Over the past two years, Princeton University has shelled out more than $73,000 replacing dining hall dishes and utensils, mostly thanks to students swiping plates, bowls and silverware for their dorms — many of which never make it back.
Choi Dining Hall, serving Yeh College and New College West, racked up nearly $44,000 in costs to replace 4,440 plates and 2,240 bowls, according to The Daily Princetonian. The remaining $29,000 went toward restocking 20,400 forks, 5,460 knives, 5,580 soup spoons and 2,520 teaspoons across other campus dining facilities.
University officials blame the expense mainly on students taking items from the dining halls, noting that they expect 10 to 15% of tableware to be lost or broken each year.
Both students and staff have noticed the problem.
Jamie Chen, a resident college advisor at Yeh College, told The Daily Princetonian that a significant part of her job involves reminding students to return dishes scattered throughout common spaces.
"Most of the things that we log are really just issues of dishes being left around the college," Chen said.
The problem has also led to rodent sightings. New College West resident Sophia Vernon reported finding mice in her room on the fifth floor due to dirty plates left in common areas.
"The mice go where the food is," she said.
Despite the recurring issue, Nadeem Siddiqui, assistant vice president of campus dining, expressed little concern.
"I think their intent is to bring it back," he told the student publication.
However, Siddiqui acknowledged that the annual replacement cost, which represents only 0.08% of the $42 million campus dining budget, could be better allocated to other university causes.
