Liberty Dining recognized as Innovator of the Month by Food Management magazine

Liberty University Dining Services rose to the challenge of modifying menu options for the remainder of the Spring 2020 semester while still providing consistent meals to the students who remained on campus after Spring Break following COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.

Throughout this challenging season, Liberty and Sodexo, the university’s dining services provider, reminded the world why Liberty Dining has been ranked in the top five in the country for collegiate dining services.

In compliance with state orders, Liberty moved all residential classes online and kept campus housing open following Spring Break in order to provide safe and reliable accommodations for the small percentage of students who chose to return. (Many of those students did not have another safe place to live, did not otherwise have access to high-speed internet to continue their education, did not want to potentially endanger elderly relatives, or were international students without a choice to travel to their home countries.)

In an end-of-semester press release that noted an impressive health record and no COVID-19 cases linked to returning students, Liberty President Jerry Falwell said Liberty “created the model that other universities should follow for pandemics by protecting its students, faculty, and staff from COVID cases in the local community.”

A part of that model he referred to included campus dining.

The school’s efforts were applauded in Food Management magazine, where Liberty Dining was named the publication’s Innovator of the Month for May and was featured on the front cover. The magazine said the school showed admirable creativity while adhering to state health restrictions and mandates.

In addition to the quality, convenience, and variety in its meal service, Food Management noted that another contributing factor in the recognition was Liberty’s strict obedience to social distancing requirements and attention to sanitation in all nine dining locations that remained open throughout the pandemic.

All dining employees were instructed to wear gloves in serving areas regardless of whether they were handling food or payments. Blue tape marked the floors of each location, clearly showing customers where they were allowed to stand 6 feet apart.

Ryan Wheeler, a Sodexo marketing manager at Liberty, told the magazine that throughout the time of change, the school’s dining staff remained positive and upbeat.

“It’s really encouraging for us to see our employees and the passion they still have even during this time,” Wheeler was quoted. “They come in every day and think about the students. They do get to see them just about every day and they do form relationships. I think one of the coolest things about this otherwise terrible experience is seeing the relationships that grow on this campus between our employees and the students.”