AU was ranked as one of the top 16 vegan-friendly colleges in PETA’s nationwide competition last week.
Last year AU finished second in the competition, close behind Northwestern University. In 2008, AU won the title of most vegan-friendly campus in the nation.
“We are not sure why the decrease in rankings happened,” Bon Appétit Management Company Director Michelle Mooney said. “We continue to listen to the students, read the comment cards, and meet with students to meet their expectations.”
Some students said they were shocked by the results as well because they enjoy the quality and quantity of vegan options at AU.
“AU has a lot of vegan-friendly options around campus that I don’t see why we were eliminated so early,” College of Arts and Sciences junior Morgan Wheaton said. “Despite the competition, I think there is still something to say for the amount of options AU gives.”
PETA will decide the most vegan-friendly school by whoever wins the bracket. The organization did not give specific rankings for each school since the competition has not finished.
AU was defeated in the second round in the “Small Schools” bracket. Bennington College, Brandeis University, Brown University, University of Rochester all moved on to the next round of the bracket.
Brown University, Brandeis University, Northwestern University and Georgetown University are still competing for the title of “most vegan-friendly school.” The winner will be announced on Nov. 21.
In their 2010 report, PETA referred to AU as “one of our top schools over the past several years” and described AU as “representing ‘the District’ proudly with vegan options worthy of national praise.”
PETA2, a branch of PETA that focuses on college students, sponsored this year’s competition.
It takes four factors into consideration when rating each school:
1.) Number of votes received
2.) Quality and variety of vegan food
3.) School’s enthusiasm in promoting their options
4.) Student feedback
AU’s on-campus vegan-friendly options
AU hosts many vegan-friendly options on campus in TDR, Tavern and Boxed Lunch such as grains, tempeh, seitan, legumes and tofu.
TDR’s dessert station offers vegan desserts and ice cream.
Other vegan-friendly vendors on campus include:
1.) Pronto
2.) Einstein Bagels
3.) Mega Bytes
4.) Eagle’s Nest
AU has increased its selections of vegan-friendly food based on student demand. Mooney feels there were not any changes made to AU’s food venues that would have negatively impact the voting in the PETA competition.
“We feel we have increased the offerings this year per the student requests,” Mooney said.
She said students seem to have become more conscientious about sustainable food practices as more vegan options have been added on campus in the past six years. As more students request vegan friendly food, Bon Appétit makes efforts to prepare and serve this food, she said.
“I was surprised when we didn’t with the competition,” School of Public Affairs sophomore Meredith Allen said. “Hopefully the competition will help AU work hard to improve our vegetarian and vegan options on campus for the next competition.”
