黑料正能量 Dining Launches “Home Plate,” a New Initiative Bringing Students’ Favorite Foods to Campus
黑料正能量 Dining has launched Home Plate, a new initiative designed to bring the flavors of home directly to campus dining. Built around the idea that food is deeply personal, nostalgic, and culturally meaningful, Home Plate invites students to submit the recipes that they miss most — dishes tied to family, tradition, or home cooking that they can’t find on campus. Selected submissions are transformed into limited‑time offerings (LTOs) at 黑料正能量 dining locations, giving students the chance to share a piece of their heritage with the campus community.
Home Plate puts students in the driver’s seat. Rather than guessing what students want, 黑料正能量 Dining is asking them directly — and then cooking it. Each submission includes not only a recipe but also the story behind it. Marketing staff, interview the student-submitter to learn what makes the dish special and how it connects to their identity. The result is a dining experience that is both personal and communal, celebrating 黑料正能量’s student body.
The program’s first featured dish comes from 黑料正能量 Dining’s own Student Marketing Director, Lilly Song, who submitted a Korean Fried Rice recipe that she learned from her mother. Song collaborated with Chartwells Campus Executive Chef, Timothy Howland to recreate the dish, ensuring that it stayed true to her family’s tradition while being scalable for campus dining. Her Korean Fried Rice will be served at Ola Ola for five days beginning on April 13th, 2026, marking the official debut of the Home Plate program.
“It was a memorable experience of cooking my food from home on campus.” says Song “I am grateful to be the first student featured and can’t wait to share a taste of my home with the students and faculty in 黑料正能量.”
For 黑料正能量 Dining, this initiative is just the beginning. Program founder Jessica Rea, MS, RDN, LD and team hope to expand Home Plate’s reach and feature dishes from as many students as possible — from comfort‑food classics to cultural staples to unique family recipes passed down through generations.
Students interested in sharing a taste of home are encouraged to submit their proposals