This article focuses on the origins, evolution, and social roles played by food service at colleges and universities. It emphasizes: (1) the gradual assumption of responsibility for housing and meals by universities during the medieval period; (2) the role of food service in the "collegiate way" philosophy so influential in British and early American higher education; (3) how various forms of food provision reflected prevailing notions of institution-student relationships; and (4) the emergence in the last three quarters of the twentieth century of corporate contract providers of food service and their impact on campuses. A search of secondary literature, both historical and treatments of the role of food and meals (primarily sociological and anthropological), was employed. This base was augmented by personal interviews with leaders in the collegiate contract food service industry and review of primary-source historical documents (some translated). A brief survey of institutional histories (i.e., university "house histories") was also conducted to ascertain the popular nature of food service issues. Finally, assumptions or claims in the literature were tested through gathering assessments from scholars in the field.