[dropcap]“I[/dropcap] text or email the chef and they put together a kosher meal for me. Sodexo (the DU dining service) has been extraordinarily accommodating,” said sophomore Spencer Kark. “When I transferred to a different dorm, the administration moved the kosher pots, pans and utensils to my new dining hall.”

Kark’s situation is a good example of the bright side of keeping kosher on campus in Colorado.

Kark’s family has been in Denver for seven generations, including many who have graduated from DU.

“As a freshman who keeps kosher, I knew it wouldn’t work well to purchase a student meal plan.”

Instead of cancelling his meal plan, Kark met with administration and dining hall staff who quickly came up with an approach to meet his needs.

“The DU chefs were knowledgeable about kosher requirements, including Passover traditions, so the Sodexo chefs really stepped up. They keep separate pans, purchase kosher deli meats and provide me with cold meals whenever I contact them. It’s as simple as a text or an email ahead of time.”

According to Rabbi Yossi Serebryanski, Hillel and Chabad of South Denver work together to provide special meals for DU students during Passover.

[dropcap]Kark’s[/dropcap] experience is different from other college campuses in Colorado, which has three kosher facilities: CSU, CU Boulder and the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA).

Approximately 150 colleges in the US provide kosher food for students on campus. Students attending colleges in Colorado that do not accommodate kosher needs, such as Colorado College, Colorado School of Mines and other smaller undergraduate campuses, often select vegetarian options.

“Unfortunately, we do not have a kosher kitchen,” says Rhonda Young, chef for dining services at CU Colorado Springs.

Different from the individualized approach at DU, the Center for Community at CU Boulder has a more public style which includes a small kosher dining station available to all students.

“I eat there often because the food is great and there are gluten- and dairy-free options,” states CU Boulder freshman Natasha Clarke, 19, of Colorado Springs.

CU junior, Kira Altman, regularly enjoys a glatt kosher lunch as part of the CU meal plan. In addition, Kira is active in the large CU Hillel chapter whose Shabbat meals are kosher. Altman and her two older sisters, who graduated from CU Boulder, grew up in a kosher home in Colorado Springs.

Chabad of CU, supervised by Rabbi Yisroel Wilhelm, oversees the kosher facilities on the CU Boulder campus. The dining area within the Center for Community includes eight food stations, one of which is kosher.

“This is unique because it’s in a large dining hall, so students can purchase a kosher meal and join their friends for lunch. Students don’t have to travel to a separate building simply to get a kosher meal,” says Rabbi Wilhelm.

The kosher station serves approximately 500 kosher meals each day. In a recent student vote, the kosher station was voted “best station” in the dining hall area.

[dropcap]In[/dropcap] Fort Collins, CSU’s Kosher Bistro is unique both on campus and in the local community. With great fanfare, the Kosher Bistro celebrated its grand opening in October, 2016, with city and university officials, including CSU President Tony Frank, Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell and CSU Rabbi Yerachmiel Gorelik.

The Kosher Bistro was created to provide healthy, kosher options for students, faculty and members of the local community and is centrally located in the Parmelee Dining Center.

The Bistro is open on weekdays for lunch. For convenience, students can check the daily menus online. Menus range from chicken, hamburgers and hot dogs to vegetarian matzah ball soup and cookies.

The idea took several years to come to fruition.

Initially, the president of the Associated Students of CSU, who was Jewish, asked for a kosher eatery on campus. Various options were considered, including a food truck, which was determined to be too expensive. CSU President Tony Frank stepped forward to lead discussions about potential options, which resulted in the creation of the Kosher Bistro.

Rabbi Gorelik is the Bistro’s mashgiach to ensure that food preparation and quality meet kosher dietary laws and regulations.

According to Rabbi Gorelik, tourists, businesspeople and members of the local community frequent the Bistro.

“The police chief is one of our most loyal customers,” states Gorelik.

Gorelik appreciates that members of the local Jewish community frequent the Bistro whether they keep kosher at home or not because “they like the cultural and culinary aspect of a kosher restaurant.”

CSUHillel director, Alex Amchislavskiy, often goes there for meals with other Jewish students from campus.

Rabbi Gorelik is the faculty advisory for the Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi, whose members frequent the Bistro.

[dropcap]In[/dropcap] comparison to CSU’s Jewish population of roughly 700 students, there are approximately 30 Jewish cadets among a student body of 4,000 at USAFA.

Kosher meals are provided every Friday night at the Air Force Academy chapel. Religious services are open to members of the community.

The cadet dining facility, Mitchell Hall, caters to the cadets who wish to keep kosher for Passover. The staff prepares meat which is kosher for Passover. Typically, the Jewish cadets pick up their meals and take them back to their squadron tables.

“They enjoy the camaraderie with fellow cadets,” states Rabbi Chaplain (Major) Sarah Schechter.

“As a Jewish chaplain, I’m gratified by whatever level of observance the Jewish cadets choose.

“It is an essential part of our tradition and more than simply feeding the body, it nourishes the soul.”

Copyright © 2017 by the Intermountain Jewish News