I cannot overemphasize enough how much Rice Graduate Students are valued here and how generous the entire community is! The generosity of the Rice community is still one of the most welcoming culture shocks of my life, especially as it pertains to feeding. Most Rice students who live in the colleges eat at the serveries. Rice University has five main serveries: The West serving the McMurtry College; the North servery serving Martel college; the South servery serving Hanszen and Wiess colleges, and the Seibel servery serving Will Rice, Lovett, and Sid Richardson colleges; and the Baker Kitchen, which serves only the Baker College. The meal and meal times for each date is updated on the website daily. Till was not until the spring of 2019 graduate students were officially accommodated in the Rice Dining meal plans. Ever since, a variety of options and prices have been made available to all Rice students, especially the students off-campus, to ease academic life. And yet, to students who cannot afford these meal plans, the system has made it possible for students to ‘swipe’ for their fellow students, friends, and even family members. ‘Swipe’ here refers to the ability to create access to enter the servery. When one arrives at the servery, they are expected to swipe their card for access, just as they would at an ATM or POS to pay for a commodity or enter a secured building. Though the servery is designed as a buffet service, which could encourage gluttony and waste, practical ways on how to plate your meals could be found on the Rice dining website here, including provisions for complaints on dietary concerns.
Usually, towards the end of a semester, students visit the servery with their friends to use up their meal access before it expires. Swiping for friends becomes a way to show generosity and kindness to friends and colleagues who were unable to pay for meal plans earlier in the semester. In my country, Nigeria, the West African Pidgin phrase “You fit swipe?” is used to ask how generous one is. Generosity is a thing of honor. One’s ability to spend on their friends is associated with some measurable amount of honor and respect. In fact, people practically compete to “outswipe” each other. It accords one the title of a “big boy” or “big girl,” as the case may be. Before the Fall 2025 semester, purchasing meal plans was time-sensitive, and this made it impossible for some students to buy plans in time, thereby heightening the swiping culture. Randomly, I received broadcast emails from the Student Government requesting meal swipe donations for students who need them; I have also been fortunate to have been swiped for an entire semester by my esteemed colleague, Dasol, who extended her hand of generosity to me in my first year. This offered me the opportunity to see the Servery for the first time. It was so surreal! The display of food was like a banquet hall. There were varieties of food from different parts of the world, accommodating almost all dietary needs: From vegan to lactose-intolerant to gluten-sensitive. Just name it. Mouth-watering and fresh-outta-the oven, well-prepared buffet meals! Fresh juices, coffee, tea, pizza, fries, tofu, fish, chicken, and every meal you can ever think of!
After my mouth agape and hands akimbo first experience, where I packed all the food my eyes could find on my plate, which of course I could not finish, the subsequent visits made me very prepared!It is even more flexible and accommodating this semester, in that even if anyone swipes for you or not, there could be something for you, especially if you are preparing for Ph.D. candidacy, or you spend more time in school, and have little time to make meals at home, or you are just trying to save more money too. The Rice dining meal plans are an excellent option for you! And do not forget to swipe for your friends, too, if you have more than enough to share. There is love in sharing, and you will always be remembered for that little kindness, just as I will never forget Dasol, who did not judge me at all when I packed up all the food that I never finished.
About the author
Osinachi Okafor is a third-year Ph.D. student in Art History at Rice University, Houston, Texas, USA. She is currently a member of GSLAB (Graduate Student Library Advisory Board).
She got her B. A Fine and Applied Art at Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria, in 2017, where she works as a graduate assistant and a co-curator of the XX Art Exhibition annually held at Awka Museum Foundation, Nigeria.
Further reading:
Grad School 101: Make visiting weekends work for you by Emily Elia.
Coming to Rice as an international student by Utana Umezaki.
Feeling at home in the U.S. by Rosa Guerra Resendez.