While many students celebrated Valentine’s Day on Feb. 14, the date also marked the start of Lent for Catholics, the 40-day religious observance during which they abstain from consuming meat other than fish on Ash Wednesday and every Friday until Easter. However, many campus Catholics wish that Cornell would provide greater dining options during Lent.
Cornell Dining serves food options that accommodate students’ diverse dietary needs, including vegan options and specific dishes for students following Kosher and Halal diets. In total, there are 10 dining halls spread between North, West and Central Campus, each serving salads and vegan food options.
“Our vegetarian and vegan menu items are an easy and delicious way to abstain from consuming meat,” Cornell Dining Director Paul Muscente wrote in an email to The Sun. “And all of our eateries have vegetarian and vegan choices at every meal.”
Muscente noted that many campus dining halls serve fish in addition to vegetarian options.
“Many observant Catholics also look for fish as an alternative during Lent, especially on Fridays, and a quick check of our menus for Friday on Cornell Dining Now shows quite a few fish entrées listed for lunch and dinner all over campus,” Muscente stated. “And many of our salad bars have tuna, tofu, hard-cooked eggs and other non-meat protein options.”
Carla Flores ’25, a member of the student leadership team for Cornell Catholic Community, said that Cornell Dining can better support Catholic students by preparing specific Lenten meals in addition to their traditional vegan options.
“I know a lot of them already have vegan or vegetarian options, but it would be nice [to have a specific meal] — not as a reminder, but to say, ‘we understand why you’re abstaining from meat today,’” Flores said. “It’d be a nice way to … recognize … that this is what a lot of our students are going through.”
Cornell Catholic Community President Colin Murphy ’25 acknowledged that Cornell dining offers food options that conform to Lenten restrictions, but suggested that they prepare traditional Lenten dishes as well.
“Most dining halls do have vegetarian and vegan options for most meals, so it’s not necessarily that Catholic students don’t have options, but there are lots of traditions around Lent,” Murphy said. “There are lots of regionally specific options people have served at various times for Lenten meals on Friday, and if the dining system recognized that and maybe made some of those available, I’m sure people would go.”
Kevin Salazar ’24, former president of the Cornell Catholic Community, suggested holding Friday fish frys — which are popular during Lent across the US, including in the Finger Lakes region — as an enjoyable opportunity for Catholic students to come together as a community and eat in accordance with religious restrictions.
“It would definitely be nice if Catholics had a specific Catholic meal on Fridays in at least one of the dining halls,” Salazar said. “A fish fry would be nice because that’s not really too common in the dining halls.”
Flores said that sometimes the vegan options were insufficiently filling and wished the dining hall could make a more nutritious and non-meat meal.
“I think it would also be very beneficial if there were substantial meals because sometimes I just opt for a salad if that’s all that’s there, which is obviously not a full meal,” said Flores.
Murphy said that if Cornell Dining were to prepare specific Lenten meals and label them as Lent-compatible meals, it could help forge community among Catholic students.
“I know [there are] lots of options in the dining hall — say gluten free or Kosher or Halal [food] — and if [Cornell Dining] even just labeled it ‘this is a Lenten-compatible meal,’ that might actually draw Catholics who are looking for somewhere to eat, and maybe [somewhere] they might expect to find other Catholics who are observing the same abstinence on Friday,” Murphy said.
Cornell Dining does accommodate various other religions by offering meals specific to their dietary needs, as Muscente noted.
“Cornell Dining is prepared to accommodate a variety of dietary needs and religious traditions, including Muslim community members observing Ramadan beginning in a few weeks, and Jewish community members celebrating the Seder at the beginning of Passover a few weeks beyond that,” Muscente stated.
While Cornell Dining has sent two emails this semester that included resources for students observing Ramadan — a month in the Muslim calendar where adherents abstain from eating from sunrise to sunset each day — which include pre-fast meal boxes and extended hours for dining after sundown, Cornell Dining has not specifically mentioned options or resources for students observing Lent.
During Flores’s three years at Cornell, she could not recall ever receiving an email mentioning the Catholic celebration of Lent.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen an email going out specifically stating anything about Catholic students,” Flores said. “I would really appreciate that — just to be seen and to say there’s someone out there who’s taking me into consideration.”
Murphy shared a similar sentiment and proposed that Cornell Dining increases their efforts to better serve the needs of Catholic students.
“There’s definitely an opportunity for Cornell Dining to help Catholics enjoy community and observe traditions together that maybe is not currently being met,” Murphy said.
Though Murphy does not think the Catholic community is being intentionally excluded, he wants Cornell Dining to be more proactive in their mission to serve Catholic students.
“I don’t necessarily think there is any ill will or animosity behind it, but it would certainly be welcomed if Cornell Dining were to take some steps to celebrate Catholic traditions and help Catholic students observe their Friday abstinence … with each other,” Murphy said. “I think that would certainly be a welcome thing that would make a lot of Catholics feel noticed and celebrated at Cornell.”