Staff Writer ~ Allison Hudgins
Photo of University of Lynchburg Cafeteria. Photo by Kelli Carter
At the beginning of the semester several international students dealt with adjustments in financial aid related to dietary restrictions. This was a complex intersection of scholarship allocations, meal plans and communication issues.
International students who identify with Hindu and Muslim religious traditions raised concern over the price of an unlimited meal plan as religious food exemptions presented themselves last semester.
Some religious traditions like Hinduism and Islam are against the consumption of pork and beef products, two products which have been heavily included in dining hall selections in the past.
Students who follow these religious guidelines feel that their money is wasted when having to spend their tuition dollars on food that they can not eat, so many reduced their plans to the Hornet 750 plan, which gives the student $750 of express dollars which can be used anywhere on campus.
However, when making this change many students noticed a significant drop in scholarship money.
Aaron Basko, vice president of enrollment, marketing and communications expressed that because the university has not previously had a large group of international students, they were not anticipating the issues of dietary religious exemptions.
However, the Office of Spiritual Life noticed the need for an exemption and applied for a religious exemption that would give students the option to opt out of an unlimited meal plan without forfeiting scholarship money.
“Even in reducing scholarships for those affected, those scholarships were not reduced by the full amount of the change in the meal plan, but rather proportionally. This is so that students with the exemption will still have some additional funding to purchase upgraded food items on their own,” said Basko.
Students who qualified for the exemption requested by Spiritual Life are now paying less money to the university than they did before, in an effort to have the ability to purchase more of the items they may need.
Administration was made aware of the issue after students returned from winter break and it was remedied quickly, as there was just a slight oversight in communication.
“Because the Office of Spiritual Life and the Financial Aid or billing offices don’t typically work together, the Office of Spiritual Life did not know to communicate the financial impacts of this change to students,” said Basko.
International students were given short notice that reducing meal plans would affect their financial aid due to this communication oversight. Pranigya Kafle from Nepal, was one of the students experiencing this issue.
“However, I don’t understand how easily the university decided to switch its policies within a short period. Also, I’m very upset because the information about our reduction in financial aid was provided just two days before the beginning of our new semester,” said Kafle.
The financial aid office has received feedback from many of the international students addressing this concern.
“The good news is that there is plenty of time before bills are due, even though the quick change regrettably didn’t allow for as much planning as some would have liked,” said Basko.
Pooja Adhikari from Nepal was able to reduce her meal plan, but urges other students to not do the same.
“I would suggest other international students to stay on the unlimited plan as it does not reduce our scholarship and we don’t have to worry about making our food and it also saves time,” said Adhikari.
Dining services continue to accommodate international students by using separate pots and pans, and cooking pork and beef products in secluded areas, in addition to the involvement of international students themselves in the preparation and service of food.
The Admissions and Financial Aid offices will be revising future scholarship packages to break down the proportion of each scholarship and how it applies to the student’s overall cost. Doing so will provide even more transparency into how changes might affect the student’s bill.
To find out more information regarding this issue, contact Aaron Basko.
The Critograph urges students and university community members to stay in touch with the paper as other concerns may be present.
