Students who wish to keep kosher next year will have more options on their meal plans, thanks to changes in the offerings from Campus Dining Services.
The changes will affect both incoming freshmen -- who are required to purchase meal plans -- as well as upperclassmen who choose to continue with their meal plans.
"Regarding kosher meal plans, we are finalizing all details and options," Mary Ruggiero, marketing manager for Campus Dining Services, said in an e-mail statement.
For the Class of 2005, kosher students will still be required to buy the plan offering 17 meals per week, but instead of the Penn Titanium Plan, they can buy the Penn Kosher Titanium Plan.
The two plans cost the same, and allow students up to 17 meals a week, as well as $300 in Dining Dollars per year.
Details of the plan are still being worked out in Campus Dining Services. Currently, Irv's Place only serves 11 meals per week, meaning kosher students will essentially be wasting the week's remaining six meals.
After months of negative reactions to the University's mandatory dining plan for incoming freshmen, the changes to the kosher meal plan will be the first changes Campus Dining Services institutes.
Rabbi Howard Alpert of Penn Hillel said that he welcomes the changes.
"We're glad to see that the University is committed to kosher dining, and to providing students with accessible kosher dining options," he said.
He added, however, that the true test for the revised plan will come from kosher students themselves.
For upperclassmen, there have been slight adjustments for kosher plans as well.
Kosher Advantage Packages can be added to any existing meal plan, including a weekly option that entitles a student to all Shabbat dinners and cholent lunches and all holiday and Passover meals.
Irv's Place will continue to accept Dining Dollars, cash, and charges to a student's bursar account as well.
One element of meal plan regulations will remain unchanged, however.
Freshmen will not be allowed to change their meal plans until their second semester at Penn, and at that point they will only be allowed to change to a limited number of plans -- either up to 19 meals a week, or down to 14 meals a week. Only after their freshman year will students be allowed the ultimate decision about the meal plan they purchase.
Campus Dining Services initially announced that freshmen would be required to buy the Titanium plan in April, claiming that the changes would help revitalize somewhat lacking dining hall services. Officials also hoped the new plan would help stabilize the financial end of dining services.
The plan, however, received fairly harsh criticism from both incoming students and upperclassmen alike.
Local food vendors were also dissatisfied with the new plan, citing fears that students would no longer provide as much business if they were forced to eat in the dining halls.
