Stories — glutenFreeCampus

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Ava

Freshman GF for 3.5 years Non-Celiac Gluten Allergy (anaphylactic)

"There is definitely a need for resources. I haven't had anything to follow on, and nothing to point me in the right direction."

Ava came to Berry as a freshman already knowing her gluten allergy was serious. Over the past semester, it had become anaphylactic, which is the kind where eating the wrong thing can be extremely dangerous. Her first real exposure to Berry's dining was during the summer on campus before freshman year. She was struggling to find any safe foods. The dining hall was expensive, the options were limited, and there was nothing guiding her toward what was safe.

"D-Hall is expensive and the options aren't there. I went through the Office of Accommodations and got a full exemption from the dining plan."

Rather than fight the dining hall every day, Ava took matters into her own hands. She worked with the Office of Accommodations to get a full dining plan exemption, which meant no meal swipes, no mandatory purchases, and now cooks nearly all of her own food in the communal kitchen in her dorm. About 70% of what she eats, she cooks the same day. Another 20% is food she prepped and froze ahead of time. Only 10% comes from eating out. She's already applied to live in a dorm with a better kitchen next year, and even emailed Berry to get a new oven installed for her building.

It's an impressive system, but it came entirely from her own resourcefulness. When asked where she goes to find information about gluten-free options on campus, her answer was simple: nowhere, because nothing exists. She navigates by memory, by instinct, and by avoiding the dining hall almost entirely.

The social cost is real too. She misses eating in the dining hall with friends during mealtimes. When she travels with the volleyball team, figuring out safe food on the road is a constant logistical challenge. She's found a handful of local trusted off-campus spots, including Harvest Moon, the Sharp Sickle, Jerusalem Grill, La Scala, and Osaka with gluten-free soy sauce, but it took time and trial and error to find them.

Her ask for Berry is straightforward: a grab-and-go GF station at Viking Court, and a process through the Office of Accommodations that doesn't require her to fill out the same paperwork and re-explain her diagnosis to the same four questions every single year.

Key themes from Ava's story

Dining plan exemption as only viable option Total self-reliance for food safety Social isolation around team meals Redundant accommodations process No on-campus resources to consult

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Lily Chapman

Junior GF for 6 years Gluten intolerance (formal testing pending)

"It feels like a gamble every time. You never quite know if something safe will actually be available, or if what you think is safe actually is."

Lily has been gluten-free since freshman year of high school, long before she ever set foot on Berry's campus. She hasn't gone through formal Celiac testing yet, but she's considering it; her college roommate has Celiac, which has made cross-contamination a shared concern in their living space. She's worked out a system with separate dishes and utensils, and it's been somewhat manageable.

"True Balance [food station in the dining hall] is helpful, but it's repetitive. And outside of True Balance, there's almost nothing that feels clearly designated as safe."

Her biggest frustration with Berry dining is the inconsistency. The Campus Dish website exists, and she checks it. But she's found it's not reliably updated, not well advertised to students, and not something she can actually trust to reflect what will be on the line when she gets there. She avoids things rather than risks them, even when she's not certain they're unsafe. Over time, that adds up.

She's also navigating real budget constraints. She downsized her meal plan to save money, which means every week is a choice between spending on groceries or risking the dining hall. Cooking in the dorm takes time she doesn't always have, but the dining hall takes health risks she can't always absorb. There's no easy or right answer.

She's developed some clever workarounds along the way: using apps like Atly and Find Me Gluten Free for off-campus options, bringing her own GF bread to the sandwich station to make meals that would otherwise be off-limits. But she's clear that not every student has the time, money, or knowledge to do what she's figured out. She was lucky to come in with six years of experience. A newly diagnosed freshman wouldn't have that.

Her wishlist for suggestions for Berry is specific and achievable: a consistent GF pasta option, more high-protein snack options at POD Market, a GF bun at Subway, a return of GF desserts, and possibly even a campus Chipotle.

Key themes from Lily's story

Campus Dish unreliability Budget vs. safety trade-offs True Balance repetitiveness Inconsistent labeling and availability Self-taught workarounds others don't know

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Emily Bishop

Junior Fully GF since early 2024 Gluten intolerance (seeking formal diagnosis)

"Freshman year was really tough. I only had dining hall swipes, no guidance, and it affected both my physical and mental health in ways I didn't expect."

Emily first noticed her gluten intolerance in 2019 and spent years gradually cutting back before going completely gluten-free at the start of 2024. She wants a formal diagnosis but finds the testing process overwhelming. In the meantime, she's had to navigate dining options entirely on her own.

"My sister went to Berry in 2016 and had the same struggles. Years later and it's still the same story."

She came into Berry knowing it would be hard, but knowing something will be hard and actually living it are different things. Freshman year, she relied heavily on stir fry and salads in the dining hall because they were the only things she could eat that felt reasonably safe. She attempted a Zoom call with the campus dietitian and found it unhelpful. She went in essentially blind. The physical and mental toll was real.

The dining hall and Viking Court still feel largely unsafe to her as a junior. The one place she trusts for a quick meal is Chick-fil-A's grilled nuggets. Even the POD Market at Java City in the library feels limiting, and she wishes it carried GF pastry options. She's had real incidents: being served vegan pizza instead of gluten-free pizza because dining staff confused the two. Asking dining hall workers to change their gloves and being met with non-responsiveness. Showing up to a work meeting where she'd specifically requested GF pizza, and finding none available.

She now lives in the Thomas Berry dorm hall, which has made a meaningful difference. Cooking her own meals has given her a sense of safety she never had in the dining hall. But she's clear that larger dorm housing like Thomas Berry isn't always available to freshman or sophomores with low class credits, something she had to experience the hard way.

Her suggestion for Berry is one of the most practical we heard: take a cue from her camp work experience and offer a direct GF alternative at every dining station, every day. Not a separate station, but a parallel option. Whatever's being served that day, there should be a GF version of it available.

Key themes from Emily's story

No helpful guidance on arrival Physical and mental health impact Staff non-responsiveness to GF requests Mislabeling incidents (vegan ≠ GF) Social events with no safe food options True Balance as a turning point

Real students.
Real experiences.

Three students, experiencing gluten-free life just like you.

Real students.Real experiences.

Three students, experiencing gluten-free life just like you.

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