As a result of the Starbucks on Georgia Avenue violating Howard’s agreement with Sodexo and the meal plan terms, campus dining dollars are not accepted as a form of payment at the cafe as of February.
In response to the situation, Howard initially directed students to pay off charges incurred from unauthorized dining dollar transactions out of their own pockets.
An email sent to the student body by the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises Bison One Card on April 9, said that purchases made at Starbucks with dining dollars needed to be paid back in bison bucks by April 30, and that failure to do so could result in issues like account holds.
However, this statement received immediate backlash from students, who expressed their dissatisfaction through social media posts, emails and other forums.
Navanee Canzius, a sophomore nursing major from Texas, said that she found the decision to be unfair to students. She said it was “Howard’s issue” and as a result the school should be responsible for the financial consequences.
“I feel like Howard is prioritizing their finances over what’s fair to students,” she said. “And they only gave us until April 30, not even a month, to pay the balance back. It just is very stressful.”
On April 11, Howard responded to the backlash with another email from the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises Bison One Card. This email stated that penalties on student accounts for purchases made with dining dollars at Starbucks would be lifted.
Students said that the situation is symptomatic of a larger, campus-wide issue in regard to the support provided to students.
“Howard makes a lot of mistakes, and then it falls onto the students to bear the consequences,” Canzius said. “And I just feel really annoyed about it.”
Senior director of Auxiliary IT and Bison One Card Kym Bridgers gave a statement on the university’s response to the backlash from students. “Howard University decided to lift blanket holds and penalties on accounts, recognizing that this was originally enabled by a third-party system error,” she said.
“We are working to investigate the issues resulting from this error to better understand how and why the policy was not followed and how we can, in fairness and transparency, resolve them going forward,” Bridgers said.
Dining dollars are meant for use only at on-campus dining locations managed by Sodexo, such as the convenience stores, Bison Brew and 1867 Cafe, according to Bridgers. She stated that the Starbucks location on Georgia Avenue mistakenly accepted dining dollars for an unidentified period of time.
According to Bridgers, the Starbucks on Georgia Avenue is not authorized to use dining dollars because it does not have a direct agreement with Howard and operates independently of the campus dining system. Instead, it is part of the Bison Dine Out program, managed by a third-party vendor, which allows students to use Bison Bucks at select off-campus locations.
“We are currently looking into the matter and conducting a thorough investigation to gather accurate information regarding the timeline and circumstances surrounding Starbucks’ ability to accept meal plan dining dollars,” Bridgers said.
Bridgers said the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises temporarily disabled Starbucks’ ability to accept both dining dollars and bison bucks while they worked to resolve the issue. Per the website of the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises, bison bucks refers to a prepaid, stored value account that can be used both on and off campus, unlike dining dollars.
Bridgers stated that the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises hopes to reinstate bison bucks functionality soon, and that students can review approved dining dollars locations and meal plan guidelines on the campus dining page of the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises website.
Howard began investigating the situation after it was discovered by maintenance who arrived to do repairs. Bridgers said that the Office of Auxiliary Enterprises is currently investigating the timeline and circumstances surrounding Starbucks’ ability to accept dining dollars.
“We appreciate your understanding and are committed to enhancing our students’ dining experience on campus,” Bridgers said.
Starbucks employees declined to comment directly. However, according to Starbucks management, there is not a definitive date for resolution yet, but the company understands the campus community’s frustration with the change and is working to develop a solution to the issue.
Students said that the situation has reduced their options for food. Laila Murdock, a sophomore journalism major from Fairbanks, Alaska, mentioned relying on Starbucks for food due to financial aid issues and the usefulness of being able to use her dining dollars there.
“I would use my dining dollars to basically feed myself,” Murdock said, who is on the all dining dollars meal plan this year. “I live right above the Starbucks, so it was helpful to have something that takes five minutes to get. It was a crutch when I didn’t have the money to get groceries.”
Lyric Matthews, a sophomore Afro-American studies major from High Point, North Carolina, agreed with Murdock.
“The dining hall doesn’t have many options for me,” Matthews, who is a vegetarian with a peanut allergy, said. “So it was very beneficial to be able to use my dining dollars at Starbucks. I’d usually go there in the mornings to get breakfast.”
Matthews also said that the inability to use dining dollars at Starbucks has affected her diet.
“I’ve had to cook more, but I don’t necessarily have that much time,” she said. “So I find myself eating meals that aren’t the best for me and not that nutritious.”
Copy edited by Camiryn Stepteau
Correction: A previous headline incorrectly conveyed that Starbucks rescinded student charges. The headline has been updated to reflect the fact that Howard was responsible for rescinding the charges.
