News about Dining Services

With the end of another academic year at hand, Pennsylvania College of Technology renewed a spring custom: presenting awards to noteworthy faculty and staff, and acknowledging retirements and other employee milestones.

President Davie Jane Gilmour acknowledged the honorees during an expansive all-college meeting, held May 12 in the Klump Academic Center Auditorium and livestreamed.

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As students get ready for final exams, Dining Services is reliably alongside them – hosting several events, providing specials and treats, to fuel the body while scholars feed their minds.

The fun kicked off Wednesday evening with a Beach Party at Capitol Eatery. Filled with summery eats, the buffet menu featured roasted pig, crab cakes, saltwater potato medley, Hang Ten Supreme Pizza, Capitol Island foot-long hot dogs, seashore and funnel-cake fries, s’mores pizza, fresh fruit, Hawaiian salad, boba drinks, and pina colada cake. Students also could participate in such fun events as Sandy Candy, mug decorating and “make-your-own leis.”

The 22nd Spring Midnight Breakfast was held Thursday in the Keystone Dining Room, where more than 550 students partook in one of Penn College’s favorite traditions. Members of President’s Council and Student Affairs were on hand to serve up a free meal of breakfast sandwiches, bacon, home fries, a yogurt bar and ice cream. Students also enjoyed stuffing plush animals as part of the event.

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Penn College’s sixth Wildcat Egg Hunt – bigger than ever, after a two-year pause necessitated by COVID-19 – saw about 120 children scampering about the main campus lawn early Sunday afternoon. “We started filling the 3,500 or so Easter eggs last week,” said Chet Beaver, coordinator of veteran and military services, who has overseen the popular event since it began in 2015.

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Pennsylvania College of Technology’s Jennifer N. Severson took first prize, for the second year in a row, in the Mrs. T’s National Pierogy Day Recipe Contest.

Severson is head cook in CC Commons, one of nine dining units on campus. Her winning recipe is for pumpkin spice pierogies, featuring roasted root vegetables and pumpkin curry. It was one of many pierogy recipes featured across campus during the college’s Mrs. T’s National Pierogy Day celebration on Oct. 20, 2021.

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The Rockstar truck and trailer visited Penn College on Wednesday, giving away free cans of energy drinks on the campus mall opposite the Keystone Dining Room patio. Students also enjoyed gorgeously (if only temporarily) warmer weather, music and cornhole while they inched ever closer to Spring Break.
Photos by Amy S. Lingg, Dining Services marketing assistant

One of Penn College’s tastiest traditions returned Thursday night, providing 430 students with a Midnight Breakfast to fuel their finals study sessions. In accordance with COVID-19 precautions, this year’s meal was served takeout only and included a breakfast sandwich, home fries, bacon, beverage and a snack. Dining Services also filled a large Keystone Dining Room table with giveaways, along with a drawing for a drone and other prizes.
Photos by Amy S. Lingg, Dining Services marketing assistant

Dining Services kicked off the holiday season Thursday with “Turkey Bowling” and a turkey dinner. The Keystone Dining Room invited students to try their hand at “bowling” a 10-pound frozen turkey in exchange for a bag of candy corn and a chance to win one of five homemade pumpkin pies. Events of the day continued at Capitol Eatery with a full Thanksgiving meal that included herb roasted turkey with mulled apple cider glaze, mashed potatoes, stuffing, sweet potato bake, green bean casserole, baked corn, orange cranberry sauce, Cajun cornbread stuffing with chorizo, maple roasted vegetables, bourbon pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie, apple cider and a harvest spinach salad.
Photos by Amy S. Lingg, Dining Services marketing assistant

Halloween Week saw a typical mix of fun and fright across the Penn College campus – whether dressing up for co-workers; serving up “eerie entrees, scary sides and hauntingly delicious desserts” at Dining Services’ annual “Boofet” in Capitol Eatery; or scaring up a giddily gory time at the American Welding Society chapter’s “Arc Asylum.” (The fun’s just beginning, too. Watch PCToday early in the week for more tricks and treats!)

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Pierogies were on the menu at Penn College on Wednesday in celebration of National Pierogy Day. Featuring Mrs. T’s pierogies, several dining units made the potato- and cheese-filled dumplings the star of the show.

Capitol Eatery, CC Commons, Keystone Dining Room and Penn Central served many pierogy dishes including: Smokehouse Pierogies, Fall Harvest Pierogies, Pumpkin Spice Pierogies, Ham & Broccoli Pierogy Quiche, Pierogy Stuffed Ham Loaf with Sweet Maple Glaze, and Pierogy Pizza.

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Dining Services’ third annual Soup for the Soul event, held Thursday in CC Commons, sold over 100 bowls and raised close to $900 for The Cupboard, Penn College’s on-campus food pantry. For an $8 donation, participants enjoyed a meal that included chicken tortilla or cheddar broccoli soup, roll, beverage, dessert, goodie bag and a beautifully handcrafted bowl. As in past years, the bowls were made and donated by students in instructor David A. Stabley’s ceramics classes.
Photos by Amy S. Lingg, Dining Services marketing assistant

Presidential Student Ambassador Lauryn A. Stauffer is your effusive and illuminating guide to Pennsylvania College of Technology in a newly launched video produced by Public Relations & Marketing. Loaded with fresh footage of renovated labs and popular campus hang spots, the comprehensive tour takes you through main campus, down the road to the Lumley Aviation Center and over the mountain to the Schneebeli Earth Science Center.

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Capitol Eatery transformed into a “movie set” of sorts this week when a production crew filmed a video for Mrs. T’s Pierogies in the Dauphin Hall dining unit. In addition to utilizing one of Pennsylvania College of Technology’s inspiring spaces, four students were cast as “actors” for the marketing piece.

“Penn College has always been a wonderful customer and partner with Mrs. T’s. We’re excited for this opportunity for the campus to host our college and university marketing video campaign,” said Victoria DeHart, Mrs. T’s regional sales manager for eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and the mid-Atlantic, and national college and university specialist. “The video will be shared with food service directors and executive chefs at colleges and universities throughout the country to showcase the benefits of Mrs. T’s pierogies.”

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The First Quality Group of companies, a leader in personal health care products and a longtime corporate partner of Pennsylvania College of Technology, has donated a number of sought-after items to the campus food pantry.

In coordination with the college’s Inclusion Task Force, First Quality contributed feminine hygiene products, diapers and wipes to The Cupboard’s inventory. Operated by Dining Services in the Bush Campus Center and supported solely by community donations, the pantry assists students who are struggling with food insecurities and hygiene needs.

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Donations are always welcomed at The Cupboard at Penn College, an on-campus food pantry, including items that aren’t food. In March, The Cupboard was grateful to receive a donation by the Student Nurses’ Association of over 75 health and beauty products.

The Cupboard provides aid to Penn College students who may be having a difficult time purchasing enough food to avoid hunger for themselves and their families.

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A total of 3,546 meals were provided to 484 Penn College students in COVID-related isolation or quarantine so far this academic year, according to Dining Services statistics shared Thursday with the administration.

Figures through February break down into: dinner, 1,258; lunch, 877; breakfast, 817; and brunch, 243. In addition, 351 bagged items (muffins, noodle bowls, sandwiches, snacks, etc.) were given to students who began the testing/isolation process after Dining Services made its deliveries for the day.

The highest number of total meals was 915 in September; November was second with 800. Wildcat Athletics coaches helped make some of the meal dropoffs, it was noted, indicative of the institution’s collaborative approach to serving students affected by the pandemic.