By Anonymous
Unknown
Recently, students in Hodson Hall took action to fight the newest injustice plaguing Washington College’s dining hall.
Several students were seen standing in and around the dining area in Hodson Hall the week following spring break, carrying large painted signs and displaying them.
Most of the signs read “free OJ” in large painted letters, with variations including “what will I do without OJ” and “the juice is loose.” The students held these signs while standing around the Hodson dining area, from the ice cream machine to Gregory Edwin Cruz Jr. “Buck’s” omelet station.
The lack of orange juice in the dining hall has affected a myriad of students. One student protester and WC junior, Justin Ly, could be seen throughout the week, holding up a “free OJ” sign.
“All I’ve ever wanted is free orange juice,” Ly said.
Lorna Cummings, a senior at WC, was seen multiple times throughout the week staring at the juice machines on either side of the dining hall.
“Not looking for a truce, [I] just want the juice,” Cummings said. In fact, those were the only words Cummings said, repeating the sentence over and over while staring at the different types of juices.
Former WC student and friend of Cummings, Aidan Radinsky, who left the school suddenly last spring, was worried about his friend’s trance-like state. He implied Cummings was stuck in her state for almost a year now and the lack of all juices is why Radinsky left. Once a college student, Radinsky has now become a concerned citizen.
“It wasn’t just the orange juice. The juices in the dining hall are always out,” Radinsky said. “It doesn’t just stop there. It starts with [WC], and then suddenly there’s no [orange juice] in all of Maryland.”
Radinsky’s prediction about the lack of orange juice in Maryland has come true. In recent years, the amount of orange juice available in Maryland waned from 56% to an astounding 21%, according to The Pulp, North America’s leading orange juice magazine.
Even the school mascot, Gus the Goose, was spotted during the protests. Gus aimlessly waddled around Hodson Hall, confused and disoriented. Initially, Gus only honked in response, but eventually, he started talking.
“Juice for goose,” Gus said, “HONK!”
Hodson Hall, once brimming with students and an abundancy of juice, now holds a dining hall in which students have to protest in order for their needs to be met. The ongoing juice crisis caused a once silent mascot to speak up for the first time.
Because of the lack of orange juice in the dining hall, and overall Maryland, continues, it is projected that by 2025, the orange juice levels in the greater East Coast will have dropped almost 102%.
Those who wish to help can contact Orange Juice Headquarters at 1-800-FREE-OJ or can volunteer their time at 1510 Orange Street, where unpaid interns spend their days manually squeezing oranges to counteract the lack of juice.
A secondary student campaign is also being run, this one aimed at addressing the constantly broken soft-serve machine. Radinsky said he saw several students in Chester Hall making signs bearing the slogan “Free the Cream” in the second-story lounge.
Photo by Liv Barry
Photo Caption: Richard and one of his boys protest outside Hodson Hall.