Due to the current status of the proctor feed budget, many halls will not receive any funding or reimbursement for proctor feeds in the spring term.
The budget, at $8000, is a combined fund among all the dorms with the guideline that proctors may only spend up to three dollars per person each feed.
There are 40 underclassmen day students and 232 underclassmen boarding students, and many day students even stay on campus through study hall, which the budget allocation does not account for. This year, the proctors have already exceeded their budget.
The proctors met with Assistant Head for Student Life Amie Creagh to discuss a short-term solution and longer-term options to solve the issue at hand.
The ideas they discussed included a periodic trip to the grocery store for feeds, increased dining hall choices for feeds, and the borrowing of funds from unused associate or open dorm feed funds.
During the proctor meeting about the budget, many proctors brought up the expectation that they hold feeds for their halls each proctor night.
With the current budget, they argued, there was no way to provide feeds for proctees every week.
In the past, the budget has not been exceeded to this degree, especially this early in the year.
Ms. Creagh recently decided to extend the budget for a few halls who have remained inside of their proportional budgets, capped at $200. This fund will likely be drawn from other unused feed or club budgets.
Six halls will not have the funding for ongoing proctor feeds. These include four boys halls and two girls halls.
Several proctors on both boys and girls halls brought up the topic of budgeting in proctor feeds, arguing that they actually had planned out their costs.
Niyafa Boucher ‘18, a proctor in John Louis, said, “Some of the most memorable moments that define a halls dynamic occur at feeds. As a four year senior, I understand the weight having a feed every week holds. It is undeniably a quintessential part of the boarding experience.”
The proctors who have not yet been reimbursed will not be refunded.
At this point, halls without a feed budget also must shoulder the cost of the feeds themselves if they choose to have any.
In the meantime, Ms. Creagh has been working with proctors to ensure that they will at least be able to give a couple of last feeds before they graduate to spend time with their proctees as a part of her mission to “cultivate meaningful connections between [proctors] and [proctees].”
These last memories are incredibly valuable, as they build off of the proctee-proctor bonds formed before the seniors leave.
Anna Harvey ’18, a proctor on the third floor of Johnson, said, “I love being able to give [feeds]. It’s my favorite part of being a proctor.”
Meaghan O’Brien ‘18, also a proctor in John Luis, said, “Feeds set the perfect conditions for hall bonding. Everybody is included, and food is a great way to draw us out of our rooms and out of our heads, into a social setting where we can connect with each other.”