Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. this Thursday, Nov. 27, the Wilkerson Dining Center provided some UND students with a free Thanksgiving meal in an effort to provide students staying on campus during the holiday with a quality Thanksgiving experience.
The free carryout meal was intended for students who were not able to leave campus on Thanksgiving, and featured a whole suite of iconic foods of the holiday: turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (technically dressing), cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie.
The free Thanksgiving meal program became a standard offering in the fall of 2020 for residence hall students staying on campus during the holiday, and has since expanded to include non-residence hall students not enrolled in a meal plan. Since its introduction, the Wilkerson has served anywhere from 150-200 of the meals on Thanksgiving, according to Orlynn Rosaasen, director of dining services.
“The program started as a way to ensure residence hall students staying on campus during the break had a thanksgiving meal,” Rosaasen said. “When [the Student Involvement Office] learned of dining services offering a meal on Thanksgiving, they asked if Student Involvement could hand out vouchers for non-residence hall students staying in Grand Forks over the holiday weekend and wanting a traditional Thanksgiving meal.”
“We wanted an opportunity for UND students to receive a Thanksgiving meal, even if they couldn’t travel home to be with family,” said Kristi Okerlund, the director of student involvement and parent programs at UND. “Orlynn [Rosaasen] said yes and is an amazing partner in programming to allow our students without meal plans to get a Thanksgiving meal, too!”
Quinn Berg is a Dakota Student Section Editor. He can be reached at [email protected].
