Students at New York University are voicing their frustrations online after they say their school has provided them with meals they say amount to barely more than snacks, or their diet won’t allow.
The out-of-state students are quarantined inside their dorms, and given brown bag meals to sustain them. Some have said they only receive one meal a day – despite paying an average of $70,000 for tuition, room and board.
Students have taken to TikTok to show what they say are essentially random snacks being offered as full meals. Ricardo Sheler showed one of his bagged meals that contained a banana, potato chips and two graham crackers. A previous one was a seemingly random assortment of "chips, an apple, balsamic vinegar, and then butter?"
Others have complained that they can’t even eat the little amount of food given to them because of their diets. One user said that he received a steak and cheese dish – despite being vegan. Alexandra Mettler said that "it has to be a joke" that she got a pudding cup clearly marked that it was made with real milk, but was still labeled vegan.
Another user posted a video of another odd mashup: a salad comprised of chopped up chicken and watermelon.
NYU acknowledged the problem, and said the students’ complaints are "valid."
"This is a never-before-tried operation for us and our food vendor, Chartwells … We are dismayed that this didn't go off as planned, we and Chartwells apologize to the students, and we are committed to correcting this promptly," the university said in a statement. NYU said it was adding staff to help prepare and deliver meals as well as paying for off-campus delivery if students are not satisfied.
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Students say that their videos are the reason why some of their problems have been addressed, and they've even had money donated to them for food. In turn, the students said they have used that money to buy meals for underprivileged students who wouldn't be able to rely on the meals provided, and can't afford to regularly get delivery.
