CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The dining facility at Newman Hall on the University of Illinois campus has been temporarily shut down following a recent health inspection that resulted in a red placard, indicating significant health violations. Despite the setback, Newman Hall is providing alternative meal arrangements for its residents while addressing the necessary health and safety improvements.
On October 20, a follow-up inspection revealed that Newman Hall by Upper Crust had failed to rectify several serious and repeated violations identified during an earlier inspection on October 1. The previous inspection had already resulted in a yellow placard due to the identification of more than 10 “priority” or “priority foundation” violations, signaling critical areas of concern that required immediate attention.
During the Monday reinspection, inspectors noted ongoing issues, prompting the immediate closure of the dining services. Consequently, the health permit for Newman Hall’s dining room was suspended, and a reinspection request form was issued to the facility’s management. In light of the closure, Newman Hall has put alternative dining options in place to ensure residents continue to receive meals as they work to resolve the health violations and restore full dining services.
An employee was handling cookies but resumed food preparation before washing hands and putting on new gloves Not holding foods at cold enough temperatures Multiple ham and turkey sandwiches and salads stored inside a cooler between 43°F to 44°F Improper date marking Multiple pans of Hawaiian chicken were labeled with a prep/discard date of 11/8 even though it was prepared on 10/9 A large container of hummus was labeled with a discard/prep date of 11/8 Upon finding these violations, the food service was closed, their health permit was suspended, and a reinspection request form was left with the person in charge. As a result of the closure, Newman Hall has administered alternative options while the issues are being resolved at the full, on-site meal service.
Jennifer LaMontagne, Newman’s marketing and communications director, said while the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department continues their review of Upper Crust, they are working to provide residents with replacement meal services in a couple different ways.
First, all Newman residents will have access to meal tickets for breakfast, lunch and dinner served in University Housing Dining Facilities. These tickets are freely available for all residents to pick up as needed.
Second, they are providing prepackaged meals sourced through local catering companies and restaurants. LaMontagne said a variety of options have been sourced, including several local food trucks that will be serving lunch and dinner to residents on Saturday.
“We are grateful to our Housing partners for access to their facilities for our residents,” she said.
She also said it is the Newman Center’s top priority to ensure dining at the hall is fully restored as quickly, safely and effectively as possible to the quality that its residents deserve and expect.
“There is nothing that we value more than the care of our residents and the trust that they place in us,” LaMontagne said. “It is incredibly distressing to us, but more importantly, to our residents that Upper Crust was not able to live up to the standards that we expect and that our students deserve in their dining.”
LaMontagne acknowledges that none of these alternate options are a replacement for a full on-site meal service for their residents. As a result, they have also issued a two-week meal plan credit to all residents, in addition to reimbursement for meal expenses they have incurred.
“We know that CUPHD shares our goal of returning safe operations at Newman Hall that provide a high-quality level of care and service,” LaMontagne said.
CUPHD has scheduled a compliance hearing with Upper Crust for Monday, Oct. 27. Regular operations will be able to be restored at Newman Hall once Upper Crust completes a compliance review and inspection up to the standards the CUPHD upholds.