Happy
Ring Week,
Juniors!
The Meredith
Herald
@meredithherald
@ @meredith_herald
meredithherald.com
October 20, 2021
BDH Closures During Breaks Cause Strain for Students
By Hannah Taib and Shae-Lynn Henderson, Staff Writers, and Olivia Slack, Co-Editor in Chief
On Oct. 6, Residence Life
announced to all residential stu
dents on campus that Belk Dining
Hall (BDH) would be closed during
fall break. For some students on
campus, the closure of the dining
hall creates difficulties obtaining
food during the break. Interna
tional and out-of-state students at
Meredith College, many of whom
do not have the option to return
home for the short break, were two
of those groups.
Meredith College has
opened its doors to international
students from all over the world
and out of state students from all
over the country, but during times
like fall break when the dining
hall is closed, these students say
they struggle both financially and
emotionally. Accessing food for
breakfast, lunch and dinner is dif
ficult for many who do not have
a driver’s license or a car. Out of
state student Emily Wood, ‘25,
commented, “I’m from Florida, and
have no car on campus. With BDH
being closed, I had to consistently
spend money on my meals for the
four days [of fall break]. It stressed
me out because I had to figure out
what I was going to eat, and how I
was going to get it.”
Although Residence Life
provides cooking utensils for stu
dents to use in the residence hall
kitchens during breaks, students
still have to go off campus and buy
ingredients at the grocery store to
prepare a meal. Fairclough ac
knowledged that Whole Foods is
within walking distance, but said
that shopping there requires her to
“spend more money just because
it's all [she] can access.” Relying on
friends with cars may also not work
over break if those students return
home or go on vacation. Accord
ing to international student Lauiyn
Fairclough, ‘24, “Grocery shopping
is also
more
diffi
cult for
myself
as I
do not
have
access
to a
car...
Order
ing
food '
feels
like a .
waste of money and go
ing grocery shopping is
a pain when you don't have a fridge
and would have to use the commu
nal fridge and kitchen that is shared
between the whole residence hall.”
The expense of obtain
ing food can also be a burden on
some students. For example, the
exchange rate from U.S. dollars to
other currencies can be unfavorable
to international students. Paying
tuition, room and board and other
expenses with the exchange rate can
already be difficult, and having the
safety net of a meal plan helps with
this financial burden. However, dur
ing breaks, the meal plan is unus
able despite the fact that students
pay for it for the entire semester.
Fairclough said, “The main thing
I have heard a lot of people say,
including myself and my friends,
is ‘we pay so much to go to college
here and they can't keep the din
ing hall open for an extra week?”’
International student Mei
Li
Photo by Olivia Slack
Who is Meredith’s ELT?
By Shae-Lynn Henderson, Staff Writer
The Meredith commu
nity often receives messages from
Meredith’s Executive Leadership
Team (ELT). However, some stu
dents may not know who exactly
comprises this team. The Herald
spoke with some of its members to
find out more about their roles and
what they do for the College.
First taking office as the
eighth president and first alumna
president of Meredith College in
2011, Dr. Jo Allen, ‘80, has driven
a series of successful projects and
accumulated many titles, making
use of her experience as a scholar,
faculty member and administrator.
Dr. Allen leads the ELT accord
ing to Vice President for College
Programs Jean Jackson, ‘75. Dr.
Jackson is also a member of the
team along with Dr. Matthew Po-
slusny. Senior Vice President and
Provost, Dr. Tammi Jackson, Vice
President for Business and Finance,
Dr. Lennie Barton, Vice President
for Institutional Advancement and
Kristi Eaves-McLennan, MBA ‘14,
Vice President for Marketing.
The ELT’s main job at Mer
edith is to see how each member’s
roles “intersect with each other and
build the infrastructure for making
the best decisions for the entire Col
lege,” Dr. Allen said. The ELT also
oversees how the College’s priori
ties change depending on the year.
The team’s goals for the 2021-2022
academic year include paying “at
tention to the College strategic plan,
closing out this year and moving
into a new iteration for 2022-2027,”
said Dr. Allen, “[as well as] reducing
expenses and increasing fundraising
to keep tuition, room and board as
low as possible.” The ELT will also
continue its “renewed commitment
to anti-racism and fuller inclusion
during breaks for
students who don’t
have a car, can be expensive. “If I
don’t walk to a restaurant across
the street. I’d order food from
Uber Eats,” she said. “However,
food costs double on Uber Eats...
one time I ordered a chicken strip
meal from Chick-fil-a and it was
$17. That’s about two hours of on
campus work for me as a junior.”
Moo King also acknowledged that
Jones Chapel has a food pantry
that students can utilize, although
there aren’t always a variety of
options. However, she did com
ment that she was grateful to find
water in the chapel because with
BDH closed, it can be difficult to
of all.”
Eaves-
McLennan said
the best part
of being on the
ELT is “working
alongside commit
ted colleagues.”
She “appreciate[s]
the opportunity
to contribute to
decisions that
help make Mer
edith a great place
to study, live and
work.” Dr. Jean Jackson stated
that the team “work[s] for the
greater good and recognize[s]
that all that needs to be done can
not be done at once.”
Dr. Jean Jackson recog
nizes that the ELT’s decisions
“affect students, faculty, staff,
alumnae and others who care
find filtered water on campus other
than the tap from the residence
halls’ bathroom sinks or first floor
kitchens.
For many students, espe
cially international and out-of-
state students, the dining hall is
an extension of their day-to-day
lives. Out of state student Addie
Rowells, ‘25, pointed out that it
can already be difficult to live on
a nearly empty campus during
breaks. “I do not have many other
places to get adequate meals,” she
said. “It's already hard to deal with
being one of the only students on
campus during breaks, and having
nowhere to get a meal is even more
difficult to endure.”
Fairclough had a sug
gestion for how Meredith could
accommodate residential students
who have to stay on campus during
breaks: they shared that they were
quarantined last semester and had
to submit a Google Form of what
food they would like during the
week. “Something like that would
be helpful,” they said, “but instead
of it being delivered [students
could] collect it during a certain
time slot, that way [BDH] would
know exactly how much food to
cook and how many people they
are serving food for.”
The Meredith Herald
reached out to David Penney, Di
rector of Dining, for comment but
received no response.
Photo by Olivia Slack
about
Meredith College.” The team takes
into consideration that “Meredith’s
leaders have worked to ensure that
Meredith College will be able to
meet the changing needs of stu
dents and will continue to do so for
many generations of students to
come.”