As everyone with celiac disease knows, sticking to a gluten-free diet is hard enough when you have your own kitchen in a house or apartment. For a gluten-free college student in a dormitory, the challenges can be overwhelming. This is particularly true for freshmen, who are not accustomed to living away from home or providing food for themselves, may not have access to stores that sell gluten-free food, and usually live in freshmen dormitories with few if any cooking facilities.
In June 2008, members of The National Association of College & University Food Services were invited to offer advice to gluten-free students and to describe some of the resources available at their institutions.
A few points were common to all the replies:
- Food service personnel are eager to work personally with celiac students to provide menu options that are healthy and satisfying.
- Students who are thinking of applying to a school are urged to contact the food service department to ask about special provisions.
- Students who have been accepted to a specific school should definitely contact the food service department before arriving on campus.
Below are links to the survey answers from the colleges and universities that responded. Even if you (or your child, if you're the parent) won’t be applying to any of these schools, reading their responses might help you prepare a list of questions to ask the food service department at the schools you (or your child) hope to attend.
Bob Jones University
Brown University
The College of Wooster
Connecticut College
Cornell University
Eastern Illinois University
Ferris State University
Indiana University Southeast
Kansas State University
Occidental College
Oregon State University
Princeton University
St. John's University
State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego
Syracuse University
Texas Tech University
Tufts University
University of Kansas
University of Missouri
University of Nebraska
University of Notre Dame
University of Wisconsin-Platteville
Villanova University
Washington State University
Yale University
