This year, Union’s spring break was between March 20, 2026 and March 29, 2026. Unlike the summer and winter breaks, this break is always significantly shorter and acts as a week-long period of rest for students between the winter and spring trimesters. Due to its short duration, the college allows students to remain on campus without incurring an additional housing fee.
The international student population of the college particularly benefits from this, since travelling abroad can be extremely expensive for just ten days. Various domestic students also jump-in on this opportunity, utilizing the vacation week to relax in their dorm rooms or work off-campus instead of travelling back to their homes. Some students also take this time to continue their on-campus jobs with departments that continue to function over break, such as Communications and Admissions.
Additionally, various sports teams such as Crew and Track have to stay on campus for part or the entirety of break due to pre-season events, practices, or games and competitions that run during this timeframe.
Though students appreciate the opportunity to stay on campus, some have given the college heavy criticism regarding its limited dining options and unusual hours over break. This year, the only meal-option from March 23 to March 27 was the Dutch Hollow, which was functional between 8 AM and 2 PM. Students were unable to utilize meal swipes or declining dollars during this period of time. Moreover, on the weekend of March 21 and March 22, Dining was entirely closed. Various students expressed discontent over this.
“I was travelling over break and due to my bookings, I needed to stay on campus for a few days after the exams. I had to get food off-campus because it ended up costing me less money than options available on campus,” shared Kavita Trivedi ’27. “If I did want to get dinner from Dutch (Hollow), I would have had to get it in the afternoon, so it would be pretty stale by the time I ate.”
This opinion was not lost among other students, who often had to resort to off-campus dining options or delivery apps such as DoorDash, Uber Eats or GrubHub if they missed the brief window during which the Dutch Hollow remained open.
“The 8 AM – 2 PM timing was very inconvenient because most people want to sleep in over break and we couldn’t do that if we wanted something to eat,” expressed Shravani Kulkarni ’28. “For dinner, we just had to figure it out for ourselves.”
The situation was better for athletes, who were able to utilize meal vouchers for the duration they stayed on campus. The Track and Field athletes who returned to campus early for a weekend meet were provided meal vouchers from the team’s funds. However, the athletes still had to spend additional money since it wasn’t enough for all their meals.
The lack of dining options over break sheds light on the intricacy of managing students’ expectations without sustaining additional financial burden given the college’s current monetary situation. This leaves the students wondering if there is a way for Union to find a solution that benefits both students and the college equally.
