Physical student IDs are now required to enter Pitzer College’s McConnell Dining Hall, the Shakedown and the Pit-Stop Cafe following a policy change instituted Oct. 1. Students will still be able to pay with a debit or credit card.
“Typically when you come in and you swipe in, it’s a three to five second transaction, [but] when you don’t have your card with you, it could be anywhere between 30 seconds to two minutes,” Miguel Menjivar, the Pitzer College dining services general manager, said. “It could take a long time and meanwhile, the line just keeps growing.”
The dining services announced the change on Instagram and with signs posted at the door of all three dining services, informing students about two weeks in advance that neither photos of their ID nor numbers would be accepted beginning Oct. 1.
“We’re very busy, you know, people seem to enjoy our food, and so we get a lot of people coming here,“ Menjivar said. “I guess there’s some reason people are going to be a little bit upset because nobody really likes change, but I think if you look at the bigger picture, the lines are going to be shorter for [students] now.”
Junior class representative Dashiel Nakahata PZ ’27 said that he predicts many students will have to go back to their dorm more often to get their IDs.
”This new policy might create a lot of problems as [students] adjust to the idea of being forced to keep their ID on them,” Nakahata said. “I think it’s going to be a transition for a lot of students, and I think it’s something that we’re going to have to get used to.”
While students will need to make a greater effort to arrive prepared, many believe that the time saved by fellow students and dining hall employees alike will be well worth it.
“I have watched people hold up the line by making employees type in their ID number when they can’t remember [their ID],” Nakahata said.
Menjivar said students without physical IDs can inconvenience employees, particularly when they can’t remember the numbers of their ID or employees mishear them.
“I think it’s going to make [the dining hall employees’] life a lot more convenient,” Nakahata said. “It’s gonna make their job a lot easier, and for everything that they do for us, I think that this is a very reasonable thing.”
This practice is already in place at Pomona College, where students have unlimited swipes into their dining halls but cannot enter without their physical ID. While policies between colleges may differ, cross-campus dining is a key and unique feature at the Claremont Colleges.
“We enjoy having people from different places here — it creates nice long lines, and we’re just trying to figure out every single way we can streamline it and make it easier for you to come get your meal and enjoy it,” Menjivar said.
“ We enjoy having people from different places here — it creates nice long lines, and we’re just trying to figure out every single way we can streamline it and make it easier for you to come get your meal and enjoy it.”