March 17, 1999

Middlebury College Dining Wins Prestigious 1999
Ivy Award for Excellence in Foodservice

No Other Liberal Arts Colleges or Universities
in the Nation Awarded This Year

Middlebury College has received Restaurants and Institutions
(R&I) magazine’s distinguished Ivy Award for the outstanding
performance of its dining services. The award is one of the oldest
and most prestigious honors in the foodservice industry, and is
only presented to operations that meet the highest standards of
quality in food, hospitality, and service.

Meritorious eating establishments across the country
are nominated for the Ivy in two categories—the restaurant category
and the institutional category. Middlebury College, the only 1999
nominee from the entire state of Vermont, falls into the latter
category, which includes colleges, universities, and hospitals.
Middlebury was the only university or liberal arts college to
receive the 1999 award in the entire country.

According to R&I, the highest standards of professional
operation in foodservice can only be accurately assessed by those
actually in the business. The magazine established the Ivy Award
29 years ago to give professionals in the industry the opportunity
to do just that, and thereby honor their peers. Selected each
year by previous Ivy recipients, winners are selected by vote
of the 162,000 readers of R&I. The award winners are then
inducted into the Ivy Society at a formal, invitation-only annual
dinner.

Director of Middlebury Dining Services Peter Napolitano
is extremely proud of this achievement. “What
makes this award more outstanding to me is that this is a team
award. It is the result of a dedicated staff focusing on the details
of customer service and providing the highest quality food in
surroundings that are clean, comfortable, and convenient. Our
goal has been to provide our customers with world class food and
service. Winning the Ivy Award validates our commitment to that
goal.”

Other nominees this year included Stanford University
of California, Massachusetts General Hospital of Boston, and the
University of California at Los Angeles. Joining Middlebury as
inductees are Gramercy Tavern and the Four Seasons Hotel in New
York, Topolobampo in Chicago, City Tavern in Philadelphia, and
Wine Spectator/CIA at Greystone in St.Helena, Calif. The induction
banquet will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Chicago in May.