclectic spread of romaine, arugula, tomatoes and cucumbers (otherwise known as a salad) at O’Donovan Hall on weekdays.Yet as if to counter the prodigious sums of money that must be poured into the weekday dining delicacies, the weekend menu at Leo’s has come to resemble that of a McDonald’s with pizza.

With an annual tuition of $52,000 (including room and board), Georgetown should be expected to provide on-campus dining that ranks among the best in the country. And in reality, despite the incessant wisecracks of students and faculty alike, Leo’s provides a decent weekday selection ranging from pasta to stir-fry to a daily specialty meat. The staff works hard to ensure that students have multiple tasty options when it comes to weekday dining, yet it seems that the campus administration is insistent on understaffing Leo’s for the weekends.

Come 3 o’clock on Friday afternoon all signs of nutrition evaporate along with the students’ work ethic as everyone prepares for the weekend. The upper floor is completely cleared, resulting in a dramatic depletion of the dining hall’s healthier options. Inexplicably, an array of downstairs choices, such as grilled chicken and spaghetti marinara, are also removed. Although Georgetown’s steep cost of attendance makes even the emptying of the upstairs dining hall highly questionable, the removal of the few healthy options downstairs is almost comical, as if Georgetown’s students are participating in an experimental fast food survey. But hey, at least they keep the basket of apples and oranges out as a cure for your later grease-induced indigestion.

Exacerbating the problem of the Leo’s weekend food crunch is the cost of local off-campus dining. Sure, every Georgetown student enjoys the occasional Chipotle burrito or burger from The Tombs, but it seems that the university expects these occasional delicacies to become weekly events. By offering such a limited selection on weekends, students who want to eat at Leo’s are often forced to accept the exorbitant pricing of Washington, D.C., by looking off-campus for a healthy meal.

This can become an expensive habit, but it is one that students have trouble avoiding on weekends, when facing the prospect of dining at Leo’s is too much to bear. You don’t like pizza, burgers or questionably authentic deli meats? Don’t worry: There are plenty of restaurants in this city that can add to that dreaded peek into your wallet on Sunday morning. But your late night, jumbo-slice binges at Tuscany may suddenly seem inexpensive compared to purchasing the right to not eat at Leo’s twice a weekend.

The university offers Flex Dollars as a partial solution to this problem, but while Cosí, Epicurean and other Flex Dollar sites have some excellent options, they too can become relatively expensive. A student with the typical 14 meals-per-week plan receives $75 Flex Dollars per semester, good for just nine or 10 meals at these locations.

As a university so outwardly concerned with the intellectual and personal well-being of its students, Georgetown has a responsibility to reciprocate the thousands of dollars students pay each year in meal plans with decent, healthy food. Unlike the prestigious courses it offers, Georgetown’s only dining hall cannot operate efficiently just five days a week. This is not a reflection on the hardworking staff of Leo’s, but rather a problem that reaches up to the administration. The cost of providing just two or three of the healthier choices offered during the week would not place a significant burden on the university because there is room for these extra selections downstairs without having to open the upstairs dining hall. But, hey, I’m probably the only one who prefers the Asian flank steak over a greasy burger anyway.

Michael Berardo is a freshman in the College.

To send a letter to the editor on a recent campus issue or Hoya story or a viewpoint on any topic, contact [email protected]. Letters should not exceed 300 words, and viewpoints should be between 600 to 800 words.

Donate to The Hoya

Your donation will support the student journalists of Georgetown University. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Hoya