On the first frigid Sunday after winter break, students lined up outside their dorms to warm their hands on mugs of piping hot cocoa and tuck into sugary glazed donuts.

Before COVID-19 sent Webb students home in March 2020, Sunday Snack was a weekly occurrence. Like clockwork, boarders left their rooms every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in search of the dorm tasked with providing for the hungry masses.

“One of my favorite things we did my freshman year was we had Krispy Kreme donuts, [and] the prefects were grilling meat, and we made burgers with the donuts,” said Fran Torres (‘22), North Hutch dorm prefect. “It was extremely unhealthy, but it was the greatest thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”

On January 9, 2022, Sunday Snack made its triumphant return when each dorm received dozens of donuts (meat not included) and vats of hot cocoa. The snacks, shared between small groups of two or three dorms, brought smiles to the faces of boarders all across campus.

“I enjoyed it a lot because we’ve been kind of stuck here, so it’s really nice to know that they think about us,” Izzy Kim (‘24) said.

“It was a collaborative decision that we felt like the boarders needed a little bit of joy, with the restrictions that had to be placed on weekend [activities],” said Ken Rosenfeld, Dean of Campus Life. “We thought this was a little something we could do to bring a smile to everyone’s face.”

The rise of the Omicron variant has caused some significant changes to the format of the program. Before the pandemic, boarders from all over campus would convene in one common space and eat food provided by the dorm head and prefects of the host dorm.

Post-quarantine, adjacent dorms share snacks amongst themselves, and the food is provided by the school, rather than dorm heads.

“We’re trying to keep it not only as safe for everyone [as possible], but also know that there’s a lot on people’s plates right now, and we’re trying to be mindful of everyone’s work and stress loads at the moment,” Mr. Rosenfeld said.

“I like it because it allows people to be safer by not mixing dorm groups, but I think it kind of ruins the experience of Sunday Snack,” Fran said. “Part of what I loved about Sunday Snack was going to the dorms and being able to hang out with people [from] every dorm.”

Despite these changes, its purpose remains the same: to bring students together over good food and provide relief from the stress of the past week. It gives students something to look forward to at the end of the weekend and offers one last bit of fun before classes resume and schoolwork begins to pile up once more.

“I’ve got the menu set already for this upcoming Sunday, and it’ll keep going as long as we can keep it going,” Mr. Rosenfeld said. “The hope is that in the future we can return to how it used to be.”