With hours of operation and food offerings possibly misaligned with their needs, University of Rhode Island Dining Services are working to support students who are participating in Ramadan.
Ramadan, which began on Feb. 18, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, is the holy month of fasting in Islam. During this month, ending on March 18, individuals fast from dusk until dawn and may only eat and drink before sunrise and after sunset.
Dining Services has been preparing for Ramdan and has been working to support Muslim students, according to chef manager for operations and outreach Benjamin Blodgett. Some students who are actively celebrating Ramadan may have to do so through the dining halls on campus.
During Ramadan, dining services have two accommodations, according to Blodgett. The first, centered around breaking your fast at night, is a variety of different halal proteins in the Mainfare and Butterfield dining halls.
“We have burgers and meatballs that can be cooked to order,” Blodgett said. “You can get any kind of sauce for the meatballs. You can make the burger however you like. We also have halal chicken breasts and chicken thighs. We have some chicken tenderloins to deep fry if you like as well.”
In terms of main offerings, the kitchen attempts to make them as inclusive as possible, according to Blodgett.
“We tried to make what we have at the homestyle [bar] offering as approachable as possible,” Blodgett said. “For example, if there’s a sauce on the homestyle entree that works with the restrictions, we’ll offer that as part of the meal. If not, we’ll try to come up with something that the student wants to eat for dinner that night.”
For the second accommodation, centered around sunrise, Dining Services puts together a breakfast grab bag, according to Blodgett. Due to the dining halls not being open yet, students are unable to visit the dining hall in order to eat. The grab bag allows students to eat outside of dining hall hours.
“We give them a variety of protein filled options,” Blogett said. “We have a Barebell protein bar, greek yogurts, a few dates along with a piece of fruit of their choice. Traditionally, it should be citrus, but if they don’t like oranges, we’re not going to force them to eat that.”
For students, the hospitality and accommodations are something that has become the standard from dining services over the years, according to Director of Dining and Conference Services Pierre St-Germain.
“We’ve gotten some positive feedback,” St-Germain said. “I think [students] have just come to expect this from us. We’ve been doing a level of accommodation for Ramadan since 2019. … We’ve made a few more changes programmatically overall so that it’s easier for us to make something for someone who’s observing.”
In order to build accommodations, dining services reached out to the student body through the Muslim Student Association, according to Blodgett.
“We built those offerings based on feedback from the Muslim Student Association and student feedback,” Blodgett said. “This is what we’ve been offering and it seems to be fairly popular. We keep having to buy more Barebells, so it’s a sign the students are taking them.”
Dining services is confident that they are accommodating students in the proper way, but wants students to give feedback if they feel unsupported, according to Blodgett.
“If students feel that they’re not being supported, that’s where they need to communicate with us,” Blogett said. “We reach out to the Muslim Student Association as our point of contact to share what options we are offering.”
With Passover closely approaching, Dining Services is preparing their accommodations, according to Blodgett. If individuals have comments or concerns, reach out to dining services through their email.
