End the Dining Monopoly

Dartmouth Dining Services (DDS) monopolizes the dining options for Dartmouth College students. The prices of food items available at the different DDS establishments often exceed the prices of comparable food goods available just off campus. In addition, many of the items provided by DDS are of low quality, and the service portion of DDS is frequently slow and inefficient resulting in long lines and frustrated students. These problems stem from the fact that DDS has been allowed to exist as a monopoly where they are the only company at which Dartmouth Students can spend their meal-plan dollars. Furthermore, DDS has an existing contract with Dartmouth College specifying their company as the exclusive on-campus food provider eliminating the opportunity for independent organizations such as fraternities and sororities to hire their own cooks and provide dining alternatives.

This petition calls for an end to the monopoly held by DDS. The signers of this petition believe that the problems outlined above will self-correct if multiple companies are allowed to compete for the meal-plan dollars of Dartmouth students.