As the holidays approach, it brings me so much joy to celebrate our people and all the ways they show up to take care of our communities. I am immensely grateful that we can again gather and create connections with our campuses through programs like ThankFul. ThankFul allows our teams to bond with students through shared meals, teaching kitchens, and donations to campus pantries in the fight against food insecurity.
This semester, I am so proud of our teams that came together to create these moments, as well as provide new innovations for our campuses and partners. Although faced with challenges, our teams did more with less – adding innovations like RoboBurger, as well as opening firstof-its-kind locations.
Without the support of our passionate teams, we would not be able to deliver the experience our partners have come to expect. We wish them and you a very happy holiday season and a joyous new year!
Lisa McEuen CEO, Chartwells Higher Education
Delightful
will Deliver 500,000 Random Acts of Kindness to
Join us this year on February 13 through 17 2023 as we once again come together and pay it forward with a renewed commitment to deliver 500,000 random acts of kindness. This year students will also be asked to vote on their favorite menu items and engage in oppor-
This year, Bowling Green State University expanded their groundbreaking partnership with Hirzel Farms. Located in nearby Luckey, Ohio, this campus-to-farm collaboration now includes waste collection from two more dining locations: Falcon’s Nest and Carillon Place. During the past 8 years, more than 300,000 pounds (150 metric tons!) of waste has been diverted from landfills to make BGSU one of the nation’s most environmentally responsible colleges. Partnerships like these not only help us decrease carbon emissions to support the fight against global climate change, but also assist our local communities – providing farmers with fresh compost that creates new, delicious produce for our tables.
This year, Sbisa Dining Hall at Texas A&M and Trim Dining Hall at Babson College have been designated as 3-Star Certified Green Restaurants. This marks the second 3-Star dining hall at Babson College and the first for Texas A&M. To achieve this sta-
tus, both programs completed specific environmental steps including composting initiatives, recyling and much more. This award is an impressive validation of their commitments to put sustainability at top-of-mind in their campus communities.
Our JoyFul series continued this month with ThankFul on November 16. For this event, our teams came together to promote togetherness and gratitude around a shared meal with a special focus on community givebacks. These givebacks
included a donation of over 45,000 meals (and counting!) to support the fight against food insecurity on college campuses.
This year, guests also participated in the largest Teaching Kitchen event on a college campus. Students made everything from
their favorite holiday meals with celebrity chefs to mini fall dessert parfaits. We are grateful for the opportunity to provide valuable experiences for our guests through JoyFul, as well as reach into communities to help make a lasting impact.
Chef Jet and wife, Ali, Tila joined our team at CSUN to teach a group of students and CSUN staff how to prepare a holiday meal during a live demo. In addition, Jet and Ali helped the team prepare meals for a local homeless shelter in Northridge and presented 150
meals to the CSUN Pantry to help fight food insecurity. Proceeds from their signed books will also help groups in the community, including their local fire department.
A snowstorm wasn’t going to stop the CMU Dining team from hosting their ThankFul event! Their campus community came together despite the weather to participate in a chef competition that resulted in 200 pounds of food being donated to local food pantries to fight
food insecurity. In addition, the team paired their ThankFul Dinner with International Education Week in partnership with the International Student Association, featuring dishes such as paneer tikka, skuwa and Nigerian chicken stew.
FLUrrY
The University of North Florida celebrated minds and bodies during their ThankFul event! Complete with a delicious meal, a turkey squat competition and a focus on mental health – this event was not to be missed. The team hosted a flower market with proceeds do-
BooStiNg
Texas State Dining’s team shined this month during the Texas State University Board of Regents dinner. The team handled every event with pride and precision, from breakfast and lunch buffets, sit-down river-themed dinners, to meeting rooms’ snacks and breaks. The talented team prepared a delicious service full of amazing charcuterie boards, beautiful flan, artisan soups with locally sourced ingredients.
Wichita State Dining was honored to cater the Kansas Board of Regents dinner at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. This VIP dinner consisted of a full-service bar, passed hors d’oeuvres and three-course plated meals. The special menu featured dishes such as Black Tenderloin Filet with Seared Scallops and Mélange Au Poivre, Dark Chocolate Black Forest Cake with Chambord Chantily Créme, and more. The regents were impressed, and our partners were overjoyed with the preparation and care our team provided.
Harding University Dining kicked off their first ever teaching kitchen on campus during a conference of CFOs from various college campuses. Using the Harding University Dietetic Program’s Teaching Lab, Sous Chef Andrew Post walked guests through the preparation process of a delicious meal consisting of caramelized scallops, goat cheese ri-
sotto, wild mushrooms and rosemary lemon panna cotta. Guests then tried their hand in cooking their own entrée of a pan-seared medallion of beef. Guests were from colleges and universities all over the country and our team was excited to showcase their culinary acumen. Thanks to Sous Chef Andrew and the entire catering team for making this event spectacular.
The University of Memphis team came together to host a Teaching Kitchen this month, educating students on how to prepare and roll their own sushi. In partnership with the campus dietitian, Megan Partacz, they taught students how to make sushi using Nori, sushi rice, crab sticks, Sashimi tuna, cucumbers, carrots, cream cheese, spicy mayo, wasabi, and ginger. Students really enjoyed engaging and learning a new life skill, and they look forward to the next teaching kitchen.
The LSU Dining team is proud to partner with Louisiana State University to bring the very first SONIC to a college campus. The new location was a culmination of planning and collaboration with students and guests that desired a location with a lot of variety and an affordable price point. SONIC’s thousands of craveable drink combinations as well as their expansive award-winning menu have been met with overwhelmingly positive feedback from the campus community – students can’t get enough!
Now anytime can be burger time! St. John’s University became the first campus in the country to launch RoboBurger, a fully autonomous robotic burger chef. Located at the heart of student life on the Queens Campus, RoboBurger’s completely self-contained and automated system is now serving fully prepared, customizable fresh burgers in just four minutes using premium ingredients. Technology innovation like RoboBurger is just one more way we keep student needs at top of mind, expanding dining options into new areas of campus for late-night or quick-meal services.
“I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, and am a proud member of the Muscogee Creek Nation. The Muscogee Nation is a self-governed tribe and is the fourth largest in the U.S.
Music is very important to me and my culture. I am a part of a drum group called Redstone that travels the country to play for events and ceremonies – usually for head singers at Pow Wows. I am proud to say that we wrote, sang and drummed the official song for the First Americans Museum grand opening ceremony and were honored with first access to the museum.
In our group, I act as a backup singer while also handling other logistics and tasks as needed. We are very close, and often spend holidays and other life celebrations with each other. One dish we always make together is Corn Soup and Frybread. Corn is very important to indigenous people, and
we make this soup to remember our ancestors and the life they made for us, using the ingredients they had. Before we travel to perform, we pray to the Creator together, and our elder of the group will smudge before we leave.
In my culture, our elders will sit and tell us stories of their younger days and the paths they have taken to be here. They teach us things no book or class ever could about our heritage, our Creator and our Native ways. I am very proud of my heritage and am thankful I can stay connected to my culture through music.”
