Laundry, Dining, Printing: Campus Reactions to Service Changes
Graphic by Annelise Fisher
Campus life at Harvard College has seen a number of fiscal changes in recent months—student services, alongside residential policies, are no exception. Following the removal of Crimson Cash on July 1, the University transitioned to using One Tap Away laundry services, as well as the Touchnet payment system for Crimson Print. House dining halls and Annenberg Hall also saw changes to offerings, most notably the transition from disposable takeout boxes to reusable containers.
Crimson Cash
On July 1, 2024, the University announced they would be phasing out Crimson Cash. In a statement to the Harvard Independent, Harvard administration specified “significantly reduced utilization of the program due to the evolving purchasing habits of the Harvard community” as a key factor in this adjustment. Necessary hardware replacements across campus facilities likely spurred the resulting year-long transition period. Though the service was officially retired in June 2025, students with money remaining in their accounts can request a refund through June 30, 2026.
In previous years, students loaded money into their Crimson Cash accounts online, which were linked to their Harvard IDs. Students swiped their IDs at a monitor to pay the $1.50 fee before selecting a washer or dryer.
“A lot of times, the monitors would break… It was just hard to use, so it would essentially be hard to get laundry,” Jenna Jiang ’28 said in an interview with the Independent.
With Crimson Cash now retired, Harvard is rolling out new private-contract-provided payment options. “The Harvard Strategic Procurement team negotiated the pricing with the vendor and in line with the current market. The final agreement was reviewed and approved by all as part of the Crimson Cash Transition,” a member of the Harvard administration wrote in a statement to the Independent.
According to the Harvard Office of Treasury Management, third-party contractors like TouchNet provide a cost-effective and seamless solution, reducing the manual work needed to collect cash, checks, and wires. This reduces the scope of payment card industry data compliance for the University.
Moreover, the University’s new implementation of the One Tap Away app automatically syncs students’ accounts to dorm laundry facilities. Users scan QR codes located on each machine to add funds and start laundry cycles.
A key point of contention with this change is the University’s decision to increase laundry services from $1.50 to $1.75. “I think Harvard should make laundry free for all students, in retrospect,” Jiang said. “I don’t believe it should increase, based on the fact that Harvard itself has raised tuition this year.” The University raised tuition from $56,550 to $59,320 for the 2025-2026 school year. Other price hikes include housing, food, student health insurance, and general fees.
Some aspects of the new system have received positive feedback, especially features like live machine availability updates, wash and dry cycle status, and relative ease of adding funds. “It was fairly unproblematic,” Zach Dyrlund ’29 said in an interview with the Independent. “I think overall, the system is decent, because it’s as good as it’s gonna get.”
Canaday Hall proctor Joe Currie reflected on his experience advising first-year students through setting up these accounts for the first time. “I almost feel like I’ve had less issues with having to explain to students how the laundry works this year. Last year, the system wasn’t particularly intuitive,” he told the Independent. “You had to put money on a separate thing, and then sometimes the swipe thing wasn’t working. So I actually feel like this year, even though the system has broken down, I haven’t had to explain stuff as much as last year.”
One Tap Away has yet to solve all issues with laundry. On Saturday, Sept. 13, the system went down for many students on campus. “Obviously, that created a huge challenge,” Currie added.
Printing
In addition to residential living practice adjustments, Harvard University Information Technology made changes to the Crimson Print program. New security features were installed on the printing network, and Touchnet became the University’s new provider for payment on Crimson Print.
With these updates, a number of students faced difficulties trying to set up their new accounts. “I have tried to set up office hours to help people figure out Crimson Print. I’ve done that with a number of students at this point, because it is not intuitive at all,” Currie said. “At least in my experience, the rollout of the new Crimson Print system was not working very well for many students.”
The process of printing varies depending on a device’s operating system, device software updates, WiFi network, printer location on campus, and printer affiliation with University departments.
“I kind of avoid printing at all costs—last year with Crimson Cash, it was actually terrible. It was so hard to set up. The printing system is still very hard to set up,” Jiang said.
Dyrlund had difficulties attempting to set up Crimson Print for the first time. “I have tried. I tried twice, and I literally messed with it for half an hour or an hour both times. Both times, I did not manage to print,” he said. “It’s overly complex, which I don’t really understand why.”
Dining
Beyond adjusted software, in an effort to encourage students to spend more time in the dining halls and reduce waste, Harvard University Dining Services switched from compostable to-go boxes to reusable, microwaveable containers. Utilizing the HOLLIS library technology, undergraduate students can check out these to-go boxes at dining halls around campus.
The process is seemingly straightforward: students will scan their HUID on the tablet at the check out station, then scan the barcode on the container. The boxes must be returned within one week. Failure to do so will result in a $10 fine to a student account.
“I’m actually a fan, I think. I still get to use takeout boxes. The gripe that I had with the to-go boxes was that if you had a lot of food and sauce, the paper box would absorb the sauce,” Thamini Vijeyasingam ’28 told the Independent. “Now there’s a plastic box, which I think is an improvement.”
Students are allowed to check out two to-go containers at a time. After use, HUDS will wash and sanitize the loaned out box for up to 40 times of reuse.
Other members of the Harvard community expressed concerns over the need to return a box compared to simply throwing away a disposable container. “I do think at times it might be a little inconvenient since you have to wash and then turn it back in,” Jiang said.
For first-years unfamiliar with the new system, some feel that it’s not a widely-known option. “It was underground at least for the first week, I didn’t see a bunch of people using it. So I feel like it should be pushed a little more,” Dyrlund said.
Ultimately, though the College community has mixed feelings about these various transitions, Currie stressed that improvements to student life are an ongoing process: “We appreciate everyone’s patience as their systems transition.”
Seyi Amosun ’29 (samosun@college.harvard.edu) thinks people should clean their lint out of the laundry room dryers.