Thirty years ago this week, Valentine Hall recognized late-morning sleepers by serving a continental breakfast from the hours of 8:30-9:30 a.m. For most students today, this would still be considered much too early, but for the students of the '70s, it was definitely a huge improvement from the previous breakfast hour of 7:30-8:30 a.m. The faculty made this change when they discovered that most students had never eaten breakfast at Amherst since their arrival as bright-eyed freshmen.

The continental breakfast was similar to the one still served today; however, while the College now offers a variety of options including cereal, scones, bagels, coffee cake and muffins, the old continental breakfast only included toast, orange juice, milk and coffee. Students today should appreciate both the greater variety of the continental breakfast, and the fact that it is available any time Valentine is open, day or night.

The Food Services Committee decided to make the change on Feb. 12. The Committee worried that few students would take advantage of the new breakfast option and was also concerned about the cost. As a result, the Committee decided to evaluate the program toward the end of the spring semester. During the trial period, the continental breakfast would be available Monday through Friday; the Committee apparently was not aware that most students have a more difficult time waking up early on weekends than on weekdays. The Committee also decided to jazz up the variety problem at all meals by adding cuisine items such as manicotti, fried bologna, minute steaks, rump steak, English muffins and a new brand of salad dressing. At this time, Valentine also had plans for a Jewish brunch and a few barbeques outside on the quad during the warm spring months.

After its evaluation in the spring, it was clear that the new hours were a huge success, and the Committee voted to keep them and to continue to add more variety to the menu. It appears that complaints about the food and hours at Valentine have been constant throughout the years. This small step made in 1975 shows us that we should appreciate our own greatly improved Valentine-it has come a long way from the simple continental breakfast and fried bologna.