Students Voice Dining Hall Concerns in Viral Post
James Kelly
He/Him
Editor-in-Chief
10/29/25
*Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. If you observe food issues at Prospect Dining Hall, The Clock encourages you to document them and send photos with time and date stamps to psutheclockonline@gmail.com.
When Abrielle Martin took out her phone to record a TikTok in Plymouth State’s Prospect Dining Hall, she wasn’t expecting anything to come of it. Martin was simply frustrated with the lack of options in the dining hall, she said, and thought it would be funny to post pictures to TikTok accompanied by a viral sound. Instead, the TikTok blew up overnight and prompted students to share their own dining hall experiences.
In its first 24 hours online, the TikTok reached some 25,000 people. As of publication, it has more than 217,000 views. The TikTok includes a slideshow of photos depicting empty trays of food in the “homestyle” and pasta sections of the dining hall. Martin took the photos around 5pm, she said. In the TikTok’s background, a viral audio clip from the television show Nathan for You plays. “I hope you’re hungry– for nothing,” Nathan Fielder, the show’s star, says.
“I didn’t make the TikTok with any intention for it to blow up or for it to really do anything,” Martin, a senior, told The Clock. “I was just quoting that TikTok sound… to my friend as we were walking into the dining hall, and then there was actually nothing.”
Other people were quick to share their own Plymouth dining stories and pictures, including some that depicted raw meat and rotten food. “We take every report about food quality seriously and are reviewing concerns with our dining services partner, Chartwells,” said Denise Panyik-Dale, PSU’s Director of Communications, in a statement to The Clock. PSU President Donald Birx, in an email to students, said that some of those photos were not actually photos from PSU. The Clock cannot independently verify the photos, and those who shared them did not respond to requests for comment.
“It is also important to know that our dining facilities are routinely inspected by both state and local health officials,” Birx added. “The most recent inspections took place in October and again in March 2025, with no significant conditions cited.”
The State of New Hampshire has consistently recorded “priority” food safety violations at Prospect Dining Hall. Priority violations are recorded for “food handling practices that, when not done properly, are most likely to lead to foodborne illnesses,” according to the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, which inspects food establishments in Plymouth.
Prospect Dining Hall has four routine inspections, beginning in June 2023, available on the DHHS website. Between the four inspections, the dining hall recorded six priority violations, including three in March 2025, the most recent routine inspection. Four of the six violations were related to improper refrigeration or food holding temperatures.
In February, 2024, the dining hall received a priority violation for storing raw beef above ready-to-eat foods in a walk-in cooler. It received another for storing food at above-regulation temperatures in “several” cold wells. In October, 2024, the dining hall received a priority violation for storing foods in a grill cooler at above-regulation temperatures. In March, the dining hall was again flagged for improper food storage temperatures, including both above-regulation temperatures in the salad bar and below-regulation temperatures in a steam table.
The State conducts follow-up inspections when it observes priority violations. Prospect Dining hall passed each of its follow-up inspections, which occurred within a month of the initial inspections. The Commons Cafe, Union Grill, and Daily Paws all recorded clean inspections in the same time period.
Students also expressed frustration over the cost of meal plans, which are required for much of the student body. Meal plans at PSU range from $2,293 per semester for unlimited swipes to $1,898 per semester for 150 swipes. Freshmen are required to purchase unlimited plans. Restricted plans, which offer 60 swipes for $921 per semester, are available to students living off-campus or in University Apartments – the only on-campus housing with private kitchens. PSU meal plan rates are comparable to rates at Keene State College and the University of New Hampshire, as well as the University of Vermont. PSU meal plans are cheaper than plans at the University of Maine, St. Anselm College, and New England College.
PSU requires all students living in a residence hall to purchase a meal plan. Students may only live off campus in an academic year if they earn at least 64 credits by the end of the previous winter term, or if they turn 21 before September, according to the 2025-2026 Residential Life Housing and Dining Agreement. As a result, most freshmen and sophomores, and some juniors, are required to purchase a meal plan.
“It’s pretty standard, across at least every campus I’ve worked at, that students that live in residence halls are required to have a dining plan,” Amanda Grazioso, Plymouth’s Director of Residential Life and Dining Services, told The Clock in 2023. Still, between the alleged problems with both quality and quantity at the dining hall, some students say the meal plan feels like a bad deal. “I’m paying for school myself, so it’s very frustrating adding an extra $2,000 [for] a meal plan and then seeing all the raw food and moldy food,” Martin said. “It’s really frustrating paying that much money… and not getting what you’re paying for. And a lot of comments have been saying the same thing, and they’re frustrated with the fact that you don’t have the option, if you live on campus, to not have a meal plan.”
For students with dietary restrictions, that feeling can be compounded. “I’m in an apartment here and still forced to pay for a meal plan even though I can only eat at the allergen friendly station,” Abby Radebaugh, a sophomore, commented on the TikTok.
The dining hall’s allergen-friendly station offers meal options without the ten most common allergens, including eggs, soy, shellfish, and gluten. The “rooted” station offers vegan options, as well. The dining hall tries to accommodate students with less common dietary restrictions, Grazioso said, but that isn’t always possible. “One thing is kosher. Our dining hall is not kosher,” she said. “Same thing with halal. [There are] some options for them, but the kitchen is what it is. I would think that if that was something critical to a student, they may not choose PSU.”
In those instances where the dining hall cannot accommodate a student, PSU can make exceptions in their meal plan policy. “There have been times where it’s like, wow, you have XYZ, and your schedule is this,” Grazioso said. “And it’s like, you’re right. This doesn’t make sense. We can’t meet your needs.”
Plymouth State dining contracts their dining services to Chartwells Higher Education Services, a branch of Compass Group USA – itself a subsidiary of Compass Group PLC, a British company. Keene State and UNH also use Chartwells. Chartwells and Compass Group have a scandal-ridden history, including controversies over food quality and price at schools in New York, D.C., and England.
Plymouth State began contracting with Chartwells in 2018, when the university’s contract with its former provider, Sodexo, expired. The ten-year Chartwells contract is set to end in June, 2028.