All students will participate in the all access plan. There will be a comprehensive fee for room and board for all students.

The fees for all students are listed here.

Students living off campus, in the Co-ops, and Ferry participate in the meal plan and will have access to all dining locations and meal exchanges.

Students are provided $110 of Arlington Bucks on their card at the beginning of each semester. To use these funds simply provide your card to participating local vendors. There is no need to tell the vendor you want to use your Arlington Bucks. The system will automatically deplete available Arlington Bucks before using VCASH.

Exemptions from the board plan will be rare and based on significant considerations such as health conditions that cannot be accommodated by the college’s dining services.

All students are required to show their Vassar ID when entering or swiping at any of the dining locations on campus.

If a student does not have their Vassar ID a second form of identification with a picture is required before a cashier can manually enter the student’s number.

The Bon Appétit’s Regional Manager of Wellness will assist students with allergy or medical conditions and a  chef, on site daily, will work closely with students to ensure they have access to appropriate foods. There will also be a destination in the main dining hall, known as the “Oasis” kitchen, designed for those students with food allergies, celiac disease, and individuals managing food intolerances.

The Kosher kitchen is located in the main dining hall. This is a designated “meat” kitchen, visited daily by a mashgiach. At Gordon Commons, as identified on our menus by an Halal icon, we serve Halal meats at the Grill and Oasis kitchen. The chicken in the majority of our recipes is Halal. Please always remember to check for the Halal icon. We will also be introducing Halal meats at The Retreat.

Street Eats Food Truck is included in the plan as a meal exchange, and will be open for 5 days a week, Sunday – Thursday from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Meal exchange is available in The Retreat, Express, and Street Eats Food Truck. Items vary between location so please follow all in-café signage.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, our dining operations closed winter break and spring break, with a more limited option during the summer. Students who chose to stay in the area during these breaks did not receive a meal plan and had to find other avenues of keeping themselves fed. This issue led to the formation of the Break Advisory Group (BAG), who organized on-the-ground efforts like food pantries while also petitioning administration to have dining options available during these breaks. The issue became one of immediate concern when the COVID-19 pandemic canceled or discouraged many students from leaving during Spring Break, creating an influx of people remaining on campus during a traditionally quiet time. Without the tireless advocacy of BAG (and COVID-19 being a catalyst), food insecurity would still be a rampant issue on campus. It is with this mindset towards combating food insecurity that the Vassar meal plan remains unlimited during the semester.

The Students’ Building opened in 1913 as a space for student organizations to meet and hold events. It was not until 1973 that the building housed the All-Campus Dining Center (ACDC, hence “Deece”), with meal service moved from residential houses to here (this switch to a central dining facility was necessitated by the large increase in students due to Vassar going co-ed beginning in 1969). Renovations in 2003 opened the second floor as a multifunctional student space. The most recent renovations of 2017 created the open floor plan seen today, upgraded the kitchen, refurbished some original features, and expanded the building’s capacity. These renovations were able to materialize in part due to contributions from Ellen Gordon ‘52, and so the dining space was renamed as Gordon Commons in 2018. Gordon was moved to support these renovations due to the enjoyable experiences she had at Vassar, particularly during meals. She stated, “I always thought the social aspects of people talking with each other at breakfast, lunch and dinner were very much a part of my college experience.” Her lasting friendships from her time at Vassar inspired her to help make it the space you see today.

You may have noticed that sometimes dishes are labeled with names that may seem longer than necessary, such as “sesame tofu pad thai” or “coconut teriyaki chicken.” These inclusions of “sesame” and “coconut” are intentional, however, as they alert those who are allergic to these ingredients to avoid eating them. Vassar Dining and Bon Appétit include any of the Top-9 allergens in their naming conventions when they are present in a dish. These allergens include milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts (including coconut), fish, shellfish, and sesame. These naming conventions keep all members of the Vassar community who dine with us safe by preventing accidental allergic reactions.

Vassar Dining aims for operations to be as sustainable as possible with the resources we have available. One sustainability component we implement within Gordon Commons is reusable dishware, including but not limited to plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons, and knives. That said, there are times when we unfortunately must use compostable dishware instead. Because we do not have a separate dishwashing room for the Kosher Kitchen, we cannot follow the rules of Kosher using our washable plates, so all meals served from the platform are served on compostable plates. Additionally, sometimes compostable dishes are used during Late Night as there are commonly fewer staff available to wash dishes. Our dish machine can also experience mechanical issues from time to time, which, due to Department of Health regulations, necessitates our use of compostable dishware. Finally, many of our diners have taken our dishware out of Gordon Commons, depleting our supply. While we routinely order more dishes, these shipments can be delayed due to supply chain issues, and increasing theft of reusable dishware has also increased the frequency of these orders.