Since posting this petition and gathering over 4,000 signatures, it's about time for an update. On Wednesday of last week, the Undergraduate Student Government hosted a meeting with Gary Goldberg and Jill Jenkins, university officials in charge of dining. There, they told students "cooked chicken is pink, that's just nature" as well as that they refuse to "wave a white flag" and address the grievances outlined in our petition. Kent State University news groups were not allowed to attend this meeting, and Gary Goldberg refused to hold the meeting until reporters left. This gives us the notion that Kent State is trying to keep this story from reaching the news too prominently. 

However, one article about dining has aired as of September 19th, linked here. http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/article_da07ad88-1814-11ec-b3a0-678f61ffe019.html

This article does not mention the petition but states that students with dietary restrictions were encouraged to make their own food and that certain dietary restrictions would no longer be accommodated by Dining Services as promised. Refunds will still not be issued, and the university will not respond to questioning. Kent Wired will soon be uploading a story about our petition after being pushed back to keep up with the constantly updating situation and allegations. 

-Maece Saenger

Edit: Since speaking to a student employee of dining services, it has been brought to our attention that not only are the wages being paid to employees barely livable, but employees have gone on 5 weeks now with no pay. The university has cited labor shortage as a major reason for the disappointing dining experience, but are doing little to incentivize their workers with fair pay.