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Associate Professor or Kinesiology and director of the WIU Food Pantry Emily Shupe, Sodoxo Campus Services General Manager Colby Rhodd, and Associate Professor of Nursing Patricia Eathington
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Sodexo Scholarships Provide Opportunities for Nursing, Nutrition/Dietetics, Food Pantry

May 24, 2022

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MACOMB, IL – For more than a decade, Sodexo, Western Illinois University's food service provider, has provided more than $1.8 million in scholarship funding, and other initiatives, benefitting WIU students. In 2021, during a ribbon-cutting for Q'doba and The Daily Drool in the Union Food Court, Sodexo presented awards to nursing ($7,500), nutrition and dietetics ($7,500) and the WIU Food Pantry ($5,000).

"We are proud to partner with Western Illinois University, and to have the opportunity to help achieve Western's mission," said Colby Rhodd, general manager of Sodexo Campus Services at WIU. "Our goal is to continually drive student engagement, recruitment and retention by improving quality of life for the Western Illinois University community."

To date, the WIU Food Pantry has used the donation for food and supplies, while the School of Nursing used the funding to purchase an IV arm that simulates the real experience of a nurse starting an IV in a patient.

"Equipment for our labs is very expensive and these funds allowed us to purchase this equipment we would not have been able to get," said School of Nursing Director Peggy Monahan. "We appreciate Sodexo's generation donation to help us purchase this necessary equipment for our students."

The nutrition and dietetics donation will be used to fund scholarships for new dietetics students. In addition to the scholarship funding over the years, Sodexo has been committed to continuous improvements, including renovating the former Sbarro's for the current Chick-fil-A and renovating the former Einstein's and Burger King for the new The Daily Drool and Q'doba, respectively, in the food court.

"In our latest food services contract with WIU, Sodexo has dedicated $500,000 to the WIU Foundation for renovations of our foodservice facilities on campus," Rhodd added. "The Union renovations are complete, and we're working on the Thompson Dining Center renovations."

Along with its philanthropic mission, Sodexo provides numerous job opportunities on campus. To date, the corporation employs 215 students, along with 150 full- and part-time employees and 12 salaried positions. Sodexo operates in seven buildings on the WIU-Macomb campus, with 11 units.

"Sodexo has been an outstanding partner over the years. We appreciate the myriad of services they provide to our University community, and the financial support they provide to our students and our facilities," added Joe Roselieb, executive director of auxiliary services and risk management.

More information on on-campus dining options can be found at wiu.edu/student_success/dining.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing