University of Washington Students Revolt Against Campus Dining
A campus protest erupts as students challenge a restrictive new meal mandate and the poor quality of food provided by the university's janitor's wife.
Not since the introduction of compulsory military drill at the state university, and the consequent rebellion among the male students, has there been so much dissatisfaction as now exists among the young men who room at the North Hall. The trouble this time is in the commissary department. When school opened this term, the boys found that during vacation Mrs. Lara M. Larsen, the wife of the janitor, had been given the authority by President Gatch to open a boarding house on the grounds, and that they would not be allowed to club together and board themselves. Twenty-two of the boys refused to board with her, forcing them to live on 15-cent meals at cheap restaurants throughout the city to avoid her table. The students complain that the state-owned kitchen and dining furniture are being used by the Larsens for personal profit, and that the food provided is 'execrable'—consisting of cheap, tough steak and cold coffee. The boys, many of whom work as paper carriers to support their education, argue that they were previously able to feed themselves more comfortably for less money than the current mandate allows.
“The boys who are yet compelled to board there say the table is execrable, and that in addition, if by any chance any one is late at a meal he is compelled to go without until the next.”
This 1893 labor-style dispute over campus food monopolies and the cost of student living echoes current debates about the mandatory high-cost meal plans at modern universities. Even in the 1890s, students were keenly aware of the intersection between university administrative power and their personal economic survival.
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