At home in hospitality: Gray Stone ’21 returns to LR

At any given moment of his workday, Gray Stone ’21 might be found talking with students in the dining hall, checking in with his staff, refilling a station or wiping down a table. As Lenoir-Rhyne’s new director of food service, Stone spends much of his time on the floor, where he can see what’s working, what isn’t and what students need. It’s not quite where the accounting major once imagined himself.

“You couldn’t have told me when I first started as a freshman at LR that I would make food my career,” Stone said. “I thought I’d be a CPA, working in an office all day. But with hospitality, you get to know the students. You get to know what they’re going through, their likes, their dislikes. There’s something about making those connections that draws me back to hospitality every day.”

Stone arrived at Lenoir-Rhyne from Mount Airy, North Carolina, drawn to the close-knit campus community. Before his first day of classes, he had a job lined up with Aramark, LR’s food service provider. He sold meal plans, washed dishes and worked in all areas of campus dining before moving into leadership roles. By his senior year, he was rotating in management between Chick-fil-A, Joe’s Coffee and a sandwich shop in Fritz-Conrad Residence Hall. After graduating in 2021, he continued his career in collegiate dining at Wake Forest University and later served as food service director at Salem College before the opportunity arose to return to his alma mater. 

“Good hospitality is always remembered. Bad hospitality is never forgotten,” Stone said. “We could be 10 years down the road and someone’s going to remember Ms. Kim on the register. They’re always going to remember Ms. Kim because she’s part of the fabric of LR.” 

Relationships with students and staff have kept Stone in higher education dining. Unlike a restaurant, where most customers come and go, a university dining hall feeds many of the same people every day. For residential students especially, the dining hall can feel like home.

“I make it a point that the students should know who I am and know my team,” Stone said. “If they need something, they can come in the dining hall and say, for example, ‘Hey, Gray, I need a made-without-gluten alternative.’ That’s why I’m very visible on the floor to be there for whatever a student may need.” 

Since returning to LR, Stone has focused on the details: consistent preparation, scratch-made recipes, higher-quality ingredients and more local sourcing. The dining hall recently began serving bagels from Hickory-based Dough Re Mi, and Stone hopes to add locally roasted coffee. The new True Balance station provides meals prepared without the top nine food allergens, and Stone is working toward having his entire team trained in allergen safety. 

Stone is also building student feedback into the operation. He personally responds to comments students post on Napkin Talk, a board in the dining hall where they can leave feedback on napkins, and plans to establish a student dining committee. 

“I want the students and guests to understand that they are heard,” Stone said. “If there’s something you don’t like, I encourage you to tell me. But change doesn’t happen overnight. Some things are easier than others.” 

With a new semester, a larger student population and a growing team, Stone sees improvement as a continual process listen, adjust and keep looking for ways to make the next meal better than the last.

“I’m actually improving as we go,” Stone said. “I might be cooking eggs at breakfast and thinking about how we can do it even better the next time.”