The factual record (drawn from Philadelphia Department of Public Health inspection reports, Daily Pennsylvanian investigations, peer-institution comparisons, and a national pattern of labor and safety failures at Bon Appétit Management Company (BAMCO) accounts) supports every core claim of this petition. Penn pays $6,744 / year (rising to $6,960 in 2026–27) for a program that has logged 100+ health code observations in a single 2023 inspection cycle, documented repeat pest violations into 2026, no Princeton Review ranking, and a contractor with a documented history of worker mistreatment at Penn and elsewhere.
A 13-year pattern of sanitation failures
The Philadelphia Office of Food Protection inspection record establishes a sustained pattern of violations at BAMCO-operated Penn facilities from 2013 through February 2026. The 2023 crisis was systemic, not accidental: a winter 2022–23 inspection cycle produced 100 total observations of health code violations across Penn Dining facilities. Hill House Dining logged 16 distinct violations and 38 points of concern (including six separate sightings of mouse droppings), two in direct contact with pans and containers of ingredients.
The pattern extends forward, directly contradicting Penn's 2023 reassurances. In the January–February 2026 inspection cycle, inspectors found a dead mouse on a sticky trap in 1920 Commons’ canned-food storage room, cited explicitly as a repeat violation under Category 53. At Houston Market, inspectors logged ten violations in a single visit (including cooked eggs held overnight at improper temperature that were discarded by the inspector).
What students pay, and what they get
First-year students are required to buy either the 296-swipe or 187-swipe plan, both priced at $6,744 / year. The Board of Trustees approved a rise to $6,960 / year for 2026–27. First-years pay $10.97–$15.89 per swipe; upperclass plans cost $17.50–$17.77 per swipe; the market inverts standard demand elasticity so that students who cannot leave get the “volume discount” while those who can leave are priced punitively.
Student satisfaction has been measured, and it is dire. A December 2022 Class of 2025 GroupMe poll found only 4.9% satisfied with Penn Dining. A 2016 DP survey of 290 freshmen found ~80% wished they did not have to be on a meal plan. Penn's contract with BAMCO has not been publicly rebid since 2009.
Peers who self-operate deliver better food for comparable or lower cost
The 2026 Princeton Review Top 25 for Best Campus Food is dominated by self-operated programs. Not a single Bon Appétit-operated Ivy or Ivy+ peer appears. UMass Amherst has held #1 for nine consecutive years. Yale's unlimited plan costs $9,100 / year; Princeton ~$4,500; Cornell $7,328 (all self-operated, ranked peers). Johns Hopkins ended its BAMCO contract in 2022 and rehired every hourly worker as a JHU employee, now earning a starting wage of $19.88 / hr with full benefits. Kent State and the University of Rochester have done the same.
BAMCO has a documented labor record (at Penn and nationally)
Penn's dining workforce is split in two: residential halls are staffed by AFSCME-represented Penn employees; retail locations and Falk Kosher Dining are staffed by Bon Appétit employees represented by Teamsters Local 929. In March 2020, BAMCO planned to lay off ~140 Penn retail dining workers without pay. A student petition drew 8,322 signatures in days and Penn reversed course, but the episode demonstrated that outsourcing exports Penn's labor risk to a contractor that sheds Penn workers first in a crisis. Penn-employed residential workers retained pay throughout.
Compass Group, BAMCO's parent, has paid $41.9 million in documented regulatory penalties since 2000. Oberlin College terminated Bon Appétit in 2020 after an executive chef sexual harassment lawsuit and chronic kitchen safety failures. Washington University lost its 25-year BAMCO contract in 2023 when BAMCO itself walked away after workers unionized.
What we're asking for
- End Penn’s contract with Bon Appétit Management Company at the earliest available exit point, and commit to a fully self-operated dining program.
- Retain every current dining worker (both AFSCME residential staff and Teamsters Local 929 retail staff) as direct University employees at improved wages, parity between residential and retail roles, and full Penn benefits.
- Establish a Dining Advisory Board with real authority, seating students, workers, and nutrition/sustainability experts, with published minutes and binding input on menus, hours, pricing, and vendor sourcing.
- Publish a multi-year capital and operating plan for the transition that acknowledges the known pitfalls of the Johns Hopkins switch and budgets accordingly for staffing, training, and facility investment.
- Restructure the meal plan to eliminate swipe forfeiture, allow mid-semester opt-out, and bring per-swipe cost into line with self-operated peers.
The record supports every major factual claim of this petition. BAMCO’s performance justifies termination, and it is time for Penn to meet the standard that its Ivy+ peers have already set.