For many students with dietary restrictions, entering the university’s dining halls can be a daily challenge. But for almost 18 years, Sister Maureen Schrimpe has helped these students navigate their way through on-campus eateries.
Schrimpe, Dining Services dietitian and sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Community, has provided guidance to these students and has worked with Dining Services officials to ensure students with food allergies or intolerances, diabetes and other limitations feel safe eating on the campus. In July, she was awarded the National Association of College and University Food Services’ most prestigious honor — the Theodore W. Minah award — for her work.
“For somebody to come to campus and not be sure how to eat would just be horrifying,” said Dining Services spokesman Bart Hipple. “So for her to make this place into a home for people who have specific dietary needs is a very big service.”
Schrimpe, who also serves as Dining Services’ quality coordinator, originally graduated college with a degree in physical education. But after entering the convent, where physical education is not highly emphasized, she said she decided to switch gears and become a dietitian.
After a 13-year stint as food service director at Marywood University in Scranton, Pa., Schrimpe came to this university to expand her work’s outreach to a larger student population.
To help students handle specific allergies, Schrimpe said she has set up alternative menu options for students who need them. The recent dramatic increase in gluten intolerances led her to help create gluten-free freezers three years ago in each dining hall on the campus, she said.
Another one of Schrimpe’s initiatives was to implement ingredient icons — such as a ‘G’ for gluten-free and a peanut symbol for peanut-free — next to each station in the dining hall.
“Students don’t want to be different. They’re not going to tell you about [an allergy]; they just won’t go for peanut butter,” she said.
Part of Schrimpe’s outreach is sending out a flier to incoming students alerting them to the service she provides. Prior to this school year, Schrimpe said she received around 50 to 60 responses expressing interest in meeting with her before the academic year began.
“Parents are calling into schools beforehand,” she said. “They are now deciding on universities or colleges by what their student can get, and what provisions can be made for them.”
On top of monitoring the special dietary needs of students on the campus, Schrimpe works to ensure all menu ingredients are posted online, tests new industry products and works closely with menu development to ensure items are suitable for as many students as possible.
Joe Mullineaux, a senior associate director for Dining Services, said Schrimpe has set an example for the entire campus community in dealing with food sensitivities.
“She is someone that I would definitely consider a leader in the college setting,” he said.
And her work has not gone unnoticed. In 2005 she won the National Association of College and University Food Services’ Richard Lichtenfelt Award for her volunteer efforts.
Several students living with food allergies said the initiatives she headed often help them choose the right meal.
“The signs in the dining hall have definitely made it easier for me,” said sophomore business major Ethan Diamond, who has a peanut allergy. “It’s a good safety net for people with allergies.”
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