Kosher dining change settled

Kosher dining will be entirely revamped next semester with a new facility, different policies and a reworked meal plan.

The most significant change is that a separate kosher meal plan will no longer be offered. Instead, students who choose to have a kosher meal can pay a $2 surcharge to eat in the kosher dining hall.

These changes come following student outcry this past spring when new dining options were announced. Originally, a separate kosher meal plan was offered and those not on the plan would have had to pay a $5 surcharge when using Dining Dollars or PennCash, or a $7 surcharge when paying with cash or charging to their bursar bill.

Students reacted negatively to the introduction of these surcharges, arguing that the changes would isolate those who keep kosher. A petition was circulated and dining officials reportedly received between 30 and 50 e-mails of complaint.

In light of this discontent, members of the Jewish community and representatives from University Dining Services and Aramark met to reconsider kosher dining options.

It was with this "spectrum" of input that the new plan was created, Penn Hillel Associate Director Rachel Saifer Goldman explained. "We thought it was really important to have it integrated with regular dining plans."

With the formation of a committee to consider the various interests at stake, a compromise was reached this week.

"Students actually came up with the suggestion we ended up implementing," Dining Services Contract and Relationship Manager Laurie Cousart said.

"I'm happy the process worked," she added, noting that that the new agreement met the concerns of everyone involved.

Penn Hillel Student President Jason Auerbach -- originally one of the students who expressed concern about the dining changes announced last March -- also endorsed the successful collaboration of dining officials and the Jewish community.

"The integration of the kosher plans into the regular University dining plan and the lower surcharge will open the doors for many more potential diners at Steinhardt Hall," Auerbach said in a written statement. "We're excited about our new building and we want everyone to feel welcome to join us there for a meal. With this new plan, anyone can eat kosher easily and pretty cheaply."

The opening of Steinhardt Hall -- the new Hillel center -- is another of the changes for kosher dining. The new center will include a kosher dining hall, replacing Irv's Place as the kosher facility on campus. The University ended its lease with Irv's Place at the end of the spring semester.

Steinhardt Hall will offer a larger dining area than Irv's Place -- with a capacity for around 250 diners on regular nights and expanded seating for Shabbat.

Last March, Penn Dining also announced that reservation fees for Shabbat services would be eliminated. This new policy was maintained with the recent changes to the kosher dining plan.

University officials added that they intend to monitor the success of the new plan over the next year to see if it supports the higher costs of kosher dinning.

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