PETA shows support for CU’s dining hall options
CU was nominated for Peta2’s Annual Most Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges list. There were 30 U.S. and 10 Canadian colleges and universities chosen for the list.
Ryan Huling, the college campaign coordinator for Peta2, is part of the youth division of PETA. Huling specifically handles college and high school student issues.
“Peta2 – the world’s largest youth animal rights organization — asked students across the country to nominate schools for peta2’s list of the Most Vegetarian-Friendly Colleges in America, and the University of Colorado at Boulder got straight As.” Huling said. “When we are picking nominees we look at consistency and quality. We want to make sure the college is making a commitment. We received feedback through Myspace, Facebook and (PETA’s) direct student blog.”
Students can e-mail PETA directly and share their experiences with the dining services department and how responsive they have been to vegetarians.
“Boulder showed a real dedication to meeting the requests of their students and going above and beyond,” Hulings said.
More than 10,000 students voted for their colleges to be on this year’s list.
“It’s tough to narrow it down to the top 30,” Huling said.
Huling says PETA officials also look at online menus and contact the university dining services.
CU dining halls offer many vegetarian and vegan choices like tofu-vegetable fajitas, vegetarian chili and spinach lasagna.
Melissa Miersch, a fine arts art history major said she thinks the dining halls still have room for improvement and variety.
“I found that Libby was the best dining hall to go to because they had the vegan bar. Other than that it didn’t’ really matter because I could always get a salad,” Miersch said. “I thought that it could be better than it was, though.”
Ross Gardner, a junior political science major says he didn’t have problems maintaining his vegetarian habits in the dining halls.
“It all depends on your strictness as a vegetarian, like if you’re willing to eat eggs or fish or whatnot. I do remember eating a lot of salad, but in general I don’t remember it being too overtly difficult,” Gardner said.
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Jennifer Jacobs at jennifer.jacobs@thecampuspress.com.
