While Loyola offers a variety of meal plans to accommodate students, there is often confusion on the plans and how they benefit students.
Freshman and sophomore students that live on campus are required to choose one of four weekly meal plans.
“Combo 9” includes nine weekly meals with an additional 75 Flex meals, $600 Wolf Bucks, and $50 in Iggy Bucks.
Flex Meals are meal swipes that are not dedicated to a week and may be used at any point throughout the semester.
Iggy Bucks can be used at specific off campus locations, and any restaurant in the 70118 area code that uses GrubHub will accept them.
“Plan 18,” which Loyola classifies as the “Best Deal,” includes 18 weekly meals, $125 in Wolf Bucks, and $50 in Iggy Bucks.
“Combo 5” includes five weekly meals, along with 75 Flex meals, $660 in Wolf Bucks and $50 in Iggy Bucks.
Lastly, the “Maroon and Gold plan” includes 12 weekly meals and $660 in Wolf Bucks.
History freshman Julian Conravey, who has the Maroon and Gold plan, said he wishes there were more plans available to underclassmen that offer more Wolf Bucks.
“I don’t eat 12 meals a week in the OR,” he said. “And everything’s so expensive, so I run out of Wolf Bucks so fast.”
Wolf Bucks, a preloaded declining balance, are able to purchase food, drinks, and other items at various locations in the Danna Center.
Wolf Bucks come with most meal plans and can be added in increments of $100, which is automatically applied to the students’ tuition balance. All Wolf Bucks are loaded onto the student’s ID card and can be used at any accepting locations.
Locations that accept Wolf Bucks can be found on both Tulane and Loyola’s campus.
On Loyola’s campus, students are able to purchase meals, food, and drinks at the Orleans Room, Starbucks, The Market, Bird N Brine, Smoothie King, Subway, and Wild Blue Sushi, which are all located in the Danna Center.
On Tulane’s campus, students are able to purchase snacks and drinks using Wolf Bucks in the Lavin-Bernick Center. The only dining options that accept Wolf Bucks are Wow Cafe and Pei Wei. Loyola students must use a different method of payment at other locations, such as Dunkin’ Donuts or Halal Shack.
If a weekly meal plan doesn’t suit their fancy, upperclassmen are able to purchase Wolf Bucks in increments of $750, $1,000, or $1,500.
Upperclassmen are also able to choose between the four underclassmen options, as well as block meal plans.
The block plans include the “Combo 5,” which is five weekly meals without the additional 75 Flex meals and the “50 block,” which includes 50 meals that students are able to use at any time throughout the semester.
Commuter students may choose any meal plan or amount of Wolf Bucks. However, they are required to have a meal plan.
The plans specific to commuter students include the “Commuter 3,” which includes 3 meals a week, plus $250 Wolf Bucks. Or they can choose the Wolf Bucks-only plan, which is $250 Wolf Bucks per semester.
Conravey said the lack of commuter meal plan options makes it difficult to eat with his off-campus friends in the OR if they don’t have meal swipes.
For students who are food insecure or don’t have meal swipes, Loyola-Sodexo offers a program called Swipe Out Hunger, which allows students to donate or request meal swipes for the Orleans Room. Once meal swipes are distributed from the “meal swipe bank” to students in need, those meals can be redeemed simply by swiping in.
All requests can be submitted through the university’s website under the Dining tab, after clicking the external link to visit Loyola’s dining services.
Business management senior Emily Schafer said she generally enjoys Loyola’s dining options.
“I like best how they generally have a good variety of options with something for everyone,” she said. “They also do special chef days where they do special guests with a new recipe which is nice.”
If students are looking to change their meal plans, they are able to do so within the first two weeks of the semester without penalty. No meal plan changes are accepted after that period has ended.
