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More excerpts:

"I had an awesome experience at Xavier University.  My mother and I called
the manager of dining services (sodexo dining) and we met with Dan Yaeger
when i visited the campus during my senior year of high school. During my
first semester I would meet
with Dan every week and he would go over the menu with me.
He would let me know what was safe and what was
always available.  He would have the head chef prepare me something special
on the grill if they were having pasta that day, etc."

"If he's considering liberal arts majors, your son might want to check
out my alma mater, Dickinson College, in Carlisle, PA. I was not celiac when
I attended, but I did deal
with their food service when we went back for our 10th college reunion
last year. I spoke to the director of food service ahead of time, and he
was familiar with the GF diet and said they had students on the diet. We
were only there for 2 meals, but one of them was a giant sub (picnic
lunch outside), so they had a special plate for me with homemade GF
hummus and lots of fresh veggies and fruit."

"I work at Minnesota StateUniversity -Morehead.  We have an excellent campus
food service that knows all about celiac disease as our president is celiac.
We live in a border city with three colleges.  Our group got a call the week
before school from a frantic mom saying her son was accepted at a university
across the river and they said they would accomodate him and then called and
said they were refunding his food contract as they would not be able to
help.  DO not worry.  All you have to do is contact disability services and
they will see that fridges, space, etc. is allowed. Granted, he is back on
the food contract but his mom sends baked stuff for him, etc.  It is an
awareness issue and just speak with the admissions people of universities
and tell them  you want to know about their campus food services. Whereever
you son goes to school, contact that local support group and you should have
lots of help for him no matter what college he goes to.  I would just be
sure there is a local support group in the area because they would know the
ins and outs of shopping in that city."

"We had a very positive experience with GF dining at Syracuse University."

"My daughter is the same age as your son.  I called Shorter U. in Rome
Georgia the other day, and the head of catering said he would get Lauren's
bread, pasta,etc and keep them on hand.  Also, he said there was always a
grill chef....she could go to the salad bar, get onions,
mushrooms,peppers,etc. and go have the grill chef grill those with whatever
meat she wanted."

"My son attends Union University in Jackson Tennessee.  It has been
wonderful.  First of all, the dorms are like apartments.  Each student has
there OWN bedroom, sharing a bathroom and kitchen with 3 other students.
Some rooms omit the kitchen and have a fifth bedroom, but if you explained
the situation, they would make sure he got the kitchen.  My son eats
breakfast in his room, lunch in the dining hall and dinner in his room.
It's cheaper and he likes it that way.  They grill him some meat everyday,
and loads up on the salad bar and fruit at lunch.  He tries to cook on
weekends and eat off that stuff all week.  The George Forman grill is a
great help. There is also a Celiac support group in town and they are so
kind to him, sending home leftovers from their meetings !"

"We have had a miserable experience. Our daughter attends a small private
college in Iowa. The school has refused to accommodate her. We worked with
them for over 8 months before she began attending - we were reassured by the
school that they could do this. In reality, little effort was made. We even
bought the GF food for them to prepare, and I made meals in advance and
froze them so all they would have to do is heat them in a microwave. They
wouldn't do it. By the way, she has a Section 504 accommodation plan and a
designation by a state program as a student with significant disabilities.
To make a long story short, she became very ill her first semester of her
freshman year and had to be removed from the food service program. She also
has diabetes, so her health is very much tied to what she eats. She is
moving back home. It has been a frustrating experience. I hope you have more
success than we did."

"My daughter lives in a private dorm at the University of Illinois.  It has
a kitchenette which is very helpful as her dining hall has not been able to
help too much with food.  Although she is able to eat baked potatoes,
salads, fruits, and some vegetables, main entrees are kind of difficult.
There is not a dietician as part of the food service.  She has a microwave
that she heats up pasta dishes(GF of course) and chicken breasts that I send
frozen to her. She also uses a toaster oven to make gf pizzas, and bread.  I
called all restautants in the area and found out what she could eat on their
menus.  She is lucky enough to have a large refrigerator/freezer to keep her
stuff in.  I would talk to the managers of the food services in the dorms
where he is considering going to school."

"i'm a sophmore in college...was diagnosed the week of high school
graduation.  i was really sick in high school due to that and wasn't even
sure i was going to go to college.  my parents really wanted me to have the
experience so i decided to live in a dorm at the University of Cincinnati
which was about about a half an hour a way from my parents.  it didn't go
well...i went to disability services and convinced them to have me removed
from the meal plan because they didn't do a good job of providing me with
food and it was really expensive.  i got moved to a dorm with a kitchen so i
could cook and store more food.  i wasn't used to cooking and making gluten
free food so i ended up getting a lot of meals for my mom.  now, i'm in an
apartment...still go to UC and am doing much better with food.  when my mom
makes things like chilli she puts a few servings for me in containers and
freezes them.   i've talked to a lot of teens in college with celiac.  most
live at home and commute to college because dorm life didn't work for them
either."

"My daughter is just about to graduate from Utica College, upstate NY.  When
we were college shopping, I inquired at each school about their ability to
accommodate her diet.  We found that the smaller schools were much more
willing to listen and learn.   I had to meet with the campus dining
director, who was a lovely person, but not well informed about special diets
or nutrition in general.  I set them up with starter mixes to get her
through the first month and then the school replaced her mixes and went to
the local grocery store to get Lactaid milk, and to the health food store to
get more mixes, Tinkyada pasta, etc.  I brought a toaster for her personal
use and it was set up in the back of the kitchen where no one else would use
it.  They also set aside a fryer dedicated just for her.  Thankfully, it has
been a wonderful experience for her."

"MY son is 20  and  while the University of MO at Rolla said they could
prepare food for him gluten-free; I had heard stories of how is isn't going
to happen.  so, we pushed for a 1 bedroom apt on campus.  At first they
didn't want to do it as those are at a premium but after I mentioned the
Americans with Disabilities Act and how that covered celiac disease we got
the apt."

"We live in NJ and my brother went to Rutgers, main campus in New Bruns.
Before he started, he went in and explained to the dining manager his
condition/dietary needs. I have never heard him say one thing negative about
the treatment he got at the dining hall in his 4 yrs. at Rutgers. He even
got to know the staff personally, and gave them holiday tips etc."

"We had a hard time getting our daughter situated in college.
She's going to Ohio Wesleyan and we are in Seattle.  She was diagnosed in
the middle of her Sophomore year and after missing a year to get well, we
had to get her an apartment and a car so that she could shop and cook for
herself.  Though they were very sympathetic there, I couldn't even manage to
get some rice milk for her when we just thought she was dairy intolerant.
They are a very small school, which should be easier, but wasn't. "

"Our daughter starts college next fall, two of the colleges she is
interested
in - Gettysburg College and Bucknell University seemed very informed re:
celiac disease."

THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who responded. I am celiac myself, but was
not diagnosed until my late 30s...and it is a whole different thing to go
off to college and have to navigate the dining halls with this condition.

After only 2 1/2 weeks into his GF lifestyle, Craig is feeling well. All his
symptoms are gone. His attitude is terrific; he sees no reason to even
consider trying any foods with questionable ingredients, and his friends
have all readily agreed that they don't go to pizza places any more. He is
not only curious but adventurous about cooking. We have a GF sourdough
starter going in our sunroom as I write this...something I haven't tried in
7 years!

Sheryll Daniel

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