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Celiac and college part 4 - more parent comments
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My daughter recently graduated from the U. of Arizona. Before making a
decision on which school, we went in person and talked to each of the schools food
directors to see how accommodating they would be. There were big differences at
each college on how helpful they seemed to be, and how their food plans were
set up. U. of A. put her in a dorm room right down the hall from a new
kitchen, let her have two of the little refrigerators in her room instead of their
usual one, let her keep her own freezer in the food prep area of the food court
area, and went over the different foods with us at each of their food court
restaurants (that's how they do it there). They couldn't have been nicer.
You can buy some, none, or a lot of their food with their food plan. We gave
her a car so she could go to the grocery store, and they gave her a special
parking place near her dorm and the food prep area so she could unload her
groceries more easily. She ended up not using the freezer (we thought that would be
good so she could keep frozen ntrees and bread in it, but she didn't use it).
But everything else worked out really well.
She also joined a sorority, and the cooks there for the most part were very
accommodating and looked out for her. I had given them a write-up of what she
could and couldn't have, and about cross-contamination issues. We gave them GF
flour and some other things for cooking for her. It took homework on our part
to work it out. I made sure she was included in all the meetings I set up at
the schools. I think it was also a good lesson for her to see how being
proactive and open about her diet could be done graciously and successfully.
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 My son is at Grand Valley State University,in Allendale Michigan in a
freshman dorm room with his own kitchen. Next year he will live in an apartment.  He
had to learn to cook, as the meals in the dining
halls were making him sick.  He could have some of their stuff like the
drinks,fruit, eggs and bacon.  But the rest he makes himself.  It is very
expensive.  I also send him Dietary Specialities frozen entrees to make it easier on
him.  The school allowed him to have a small freezer in his room, which is
helpful.  We brought out lots of cases of gf foods in the beginning. It is
important to communicate with the campus food service before deciding on the college.
We had to get a couple of doctors notes as well in order to get the dorm room
with the kitchen.  We have had other friends whose children ended up dropping
out because it was too much of a hassle to deal with the dining service and
they were not allowed to cook in the dorm room.  This is a shame, because I
don't think a freshman should be forced to live in an apartment - it is too
isolating at a time they are growing so much.
In short, if you want your child to go away to school, it is important that
they have their own cooking facility in addition to an accomodating food
service for it to work, in my opinion.
The other good thing about my son's college is that there is a nearby grocery
store with lots of gf food.
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My son was diagnosed during his freshman year at Colgate.  He was living in a
dorm at the time and had a dining contract for his meals.  We immediately
contacted the Students with Disabilities Office.  The food service could/would
not guarantee that very many of the foods they served were gluten-free.  The
school released him from his contract.  Since it was already into the second
semester he lived in the dorm and cooked in his microwave, got care packages from
home (I am a celiac), and ate fresh fruits and vegetables.  When he returned
for his second year, the school arrange for him to live in an apartment.
(Underclassmen at Colgate are generally required to live in the dorms.)  As an
upperclassman he lived in a fraternity house  and was allowed to cook his own food
when he was unable to eat what was being served.  The chef quickly became
well-educated about the gluten-free diet.
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I just went through all of this so it is fresh in my mind.  My daughter is a
freshman away at College this year and it hasn't been easy but she has
adjusted.  We live in MA but she wanted to go away to school and she is now
at Clemson University in SC.  So I can't even drive there with meals.  I spoke
with the dietician and she was very nice and helpful but basically my daughter
was on her own.  She had the dietician's email and knew where her office was
so she could ask questions and keep in touch.  I did speak with the housing
department and the Disabilities department.  They were very nice and said that
they would allow her to live in the on campus apartment style dorms but that
would consist of upperclassman and not freshman.  Of course my daughter wanted
the "freshman experience".  They are allowed cars on campus so I shipped her
car and a list of Health food stores in the area. The first month was really
tough and she ate things she shouldn't have and wasn't feeling well.  Then she
started emailing the dietician and has since learned what she can and can not
eat.   She is pretty limited when it comes to the cafeteria.    I really think
it all depends on the school and how you
child is about speaking up and getting what they need.  My daughter would
rather go with the flow and have a snack in  the room later.     At Clemson they
do have refrigerators with microwaves in the dorm rooms.  She said she lives
on meat, salad, omelets, fruit and frozen yogurt.    Clemson had many different
meal plans but we opted for the unlimited.  She likes it because she can go
in and out of the cafe as many times as she likes although she did say for her
it is probably not worth the money.
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My son is a sophomore at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. and is
doing extremely well on the GF diet.  Skidmore is very accommodating and orders
special foods for Alex and also prepares all his favorites foods. When you
call the colleges you should ask to speak to the person in charge of dining.
Also, when you make appointments to visit the schools, make sure you go and speak
with the head of dining to see if they can accommate you.
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My kids are too young for college however my business works with
school food services.  Two that I have spoken to directly, Amherst College
and Smith College, take celiac in stride.  My son who has celiac (he is 10) went
to foot ball camp at Amherst College for a week and did not have an issue.
They have gf bread etc in special places in the dining hall and are very
accommodating.  Smith I know less about but they also have accomodated kids with
celiac.
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Hi.  I am the parent of a freshman at Haverford College.  My daughter applied
early decision, so it was important for me to feel that this college would be
accomodating of her dietary restrictions at the time she applied.  I had
e-mailed Haverford, U of Pennsylvania, and Columbia U. regarding what
accomodations they could make for a student with celiac.  It took several months to get an
answer from U of Penn.  The person from Columbia answered almost immediately,
as did someone from Haverford.  Haverford is very small (around 1000
students) and we found that to be an advantage.  There are some stores nearby (but not
within walking distance) where appropriate foods can be purchased.  The
manager of dining services is willing to purchase gf items for my daughter at Whole
Foods or Trader Joe's, which are in the area.  I don't believe my daughter
has asked for anything as of yet.  Dining services has their menus online, and
it is possible for a student to email them and ask about the ingredients in a
dish.  They will let her come into the kitchen and get her special foods, etc.
As for snacks, we have had to provide things like Lara Bars.  But I did see
some items in the campus bookstore that she can eat.  Freshmen do have to be on
the meal plan.  After that, there are apartments available with kitchens.  If
you are in a dorm, there are microwaves on each hall, but I don't think every
dorm has a kitchen.  At Haverford, they have dealt with several students with
celiac over the past few years and seem to understand what it requires.  the
response I got from U of Penn.  made me think they were not so accomodating;
basically they said they provided enough variety that someone on a special diet
could find enough to eat.  My daughter has diabetes also, and doesn't use
much in the way of gluten-free baked goods because they are terrible for blood
sugars.  I think this is the kind of thing that dining services would be willing
to buy, or maybe gf pasta.

Most schools have someone in charge of disability services; this might be a
good place to start when inquiring what accomodations could be made for a
student with celiac disease.
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The University of Iowa has dorms with kitchens and freshmen are allowed to
live in them. There are several very good health food stores in Iowa City that
sell GF food.  There are good campus and town bus systems for students without
cars. The dorm meal plan allows students to select from quite a few options
(much like a food court at a mall) daily. The University's medical school has
physicians on staff familiar with celiac disease. Overall, we have been most
impressed with the University of Iowa and my daughter has loved her time there.
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Susan, I can share with you what my daughter and I learned.  She graduated
high school in 1999 and college in 2003.  She was just diagnosed the week of
high school graduation so we were still learning a lot.  However, prior to that,
we knew she had sensitivities to corn and soy, which are also hidden
ingredients in a lot of foods.  While we were college shopping, I made it a point to
meet personally with the highest-up manager I could find in the cafeteria/dining
room and explain from scratch what she needed.  Pretty much the rule of thumb
was that the larger the school (big university, etc), the less inclined they
were to offer assistance, or even attempt to be accomodating.  The smaller
schools were very happy to learn whatever needed to be done.  It was very
fortunate for us that the school my daughter most wanted to attend also turned out to
be the most accomodating.  I had printed up some general info from the
internet, and also had a copy of her allergy testing (about 20 different foods on
there).  When my daughter went to orientation, about a month before the school
actually opened, we sat down with the dietician and the monthly menu.  We went
through it item by item, suggesting substitutes here and there.  My daughter
wanted her meals to be as similar as possible to whatever everyone else was
eating.  I met with the head chef and his 2 assistants who were assigned to cook
for her, I was able to instruct them about cross contamination, clean
utensils, etc.  They made a designated fryer just for her french fries.  The manager
of the dining room went to the store for her lactose free milk, and to the
health food store for her pasta, etc.  I started off the semester with supplies of
pasta and brownie mix.  She had her own designated shelf in the reefer
(refrigerator) in the back with her personal peanut butter, jelly, margarine, milk,
bread, etc.  When we had questions about ingredients ( sauces, spices, etc),
the dietician took me to the storeroom and we read labels, called 1-800
numbers, etc.  I could not have been happier or more confident that they were taking
as good care of her as we did at home (a thousand miles away in Orlando).  My
daughter was able to keep a coffee maker in her room freshman year.  A lot of
kids had little microwaves and toasters, but the wiring inthe building was too
crummy.  Finally in her senior year, she moved in to a brand new dorm with a
beautiful kitchen and she did a lot of cooking for herself.  Oh, I almost
forgot!!  On her really bad days when she just could not get over to the
cafeteria, they sent a tray to her room with soup, scrambled eggs, whatever she wanted.
 As I said, they took great care of her.  If your daughter would consider a
small school, please check out Utica College, upstate NY.  And my daughter got
a great education ( and a scholarship too!).  They did not charge extra for
the food or attention they gave her.

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