On November 4, 2025, Andy Brown, Dean of Students for Community Life, announced a raffle at breakfast each morning in the dining hall, aiming to increase attendance at the first meal of the day in the run-up to exam week.
Associate Head of School Jennifer Craig had anticipated a variety of difficulties for the community during the dining hall renovation. “We had already planned for the impact of using the Hale Field House on our athletics program, but students not attending breakfast was probably the next largest concern.” Craig added, “A number of people were noticing that there were fewer numbers of students at breakfast, and a few students had begun to anecdotally report that they were ‘hitting a wall’ late morning in class,” referencing students’ perceived energy levels in the classroom before lunch. It became evident that the location of the new dining hall served to discourage student attendance. Craig said that students needed an incentive, and it was settled that a breakfast initiative, in the form of a raffle, would be the best course of action.
The goal of the initiative was to promote healthier habits among students. Chief Advancement Officer John Richardson, who led the initiative, explained, “I started [the initiative] more to try to break some habits” and to “[get] people in the habit of eating.” Quentin McDowell ’25, ’27 expanded on Richardson’s idea: “We want students to realize the added value and benefits of having breakfast each day and that all starts with showing up. Once there we hope people will find that eating a good breakfast really does make for a better, more energy filled day.
The raffle is scheduled for the three-week period prior to Thanksgiving vacation. Richardson explained, “In order to break a habit, you need to do something consistently for three weeks,” and the breakfast raffle’s timing was strategic for this reason.
Brown also wanted to offer students a respite before exams. “The fall term is always long, and so then also to be able to do something kind of fun at the end, is also hopefully beneficial for students as well,” he said.
Many students have favorably responded to the raffle initiative. Eric Wang ’27 noted, “I feel like it's important that the school has taken awareness of the situation that a lot of us aren’t eating breakfast.” Thomas Zhu ’26 echoed Wang, commenting, “I think it's a very fun activity that the school is doing, and I like how they are using some of their funds to promote better student health.”
While the raffle may not continue into Winter Term, the school still plans an initiative to advance student attendance. In the future, Mercersburg Academy will continue to offer grab-and-go breakfast options in various locations around campus, something that Wang mentioned as “really convenient considering the [current] circumstances.”
Brown continued to describe the school’s goals. “Any time that we can help reinforce healthy habits, you know, eating multiple meals, getting up early, [the message is] always beneficial.”