As a recovering Catholic, I understand the whole Lent thing. I get that, as an act of sacrifice, Catholics are encouraged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, as well as refraining from eating meat on Ash Wednesday and all Fridays during Lent. I think that's fine, just great. My question is, why don't they serve meat in the dining halls on Fridays or on Ash Wednesday? It's true that, as a Catholic university, maintaining a Catholic identity is important, but there is a difference between maintaining a Catholic identity and needlessly limiting the options of the student body.
If there was a tradition that on Holy Thursday everything you eat had to contain meat, and the dining hall made sure every item it offered had meat in it, vegetarians would be up in arms, and rightly so. We paid for a meal plan expecting that each meal offered would have a balanced selection of foods, and this is not what we are getting.
I know some people will say that I could just go to Reckers or LaFortune, and this is true, but this is beside the point. I shouldn't have to spend Flex Points because my dining hall refuses to offer proper balanced meals. If the dining hall wants to refuse meat to the student body in order to avoid tempting those who choose not to eat it, that's fine, but they should discount those meals, because they clearly aren't as complete, and give me some of my damn money back.
Greg Howard
junior
Alumni Hall
Feb. 21
