Supporting our diverse students with service excellence: A message from Senior Associate Vice Provost for Residential & Dining Enterprises, and Senior Advisor to the Provost on Equity and Inclusion Shirley Everett

Dear parents and families of Stanford students,

Spring is an exciting time of year at Stanford and, now that COVID-19 restrictions have loosened on campus, there are many more opportunities for students to gather with friends to celebrate and support each other and to develop a sense of community and belonging.

Residential & Dining Enterprises (R&DE) Student Housing and Stanford Dining offer neighborhood-based resources—housing service centers, building managers, custodians, chefs, nutritionists, dining hall managers. All of us care about the wellbeing of your students and we work together to meet their diverse needs and help them feel at home. As we say, “Students are never an interruption in our day. They are the reason we are here!”

Gathering around a table for a meal is an essential part of our undergraduate communities. Stanford Dining celebrates the diversity of our chefs and our students with delicious, globally inspired menus, and embraces food as a lens through which we can learn more about different cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. From concept stations aligning with different ethnic theme houses that feature Southeast Asian specialties, fresh Oaxacan dishes, traditional Mediterranean fare, and cuisines of the Black Diaspora, to our Glatt-kosher dining program, certified halal beef and chicken, and allergy-friendly meals in every dining hall, our students enjoy a dining program where they can be well nourished physically, socially, and emotionally. Our Eat Well @ Stanford program supports students with a variety of dietary needs, and our team of nutritionists are always ready to help.

Our Muslim community is celebrating the holy month of Ramadan. Stanford Dining offers accommodations so that students may continue to use their meal plans during Ramadan. Our Jewish community will soon be celebrating Passover. In addition to the kosher dining program, matzah and matzah ball soup will be available in all dining halls throughout Passover. You can learn more about campus Ramadan and Passover programs here.

Spring is also the time when students make choices about housing for the 2022 – 2023 year. Your students have received instructions from R&DE Student Housing Assignments on how to participate in the house and room selection process, which has been streamlined. This year, students will be assigned a date and time to enter an online portal where they can view all residences in their neighborhood that are available to them and pick their rooms. We have also added a more inclusive gender option. We want every student to know that we value them as members of our community.

On a bittersweet note, the arrival of spring means that we will soon be saying goodbye to our seniors. This class has responded with incredible resiliency over more than two years of the pandemic, and we congratulate them on their personal and academic achievement. It has been our pleasure to support your students with an inclusive, welcoming home during their time at Stanford. Parents and families, thank you for sharing them with us.

Sincerely,

Shirley J. Everett, Ed.D, MBA

Senior Associate Vice Provost, Residential & Dining Enterprises

Senior Advisor to the Provost on Equity and Inclusion