Many students on campus have signed a petition this month created by Hannah Blankenship. This petition, like most, was based on an idea of fixing something many people felt needed to be corrected. Still, it was not an ordinary petition, it was concerning food.
The Perry cookie petition was something created to bring back the chocolate chip cookies Perry offered last semester, said Jason Hwang, a student involved in the process of trying to get them back.
Jonah Holland, a student who signed and supported the petition, said the cookies meant a lot to him and other students.
“We discovered that the Perry cookies had been changed, that they used a new recipe, and quite frankly, it wasn’t as good as the old one; and we felt like we lost felt like we lost an important part of MSU when we lost those cookies,” Holland said.
Throughout the history of the petition, it was noticed by many at MSU and gained a total of 359 signatures, growing in popular support for students who eat at the Perry.
Many good memories surrounded the Perry’s famous cookies, and the change affected a decent amount of the students. Hwang said he would sometimes get a to-go box and fill it up with cookies because they were so good.
Later, he stated while cookies are a minor thing to some, in the past, some students specifically looked forward to the Perry Cookies when having a bad day. To him and other students, this simple dessert was “that little part of life that brought (him) a little bit of joy.”
With this cookie change came some disappointed feelings, which is why the cookie petition gained the momentum it did.
This momentum was surprising, even for the people who began the petition.
“I definitely didn’t expect this many people to sign a petition about cookies,” Hwang said. “It was pretty crazy what type of change college students want, too.”
Because so many of the students missed the cookies, this petition was a way for them to join together and try to get some sort of action to fix this issue.
“We weren’t aiming to get ‘X amount’ of voters, we just wanted to see a rough estimate of how many students wanted the cookies back,” Hwang said.
To get more votes, Blankenship, Hwang and others supported the petition by telling people about it on social media and in person, asking for the student body to help and support.
After the petition began to grow in signatures and had a substantial amount, Blankenship emailed dining services.
“I was wondering if there was a feasible way to get the cookies back or if we could talk about it,” Blankenship said.
After this, she set up a meeting time with MSU Dining Marketing Manager Andi Pichardo, and Blankenship and Hwang went to discuss the idea of the original cookies being brought back.
Pichardo asked them questions regarding the difference between the cookie style and why they preferred the old ones, and by the end of the meeting, the students were promised the Perry would try to improve the new cookies.
“She never really mentioned that it was possible to get the old ones back, but they did say they would take steps to make the new ones like the old ones, including cooking them for less time to make them softer and things like that,” said Blankenship.
While this was not the exact result they were searching for, both students were willing to accept the compromise. Blankenship said within the next week, due to their meeting, the new cookies became softer and better.
If students go in to the Perry today for lunch, though, they will not find a softer, old-style version of the new cookies, because soon after Blankenship and Hwang met with the company, MSU Dining Services not only announced these cookies were officially back, but they have also begun providing them at the Fresh Food Company as well.
“They truly listened to our voices, which is something really special about MSU,” Blankenship said. “The faculty and staff actually care about the students and what we want. Even though this is an insignificant thing like cookies, it shows the entire spirit of the university and how they care for the students.”
“I think it’s a great triumph that the MSU student body came together and brought back such an important thing,” said Holland.
The end goal once seemed so far from success, but the petition has now made its mark. Because of this petition and the hopeful minds of these students, the next time someone walks into the Perry or Fresh Foods, they can get a to-go box and fill it with the cafeteria’s signature, something many students find important at MSU: The Perry cookie.