By Clare Roth

Many students do not know about the University of Maryland’s sick meals service at the dining halls despite the availability of information, according to Bart Hipple, assistant director of marketing and communications for UMD Dining Services. 

Hipple said the meals are advertised on both its website and through a package that dining services sends to incoming students each year. But a lack of knowledge about this program makes it hard for students to get meals that help them get stronger while sick, according to Hipple.

“A sick meal is a meal for someone who is not well enough to come to a dining hall to eat,” Hipple said. “It is a very simple meal. It is not intended to be a feast. It’s intended to get somebody by until they’re feeling better.”

The program, which is included in students’ meal plans, offers meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner, with vegan and non-vegan options, according to the website. The meals consist of scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, a bagel and fruit. Soup, grilled chicken, rice, vegetables, ginger ale and a cookie are served for lunch and dinner, according to the website.

Flu season is expected to hit its peak between December and February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flu season study. This means students who come down with the flu or a cold in the next few months may need to utilize these services while sick.

Sophomore chemistry major Brydon Patschke said the process was fairly easy, having recently picked up a sick meal for his girlfriend. Patschke said he originally learned about the program a few semesters ago from a friend who used the service while sick.

“All I had to do was walk in at the front desk area,” Patschke said. “I just said my name and who it was for, and I picked it up right then and there. It was [a] very simple, easy process.”

Cassian Lee, a sophomore linguistics major, said the service helped them during their freshman year while sick and bedridden. 

“It just was so helpful, especially when you can’t make the trek to the dining hall … I was, like, basically on bed rest for a while,” Lee said. “That I could just eat in the dorm, and also probably not get anyone else sick from my contagiousness … was great.” 

Lee also has allergies, which they said they were able to list when filling out the sick meal request form. They said filling out the request actually got them in contact with the dining hall’s nutritionist and allowed them to be more educated about the university’s food resources.

To pick up a meal, students must go to the UMD Dining Services website and fill out the online form at least 30 minutes in advance of meal pickup, according to Hipple. Students must list the recipient’s name and the name of the person picking up the meal. The person picking up the meals can then meet staff at the front door of one of the dining halls and pick up the food, according to the website. 

Hipple said dining services added this option in 2017 after starting their Anytime Dining Plan, which allows students with a standard meal plan unlimited swipes into the dining halls. 

“Shortly after we started anytime dining, we learned that there are some students, once in a while, who just really don’t feel well enough to come out to a dining hall to get a meal,” Hipple said.  “So we decided we needed to make provision for those students.”

Hipple said that dining services worked with their nutritionist to create sick meals that would be easily digestible, sustaining and hearty for those who are not feeling well.

Patschke said it is unfortunate that students do not know about these services and instead may not eat because they do not have the strength to leave their rooms and are uninformed. 

“I think it’s honestly a necessity for every university to have,” Patchke said. “It’s a great program because the university is required to feed at least its on-campus residents, and if some students can’t get out of the dorm because they’re sick, I think it’s necessary for universities to have the program.”

Featured Image: Students walk outside of Yahentamitsi Dining Hall on Nov. 19, 2025. Photo by Miller-Rogers Tetrick.