The Reality of Towers Landing 

Recently, many students have raised concerns about the food quality and safety at Towers Landing, with complaints ranging from raw or undercooked meals to sanitation practices. While critiques of campus dining are typical, these issues are more serious.

SEMO Dining director of Marketing and Student Engagement, Alicia Ticer emphasized the department’s commitment to making the student experience the best it can be. SEMO Dining attempts to address all feedback from students, even something as small as a student preferring their food cooked or prepared with different recipes.

“For example, some people like their macaroni and cheese where it's a little crunchy on top. Like it's gotten a little bit of a toasting. And some people do not like that toasting,” Ticer said. “And so for them, they might say that the macaroni and cheese was overcooked, but someone else could say that was perfect.”

Students are invited to give feedback through various channels, including the Happy or Not kiosks in Towers Landing and Copper Dome Café, or through the SEMO Dining website. These platforms allow students to share their thoughts on food preparation, menu preferences, or overall dining experiences.

According to Ticer, all feedback - whether positive or negative - is helpful. She acknowledged that some complaints may stem from food being prepared differently by different staff members, but concerns about raw or undercooked food are more difficult to address without specific details.

“I can see that they're telling me to say something was undercooked or overcooked, but if I don't know exactly what they're talking about, it's hard for me to follow up on that specifically,” Ticer said.

Ticer chose not to comment further on specific complaints involving raw food.

While Ticer is promoting SEMO Dining’s mission of improving the student experience, two seniors living on campus, Annabelle Pursley and Emily Rust have many concerns about the safety of eating at Towers Landing. The pair, who have lived on campus for nearly four years, have been advocating for stricter food safety standards since May of 2024.

Both Pursely and Rust have been required to purchase a meal plan each semester and have experienced firsthand issues with raw food, including chicken and pizza, over the past three years.

“If you're on campus, you're forced to pay for the raw chicken, for the raw pizza, because we have to have a meal plan. And I'm pretty sure a lot of people would say that their biggest reason for wanting to move off campus is so that they can cook for themselves.”

In response to their concerns, Pursley and Rust approached Chartwells Educational Dining Services Director Matt Ludwig to address their concerns directly. They said Ludwig assured them that he would address the problem by focusing on staff training.

However, Pursley and Rust stated they have seen little change in SEMO dining this year, aside from the closure of the Merrick Hall dining option and a layout change at the University Center.

In response to students raising concerns and voice their opinions, SEMO Dining has continued to thoroughly train their staff to follow food safety standards throughout campus. If students have concerns over the safety of the food served on campus, students should report any and all feedback to SEMO Dining. SEMO Dining stated that the only way they can respond to a concern is after a report has been made by a student with specific times, dates, and location of where they were served.

Students can find the SEMO Dining feedback portal here.