Liberty Dining continues to rank among best in nation, landing in College Magazine’s Top 10

Liberty University was recently ranked No. 10 in College Magazine’s Top 10 colleges with the best dining options.

The schools were selected based on health and wellness, variety, and production in recycling food waste. According to Vice President of Auxiliary Services Louis Cambeletta, Liberty has excelled in all three categories, but one area in particular gave it an advantage over other schools.

“Our allergen-free program through the Simple Servings station in the dining hall (The Food Court at Reber-Thomas) is a big reason why we made it in the Top 10,” he said. “There is a large number of students who now choose us because our allergen-free options are rising every year.”

Cambeletta said gluten-free and allergen-free meals are a selling point for parents.

“More and more parents are becoming concerned about their child going to college and not being able to eat certain foods,” he said. “I talk with many parents during College for a Weekend or on school tours, and it is important to them that their child is able to eat the types of foods they enjoy while avoiding food allergies.”

Liberty and Sodexo, the university’s dining services provider, offer over 20 different dining locations for students to choose from across campus, including some popular national chains.

“For instance, Chick-fil-A, Dunkin’ Donuts, and Starbucks are included as options for our students to use their swipes on,” he said. “That is typically uncommon at other universities.”

He said the progress Liberty has made in its dining options and meal plans over the last five years has “played a huge role in recruitment and retention.”

Liberty Dining has ranked in the Top 10 of multiple respected publications in the last 10 years, including FoodManagement.com this past May, DailyMeal.com, and BestColleges.com, among others.

Liberty is scheduled to begin construction on a new dining hall in May.