Jews, Muslims to dine together at Dartmouth

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth College President James Wright approved plans early last month for a joint kosher-halal dining facility to be operated by Dartmouth Dining Services.

DDS Director Tucker Rossiter said the new dining hall should be open for the beginning of Fall 2001, serving freshly prepared meals during the lunch and dinner hours.

“It’s very exciting. It’s a real opportunity for the staff here to be involved in such a facility,” he said.

Currently, most other Ivy League schools offer broader kosher dining options than does Dartmouth.

“The College has taken a positive step in recognizing the diversity on campus and actively seeking to accommodate the dietary requirements specific to Jewish and Muslim students,” Al-Nur President Yousuf Haque said.

Although the future location of the facility is not yet final, the most likely choice is currently the former location of Westside Buffet in Thayer Dining Hall. Menus and pricing are all still up in the air, Rossiter said.

Rossiter did indicate, however, that complete meals — including, for example, a chicken entree, a potato and another vegetable — will be the primary offerings, and food will probably be sold a la carte, as at other DDS facilities.

Thus far, Rossiter said he has been in contact with a food service consulting group who will help plan and set up the new facility, as well as the facilities planning office. A search for a manager familiar with halal and kosher food service will begin soon.

A committee of students, faculty and administrators — led by Haque and Jason Spitalnick ‘02, the fall term president of Dartmouth Hillel — developed and presented the proposal for the dining facility.

“I am delighted that we are moving forward with this important initiative,” Wright told the Dartmouth Office of Public Affairs. “The careful work done by this committee gives us the opportunity to create a truly innovative facility where students and other members of the community will be able to observe the customs of their faiths.”

The requirements imposed by kosher and halal dietary customs, though similar, are not interchangable. The committee suggested a policy of “greater stringency” where the practices of the two religions differ.

“This facility has the potential to be one of the premier kosher-halal dining facilities among the Ivies, if not the premier facility,” said Rabbi Ed Boraz, the director of Dartmouth Hillel.

Boraz said the facility promises several benefits for the Dartmouth community, including the opportunity for community members of different backgrounds to interact and participate in diaglogue.

The new facility will be one of the few college dining halls in the nation to accommodate the needs of both Muslim and Jewish students who observe their respective religion’s dietary laws.

Ithan Peltan is a reporter with The Dartmouth at Dartmouth College. Article reprinted with permission.

Ithan Peltan

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