‘How Would It Be Different?’: Students Question Potential Zimmer Hall Fly-By Location

Last month, Harvard College Dean David J. Deming floated the possibility of opening an additional grab-and-go lunch location in Zimmer Hall as an option to reduce Fly-By wait times — but students aren’t fully sold on the idea.

Deming clarified the discussion in an interview with The Crimson earlier this month, saying that the College has not made any decision on a new Fly-By location.

In interviews, nine students told The Crimson they were optimistic the change would help mitigate the line at Fly-By’s Memorial Hall location and offer more options for students with classes in Zimmer Hall. Still, some were skeptical that a new location would improve wait times and were concerned about losing choices offered at the Clover Food Lab.

“I think having another Fly-By location would be nice, just in case there’s a line at the first one,” Ryan Rohit ’30. “You could have another place to get food really quick.”

Students expressed frustration with lines for lunch at Fly-By at Memorial Hall, which offers grab-and-go lunches beneath Annenberg Hall, the College’s freshman-only dining hall. Fly-By is a unique option for upperclassmen, who can only dine in House dining halls located further away from most of Harvard’s academic buildings.

“There were times I’d walk by and see the line would be 10, 20 minutes. So I would just walk by and not get Fly-By,” Alex A. Sultan ’30 said. “I just skip lunch on that days.”

While Victor Suh ’29 said he appreciated the convenience of having Fly-By so close to his lectures in Sanders Theatre, which is adjoined to Annenberg, long wait times right after lectures complicate the benefit.

“Unfortunately, obviously, that time, you have 600 other kids who have the exact same idea as you, and so the line gets extraordinarily long,” he said.

Many students contended that a new Fly-By location was warranted, but some were concerned that the selection of Zimmer Hall could come with difficulties.

Emil Ma ’30 said that Zimmer Hall was “already very crowded.”

“I think having an extra line in there might make it even more crowded,” Ma added.

Sonya Singh ’30 expressed skepticism about a Zimmer Hall location’s ability to mitigate wait times — citing the Smith Campus Center as a possible alternative.

“Clover is so close to the existing Fly-By locations, so how would it be different?” she said.

Singh said she was also worried about a new Fly-By location removing the options currently offered at Clover Food Lab. While students can use Harvard University Dining Services meal swipes at Fly-By, the Clover Food Lab requires students to pay independently for items.

“If Fly-By was here, I would hope it wouldn’t completely replace the cafe we already have, and it would still offer things like coffee or cookies,” she said.

Students also lamented food options at Memorial Hall Fly-By, comparing the offerings to choices at HUDS’s second Fly-By location at the Science and Engineering Complex.

“The SEC Fly-By is a lot better than the Fly-By under Annenberg, just because there’s more salad and vegetarian options.” Siya C. Patel ’29 said. “There’s never a line at the SEC — you would wait maximum 30 seconds.”.

“I think that a lot of students don’t really enjoy Fly-By, too and that they eat it because it’s the only option they have to eat a quick meal,” Lillie J. Tyrrell ’28 said. “I would not subjugate myself to eat something that I don’t like, so I’d just prefer to skip a meal.”

Still, some students supported the idea of a location in Zimmer Hall in hopes that a second Fly-By location would help save time between classes.

“I think a location in Clover would be extremely beneficial,” Natalia S. Gonzalez ’30 said. “Especially because all the classes that I’m usually running late to are also in the Science Center.”

Suh noted Zimmer Hall’s central location on campus at the intersection of the Yard and graduate school campuses, such as Harvard Law School and Harvard Divinity School.

“I think it’s a central nexus for foot traffic at Harvard,” Suh said. “Having a location that has a lot more foot traffic than Annenberg — I think would be a great improvement to the Fly-By program.”