Fall 2016 brought a lot of wonderful things to Liberty University: over 1,000 new students are now on campus, construction has begun on Commons 3, and the upcoming Convocation schedule is full of incredible people. In addition to all those great things, Liberty has expanded it’s Freedom Dining Plan to include two new ways to pay for food both on and off campus: meal plus swipes and dining dollars. Although that nice man tried to explain everything at the end of Convocation on Wednesday, everyone is still generally confused, so I decided to simplify the information I have heard and help everyone get hyped for the new dining options.

Meal plus swipes and meal swipes are different things. Plus swipes are to be used at places besides the Rot on campus, which include Docs, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Auntie Anne’s, the new student union, and North campus. Each of these places to eat will have a small purple sign or some other indication of what on their menu counts as a plus swipe. If the item you wish to buy is not a plus swipe, it will either be a normal meal swipe like the ones used at the Rot or it will cost dining dollars.

Dining dollars is a new concept. Last year, students who had the Freedom Dining plan were gifted with $200 of Flames cash, which would be used both on and off campus, for things like Starbucks or Applebee’s or textbooks. Now, students have $120 dining dollars to be used specifically for on-campus food. For example, if you want a Frappuccino from Starbucks (which is not a plus swipe), you would use dining dollars. Any food item on campus that is not some form of swipe, is now paid for using dining dollars, not Flames cash.

Flames cash is to be used for either non-food items on campus or food off campus. There are several restaurants in Lynchburg that take flames cash, like Applebee’s, as a way to accommodate Liberty students, and nothing has changed about those eating places. Liberty has an official list online if you’re curious about who takes flames cash. Also, flames cash can be used at the bookstore, for laundry, and other non-food on-campus services. Although we only have $80 where we once had $200, it is important to remember that most of us spent our flames cash on food that can now be purchased with plus swipes, so we are still saving money while getting the meals we want.

Now let’s talk about all those great new meal options. The Montview Student Union has a diverse culinary world available to students, from Italian to Mediterranean, and I have had the great joy of trying or talking to people that have tried most of the new places. Garbanzo, the Mediterranean place, has mind-blowing pita bread. Not only can you get gluten free pita bread, the pita is the plus swipe, so you get a piece of pita bread filled with flavorful chicken (or falafel), vegetables, and your choice of sauce without spending any dining dollars.

The Italian place, Woodfire Pizza, smells like Italian heaven. A plus swipe can get you a huge slice of either cheese or pepperoni pizza and the fountain drink of your choice. If you want another type of pizza, you’ve got dining dollars. (They also sell whole pizzas for roughly $15).

Star Ginger has a variety of Asian food and their crowning achievement is the orange chicken with rice and green beans. Whatever sauce they put on those green beans is a mystery, but it is a glorious, delicious mystery. My one complaint is that the rice isn’t that sticky, so eating it with chopsticks is somewhat difficult.

Although I have not personally tried the U Food Grill, I’ve heard they have slightly soggy fries and great sandwiches. A plus swipe is a chicken wrap, which I also heard is delicious. The convenience store, The Grid, has a great variety of options and is packed after Convo, so they must have fast options.

Everyone seems to be most excited about the tea shop, Argo. They have great options for people who are lactose intolerant, including almond milk, and giant croissants. You can even buy whole tins of their incredible teas!

I know I don’t know everything about the new system, but I’ve learned a few things this week that I thought were worthy of a share. Since this plan and some venues are new for both the freshman and returners, I thought I would do my best to clarify now that it’s been a week and I’ll try to do an update further along in the year.