A bright future for college's ancient dining tradition?

This piece was published in Trinity News on 15 April, 2008, with this introduction:

“Peter Henry was very impressed by his recent experiences in England, where he dined at Oriel in Oxford and at Homerton and Emmanuel in Cambridge. He argues for the improvement and promotion of our own evening meal, Commons.”

A bright future for college’s ancient dining tradition?

STUDENTS AT Trinity College inherit an immemorial custom which, despite its value, is rarely taken full advantage of. A communal evening meal was considered integral to university education in the past, yet Commons nowadays is attended almost solely by Scholars and the odd Fellow.

The Provost, Fellows, Scholars and Sizars are entitled to free Commons. But it’s not just the presence of the neediest and the most studious students at Commons which deters the average undergrad. With the fee at just under €20 for a rushed three-course meal, it makes more sense to spend your money on a few litres of chocolate milk or some homemade cider from the College off-licence.

Yet at England’s ancient universities, college evening meals, usually called “Hall”, are extremely popular with students. Most colleges have a regular “Formal Hall” where smart dress is expected and a gown is recommended, the food is better than the usual daily fare and students have to book in advance to be sure of a seat.

If our own establishment took some steps towards promoting Commons as a meal which is not just for Scholars, it could have a healthy future and become a popular evening venue for students.

As it stands, the occasional student goes to Commons once during his years at Trinity, usually for novelty’s sake or because he has a Scholar friend.

Awareness is certainly lacking. There are, without doubt, some unfortunate students who have never heard of “Commons”. There are some things every undergraduate knows about Trinity: walking under the Campanile is a bad idea, this is the last ever Trinity Ball, and you can bring your own cans to the Pavilion Bar. Commons deserves a place on this list and some promotion would make a big difference.

Some initiatives wouldn’t go astray. First, the introduction of a bulk discount for Commons tickets would allow the average student to attend with reasonable regularity without breaking the bank. If the price was seen as reasonable, it would surely encourage more students to dine in. Indeed, value for money is probably more important to most people than simple cost: most students have plenty of cash and the poor get a grant.

A further concession might be made to the clubs and societies. Many of them, indeed, do attend Commons at Christmas, but some discounts for groups would undoubtedly bring more students to Commons and help make eating-in a more central part of the undergraduate experience.

A little more time allowed in the Dining Hall would do no harm at all. Perhaps the grace after meat could be said after the main course? This would allow the scholars to skip off back to their books and those who want to indulge in further intelligent discussion could do so, unrushed, over dessert and coffee. Failing this, even twenty minutes’ more time would improve the Commons experience.

Good food is always desirable. A recent review of Commons in The Irish Times pointed out that “pretty vile” food was standard fare even in the 1980s, so perhaps there isn’t so much cause for complaint. Of course, Trinity’s kitchens are graced with proud chefs, who will undoubtedly rise to any challenge to provide ever-more appealing dishes in the evenings.

A glass of stout is central to the Trinity dining experience and excuses should be tolerated no more. Lines from waiting staff such as “Guinness is only for scholars” and “only four glasses of Guinness per table” need to be exposed for the miserable lies that they are. A liberal attitude towards the provision of the drink, in honour of former Chancellors of the University Edward and Rupert Guinness, would go a long way towards instilling a love of Commons in the students of Trinity.

With the College’s modern guardians of morals being averse to the pleasures of alcohol, surely no argument could be made against the suggestion that a food-based event be promoted in College. Indeed, perhaps the same abstinent Fellows and Fellows-aspirant will spearhead the drive to bring Commons to the student hordes.

It should be noted that overindulgence in good food can itself be a sin. However, I suspect that the College Alcohol Policy was not written to protect our souls from an extended stay in purgatory, but rather to spare the porters and the Junior Dean the hassle of having to deal with intemperate young pups.

The introduction of once-a-month in-term formal Commons would also make Commons attractive to the average student. Some table cloths, a wine list and some slightly better food would make all the difference. And yes, a dress code: formality makes an evening special, and there’s always the local institute of technology if you have a complex about these kinds of things.

Scholars: wear your gowns! The right to wear the bachelors’ gown and a velvet cap was once a major incentive for the hard-working Schol hopeful and a hall full of gown-clad diners would certainly add to the atmosphere at Commons.

Perhaps some students, with more affection for alcohol than my sober self, may be deterred by the epicurean emphasis to dining in College. They will be pleased to hear that, at the analogous Halls at Oxford and Cambridge colleges, an undergraduate’s dining experience is sometimes merely the prelude to a night of bibulous intellectual conversation at the college bar, often followed by a crapulous stagger back to rooms.

But, of course, that kind of thing is not encouraged.

Imitation of English universities for imitation’s sake is a bad idea and that is not what is being proposed here. But dining is certainly one area where students at Oxford and Cambridge (and Durham, Nottingham and Bristol) have an advantage over us. If some brave individual – student or staff member – would take on the noble cause of the promotion of Commons, he would be doing a huge service to the university and its students.