The eighth floor of Hagerstown Hall may seem like an odd place to find a tasty meal prepared by an award-winning chef, but on Friday night, it was the place to be.

There, Tom Schraa, the university’s catering chef, prepared a cooking demonstration as part of the “Healthy Food Rave,” an event organized by the Alpha Nu Omega Sorority.

Schraa, who has been cooking professionally for more than 30 years, prepares all of university President Dan Mote’s personal catering, is head of the university’s Good Tidings Catering Service and was recently named the best college chef in the region and the fourth-best in the country. On Friday, he used his talents to show how to prepare a lemon chicken salad and a fruit salad with yogurt dressing, two dishes Schraa deemed “low on calories and high on flavor.”

The response from the dozen or so students who showed up to witness Schraa’s demonstration of healthy cooking was enthusiastic.

“It was really good,” said Jacob Sama, a sophomore biochemistry major. “They need something like this in the diners.”

For Schraa, the event was a rare opportunity to interact with some of the people whom he cooks for.

“This kind of makes my day. If it weren’t for you guys, I wouldn’t have a job,” Schraa told the small crowd after he had finished the demonstration. “I don’t have a lot of opportunities to come out and share what I do with the students.”

Those on hand to watch the demonstration expressed similar sentiments, acknowledging that it was unusual to actually meet one of the people who cooks the campus’s food.

“It’s cool that I finally have a face to associate with the people that make the food here,” said Brittany Harris, a sophomore pre-pharmacy major.

Some students were surprised at how easy Schraa made it look to whip up a tasty, nutritious meal.

“This stuff has always been here; now I think I might use it,” Toyin Otukoya, a senior criminology and criminal justice and sociology major said about the small stove in the eighth-floor lounge of Hagerstown. “I just need to get a pot, then I’ll be in business.”

tautedbk@gmail.com