Featured Image: Grubhub advertisement at the University of Tennessee at Martin’s Freshens on Jan. 15, 2026. (Pacer Photo/Miranda Conrad)
As UT Martin looks to expand the number of students enrolled, many questions about dining options have begun to arise.
With freshmen being required to purchase a meal plan if they plan to live on campus, many of these students and their parents want to receive more value from the plan they are purchasing.
“Due to my class schedule, it is hard for me to get the benefits of having a (meal) plan since the hours I am not in class, the cafe is either closed or the food court is extremely busy,” said UT Martin freshman Travia Brooks.
Many other students have expressed this same sentiment, along with feeling like there are not enough options on campus for dining.
With the remodeling of the food court area came a new collaboration between Grubhub and Sodexo, UT Martin’s dining provider. Dylan Davis, field marketing coordinator for Sodexo, stated, “At UTM Dining Services, we want to deliver the best possible value for our students. Using Grubhub allows students to skip long lines and order their meals without waiting. In the future, we hope to expand Grubhub services into other facets of dining services, such as Chick-fil-A.”
Grubhub was founded in 2004, but in 2014, it started to take online orders for restaurants and would eventually start doing delivery in 2016. Of course, the question is always there: “Why Grubhub?” Davis responds, “Grubhub has a division known as Grubhub Campus. Sodexo has successfully implemented Grubhub Campus at many other universities, and we felt that it would be a perfect fit for UT Martin’s student body.”
Since the initiative is still new, many students have been able to use it to its fullest potential, but as time goes on, Davis and Sodexo both hope to have students ordering through the app, allowing for quicker times and fewer lines when it comes to providing food to all students on and off campus.
Along with using credit and debit cards, students can use their Captain’s Cash to make purchases on the app. Students can link their Skyhawk IDs to the app and use it to make purchases through Grubhub Campus.
Davis and Sodexo hope to eventually expand the initiative. “We are measuring our success using multiple metrics, such as sales, app downloads, campus registrations and—most importantly—student satisfaction. These metrics allow us to continually adapt and improve all aspects of dining services for the student body.”
Students who regularly use the dining services have been enjoying the new additions and getting the most out of them so far. Kiarra Lenell, a senior at UT Martin, stated, “I love not having to wait 30 minutes to get my rice bowl. I would have to set a block of time aside to eat during the day, but now I just order ahead and grab my food between classes.”
This new initiative is just one of the many ways UT Martin is looking to improve the quality of life for students. Davis stated, “We simply want students to know about this exciting opportunity to make their campus life more convenient. We have also included a QR code that allows students to easily register with Grubhub Campus using their mobile devices.”
