Aramark provides food to students, faculty and staff across campus, but one group is having discrimination served against them.    

The group affected: international students from India. Due to fear of retaliation, many did not feel comfortable talking on the record. Those who did wanted their identities kept anonymous.    

One person, referred to as Sasha to protect her identity, worked at the Fresh for two weeks before quitting.   

“I can’t blame the whole Fresh, but yeah, there are two to three people who are very rude and very mean, so Aramark should seriously take action about this.”   

Another person, referred to as Eileen, described working at the Fresh as “demoralizing.”  

“They don’t even consider what I need, you know? As a human, they don’t even consider if I need to get some water, or if I’ll be thirsty, or if I’ll be really exhausted, they don’t care about that,” Eileen said. “They just need their things to be done.”   

Southern Miss Student Media -SM2- has reached out to Marcus White, Operation Director for Aramark at USM. SM2 reached out to him first in April of this year. He has not responded to multiple requests for comment  

That same month, SM2 sat down with Dee Dee Anderson, Vice President of Student Affairs at USM.    

She had not personally heard of any allegations of discrimination from students working at the Fresh or Aramark.    

“I would hope that the students would be comfortable enough to come forward and let someone know that this is happening so that it can be addressed,” Anderson said.     

However, Sasha went to Aramark several months prior. She worked there in the fall 2021 semester.    

“I called to Aramark Manager HR, and I gave complaint. I don’t know what actions they took,” Sasha said.    

During the interview with Anderson, SM2 expressed its inability to reach out to Marcus White. Anderson then provided the email of the Resident District Manager for Aramark at USM: Charles Dorsa.    

SM2 has reached out to Dorsa multiple times since May of this year. He has not responded to our many requests for comment.    

In September, Southern Miss Student Media contacted University Communications.  

In the email, the Printz described the absence of communication from local Aramark representatives. It also expressed several of the grievances brought forward by the international students who spoke to SM2.    

Five days later, USM Chief Communication Officer James Coll provided a generic anti-discrimination statement from Aramark Corporate Communications.    

“At University of Southern Mississippi Dining, we believe that everyone should enjoy equal employment opportunity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ancestry, color, religion or religious creed……… or other characteristics protected by applicable federal, state or local law,” it said.    

It also outlined several ways for employees to file complaints to HR or a manager.   

The statement did not directly address any of the points SM2 brought to Aramark representatives at USM or the University of Southern Mississippi.   

As of now, USM has provided no official comment. No Aramark representative on campus has provided any official comment.   

Despite that, the claims made by these workers seem to be as numerous as damning.    

“After some point, I realized the way they treat us, especially international students, they treat us more like slaves,” Eileen said.     

Issues with Aramark do not seem to be isolated.    

This past Labor Day, an anonymous group of Aramark employees at the University of Mississippi released an open letter on Instagram. It relayed the struggle of many workers who have faced issues with the service company.    

“We have worked ourselves to the bone every day to try to keep the university fed and healthy while struggling to even pay our own bills. Aramark makes tens of millions of dollars off of our labor while we’re each forced to perform the work of several employees for poverty or near-poverty wages,” the letter said.     

According to the Daily Mississippian, the campus newspaper at Ole Miss, an Aramark representative referred to the remarks in the open letter as “inaccurate and misleading.”   

The Director of News Media and Relations at the University of Mississippi claimed the allegations were false.   

Aramark or USM have not laid out any plans to address the allegations made by these workers and others.    

Despite that, those who came forward did so to make a change at the Fresh and Aramark for the future,    

“My friends are whoever comes next semester or next semester. They shouldn’t face the same issue,” Sasha said.