The Ivy League has a thing for Nutella — apparently, a big thing.
After one of Columbia University's dining halls began offering Nutella last month, undergraduates have been going through a whopping 100 pounds a day of the chocolaty hazelnut spread — racking up to weekly Nutella bills of $5,000 for campus dining services.
The problem? Not all of the creamy spread is being consumed at the cafeterias. Students reportedly have been sneaking Nutella out of the dining halls to snack on in their dorms later, making costs rise faster than dining officials are anticipating. The Columbia Spectator reported students sneaking the creamy treat out in cups or snagging entire jars from dining halls.
Why are they doing it? Students explained:
- A junior interviewed by the Times admitted to making off with a day's worth of Nutella to snack on in sandwiches while studying. The reason: He was stressed before finals.
- A student council representative gave this reason for the Nutella thefts to The Gothamist: "When you’re paying that much for a dining plan, some people feel a bit more entitled to taking things from the dining hall. But what they don’t realize is that dining uses any extra money to get awesome new items like Nutella, almond butter, and to make structural changes like the JJ’s renovation."
- The same student council rep provided this explanation for "the perfect storm" behind the Nutella smuggling when interviewed by the Times: "People love Nutella, people love complaining about the dining halls and people feel there’s a problem with how the administration handles things."
- A freshman gave a simple explanation to the Columbia Spectator: "People love their Nutella. People are going to go crazy. I'm not surprised."
- But not all students are happy about those abusing the Nutella privilege. A junior interviewed by New York Daily News said the cafeteria had run out of Nutella during her last visit. A freshman added said he's seen people munching on the nutty spread by the plateful, "way more than they should."
Here's what other people had to say about the Columbia's "Nutella situation" on Twitter:
