Stanford student claims peers use fake Jain identities to qualify for religious dietary exemptions from Rs 7-lakh meal plan

Critics of the student's piece in the New York Times say the 'hack' is actually about legitimate religious concerns about food cross-contamination.

3 min readNew DelhiFeb 3, 2026 03:12 PM IST

According to the university's official website, Stanford requires undergraduates living on campus to enrol in a university meal plan

An opinion piece by a Stanford University undergraduate has gone viral, claiming that several students falsely present themselves as followers of Jainism to bypass the university’s mandatory meal plan, which costs $7,944 (approximately Rs 7.17 lakh) for the 2025–26 academic year.

The essay, written by Sebastian Connolly in The New York Times, argues that such behaviour reflects a wider culture of “optimisation” on campus, where students routinely share tips on how to work around university rules and systems.

According to the university’s official website, Stanford requires undergraduates living on campus to enrol in a university meal plan. Its policies allow exemptions on religious or medical grounds if campus dining services cannot reasonably accommodate dietary needs.

Connolly alleged that some students identify as Jain to qualify for religious dietary exemptions, even though they do not practise the religion.

“Let’s stop pretending this doesn’t happen,” Connolly wrote, claiming that students he knows have used a Jain identity to opt out of Stanford’s dining requirements. The essay stated that these students then spend their allotted food funds at off-campus grocery stores for more and better options.

However, Connolly did not cite official statistics or findings to support his claims. He acknowledged that his assertions were based on personal observations and conversations with other students.

See here:

Students at Stanford are pretending to be Jains so they can spend their meal plan money at Whole Foods instead of the school cafeteria: pic.twitter.com/C8kDQmJiO3

— Steve McGuire (@sfmcguire79) February 2, 2026

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An excerpt from the essay has since gone viral, sparking a wave of reactions. “every student body does this at every college that mandates 4 year residency,” a user wrote. “That’s not true or fair. Indian students at Stanford do that out of valid concerns – many of them don’t want to eat food that may be in contact with beef which is a religious anathema to us,” another user argued.

“Instead of cribbing there is a life lesson to be learnt here. Good guys finish last,” a third user reacted.