QUEENS COLLEGE–In May of 2023, I published an investigative op-ed in The Knight News on the state of kosher food on campus. I argued that Queens College, despite its public emphasis on food equity, was leaving Jewish students behind in their advocacy of that mission. I discussed how some students chose not to eat at all due to the lack of time and/or money to walk to Main Street and purchase food from the stores there. I also argued that the lack of kosher options on campus was a negative factor in prospective Jewish students’ evaluation of Queens College as an option to continue their education.
Apparently, the school listened. Despite conversations with some administrators suggesting that a return of hot kosher food to campus would not occur before the spring of 2024, the college sent out an email to all students on Aug 24 announcing the return of not only hot food, but hot kosher food in the form of the vendor Knish Nosh.
However, many Jewish students expressed concerns about Knish Nosh, namely, that it wasn’t adequately certified kosher to a standard that they would feel comfortable eating. A few days later, the college responded to this concern by quickly working with Queens College Hillel to add another hot kosher option on campus.
