JJ’s also has a new ping pong table – and according to one person we talked to, it isn’t regulation

In case you’re a first-year, a transfer, or someone with no friends at Barnard: it was announced last spring that Barnard students are now able to swipe into JJ’s as part of their meal plans. When one Bwog staff writer ventured into JJ’s last week, she overheard two Columbia students behind her in line for chicken nuggets complaining that JJ’s is now incredibly crowded due to an influx of Barnard students. We became curious to see how popular this opinion was, so we took Bwog Asked to JJ’s last night. We asked: “How do you feel about the fact that Barnard students can now swipe into JJ’s?” Here are our answers.

Columbia (CC and SEAS) students:

• “Now they can finally see how not that exciting it is.”
• “I think it’s awesome, I think everyone should have access to it.”
• “It’s lit.”
• “I really don’t care – if it’s more convenient for them, then why not.”
• “I didn’t know they couldn’t before, but I’m glad they can now.”
• “I thought it was kind-of asshole-y when they didn’t let [Barnard students] in.”
• “I don’t think it’s been more crowded because of Barnard students … The John Jay line has been worse than normal, too. It’s just the freshmen.”
• “Spread the fried chicken love.”
• “I’m happy for them. I don’t know much about Barnard’s dining options, but I think they should have access to food as much as Columbia students do.”
• “I don’t care. It’s fine. Can you make the title of the article ‘JJs needs better food’?”
• “I think it’s great, because this place is cool.”
• “I’m just glad my Barnard friends still talk to me now that they don’t need sign-ins.”

A typical Barnard-student-swipes-self-into-JJ’s experience

Barnard students:

• “Yas. Spelled y-a-s.”
• “We’re Barnard students, you can tell.  We’re like, here we are, we’re excited to be alive.”
• “We should get swipe access to the dorms next.”
• “It feels really empowering.”
• “Thank you, Columbia, for finally making us feel like we matter.”
• “I’m genuinely scared. Because when I was a freshman, I couldn’t go to JJ’s, and I avoided the freshman fifteen. But now the freshman fifteen is gonna come again. Only it’s gonna be the junior fifteen. Or even worse – the junior twenty-five.”

Conclusion: Most Columbia students are either happy for their Barnard friends, or don’t particularly care about the change. And Barnard students are excited at the novelty of greasy food until 2am right now – but within a few weeks, they’ll likely realize that JJ’s is just another dining hall. And a dining hall of questionable quality, at that. Perhaps this new JJ’s policy is doing what administrators have failed at for years: bridging the gap between Columbia and Barnard once and for all.

Images via Bwog Staff