Correction: A previous version of this article inferred Keri Lasky was an employee of the university. Lasky is a Sodexo employee serving at Lehigh. This article has been changed to reflect the correction.
Keri Lasky was hired on March 16 by the university’s food-services provider, Sodexo, to work as Lehigh’s new on-campus registered dietitian, replacing former dietitian Carrie Gerencher.
As the university dietitian, Lasky provides nutrition counseling and advice to students. This counseling can cover topics such as food allergies and intolerances, healthy eating habits, weight management and other wellness-related issues.
Students can reach out to Lasky to schedule a free, private consultation, and all appointments are confidential.
Lasky sat down with The Brown and White to discuss her new role.
Q: What are your goals as the dietitian for Lehigh students?
Keri Lasky: I have many goals, but what I really want to do first is see what the needs are of the students. We have a survey to get more insight as to what everyone’s needs are, what the current demand is for nutrition services. Once we get the results of that, we’ll be able to have a better insight as to what we should do on campus.
Q: What attracted you to working at Lehigh or with college students in general?
KL: The potential here is unlimited, and it’s a great time in a person’s life. Students are just now starting to live on their own. They’re learning how to be adults. This is a great opportunity to educate them on how nutrition can help them throughout the rest of their life.
Q: Why were you hired to take over this position?
KL: Carrie Gerencher, the previous dietitian, had other passions she wanted to pursue, one being her winery — she runs her own business. And then the other, she has a job now at the Bariatric Center for Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Q: You worked as a clinical dietitian, as well as a retail dietitian for a grocery store chain. How will your prior experience as a dietitian inform how you interact and work with Lehigh students?
KL: For clinical nutrition, that can obviously help me no matter what people have coming my way, in terms of what they want counseling for. For retail dietetics, I worked for ShopRite, and that’s very similar to what I do here. There, the community I worked for was the grocery store. Here, it’s the campus.
Q: Are there any events or programs you are planning on introducing in your new role?
KL: I have ideas. I need to discuss them with everyone potentially involved. You guys will see in the future, so stay tuned.
Q: When should students come to you, rather than going to the health center or meeting with another type of doctor?
KL: Anytime you want. Honestly, everybody can learn things about general healthy eating. Of course, if you have a certain condition or allergies, you want to see me, but also a major point of contact would be Disability Support Services. Seeing all of us would not be a bad idea — we’re probably going to refer you to each other. If it is a more complicated case, anyway. Anybody can reach out to me no matter what.
Students looking to schedule an appointment can contact Lasky directly.
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