Colombo, Next House freshman meet on dining
Colombo, Next House freshman meet on dining
On Sunday, Andres A. Romero ’14, the organizer of the Next House Dining Petition that led to the UA’s unanimous bill urging intervention in the dining process, met with Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo.
According to Romero, at the meeting:
• Colombo said that if the students in Next House do not like the dining plan, they should get on the waiting list to move to another dormitory. Colombo is aware there may be changes to house culture as a result of this, though they may be hard to quantify.
• Colombo said that the House Dining Advisory Group (HDAG) believes most students want breakfast.
• Colombo said that HDAG will proceed with the RFP (Request for Proposal) process.
Though his spokesman, Tom Gearty, Colombo questioned Romero’s account of the meeting, saying Romero did not portray the meeting accurately.
Gearty said that Colombo did not direct students to join the waitlist, rather that those directions came from students who were present.
Ellen B. McIsaac ’12, Anne M. T. Juan ’12, and Bette M. Colombo were present at the meeting. McIsaac confirmed Romero’s above bulleted points.
Romero also claimed that Colombo said that MIT would either go ahead with the new HDAG plan, or stop all house dining altogether.
Gearty said that was “not an accurate portrayal of the meeting,” and Juan and McIsaac agreed.
Juan and McIssac are members of HDAG. McIsaac is the president of Next House.
— John A. Hawkinson