University of North Carolina: Chapel Hill Allergy-Friendly College Campus Guide

Hi! I’m Emily and I attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC. I am planning on graduating in 2028 and am majoring in Computer Science and Data Science. Currently, I hope to have a career in some subset of computer science and data science. I manage a tree nut allergy and have shared 163 reviews on the Spokin app. Follow me there @nallergy and on Instagram @nallergy.

Allergy-Friendly Campus Guide: Wake Forest University

Hi! I'm Ellie Gustafson, and I attend Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I'm currently a senior, and I'm a finance major. After graduation, I plan to work at Wells Fargo in New York City as an Investment Banker! I manage a peanut allergy and have shared lots of reviews on the Spokin app. Follow me there @elliegust and on Instagram @ellie.gust.

Allergy-Friendly Elon University Guide

As freshman at Elon University, my mom and I went through extensive research on which school would be the best to accommodate my allergies. After many meetings with the chefs and nutritionists at Elon, we figured out a plan to keep me safe. Then during the first day of orientation, the day after my mom left me at school, I had an allergic reaction. Following this reaction, the school put in place a plan for me that I would only get my meals from 3 chefs that I had a group chat with. I requested what I wanted, whenever I wanted. This was not something normal Elon does for students, but after they nearly killed me, that’s what they saw as best fit.

The next school year, there was a completely vegan cafe in one of the dining halls. Whenever I ate there, I always had to make sure all the stuff was prepped in its own space. I did not have a reaction once! Now that I am a junior, I don’t have a meal plan but ironically, they got rid of the completely vegan cafe. They do, however, have a top allergen free cafe in one of the dining halls. In my past years, the chefs advised me not to eat there because of possible cross contamination. This year whenever I go with my friends, I either make sure it was prepped individually, or ask them if they can go prep me something individually in a safe dairy-free zone.

Location: Elon, North Carolina

Allergy-Friendly Campus Guide: Elon University

Elon University had been my dream school for a few years, but when I was finally accepted into one of their BFA Programs, we realized that getting to attend this might actually become a real possibility. All that was left was to work out accommodations for my food allergies. It turns out that there were hardly any preparations necessary because this school has SO many established food allergy resources. First of all, the school has a dining hall section that is COMPLETELY allergy friendly. Yes, that’s right. It is free of the top 8 allergens with no cross contamination. They also have my favorite allergy friendly brands as “grab and go” snack items in the different dining halls. They also have extensive amounts of allergy friendly food items in each of the stores on campus. All of these things have made my first year and a half at Elon go as smoothly as possible and have kept my family, who lives 12 hours away, at ease. I am forever grateful for all of their efforts, and hope that others will be encouraged by this information because attending a university far from home with multiple life threatening food allergies IS possible! Location: Elon, North Carolina  

Allergy-Friendly North Carolina State Campus Guide

I’ve been very impressed with the allergy safety and accommodations NC State has for campus. The dining halls have all food items labeled, provide dairy and gluten free products, use an allergy scoops for ice cream, and similar protocols for on campus restaurants. I feel very comfortable eating on campus while having a severe nut allergy.

Location: Raleigh, North Carolina