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The vegan stir-fry station, which found a permanent home two years ago, was specifically mentioned in PETA’s “Big 10.”
S. Rosen-Amy / The Miscellany News
published on 04/29/05
Vassar recognized for vegan-friendly options
Dan Morgan 
Staff Writer
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) named Vassar as one of the “Big 10” most vegetarian and vegan-friendly colleges and universities in the United States. Vassar placed seventh among over 100 colleges and universities surveyed for the list. The top three schools selected for superior alternatives to meat were New York University, UC Santa Cruz, and Columbia.
PETA based the top ten list on a sampling of comments and hearsay from students who contacted the organization. “We looked for colleges who were going above and beyond in their vegetarian options,” said Freeman Wicklund from College Relations at PETA. “We went through thousands of e-mails to produce the list,” he added.
Director of Campus Dining Maureen King said Vassar’s food staff is “very happy to have received recognition from PETA for our continuing efforts.” Over the past few years, both The Retreat and ACDC have improved their meat-free options. This year, ACDC began to consistently offer vegan desserts, adding to vegan options such as the stir-fry station installed over six years ago and the Farm to Home station, which offers vegan dishes every night. ACDC has also broadened their selection of fresh vegetables, grains, spices, and tofu available at the station since its conception, said Assistant Director of ACDC Teri Bettencourt.
ACDC and The Retreat continue to improve their selection on the basis of student comment cards, but some suggestions have not been possible to fulfill, said Bettencourt. “Some of the requests we have been unable to fulfill at this point are for more meat alternatives such as seitan and vegan bacon,” she said. “There are some logistical issues with some of these items.”
Despite improvements over the past few years, some students maintain that campus food is not always ideal. “The vegetables are sometimes wilty,” said Julianne Brummer ’08.
This award comes in the wake of a number of top ten veg-friendly results. Past PETA-sponsored competitions include a state-based veggie friendly contest, the ‘sexiest veggie,’ and a list of the top ten veggie friendly baseball parks. PETA began producing these polls after receiving a great deal of ratings data from their constant contact with vegetarians pushing for meatless options.
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Alumnae/i posters are strongly encouraged to include their class year with their name. The maximum length for comments is approximately 100 words; longer responses should be submitted as letters to the editor to misc@vassar.edu. More information about our letters policy can be found on our Policies page.
