SMU has hired a new on-campus registered dietitian, Erika Kertz, to oversee the campus dining options and help support students as they navigate their relationship with food. After being diagnosed with an eating disorder in high school, Kertz, a native Texan, has dedicated her career and professional life to helping students understand the science behind food and define what it means to be healthy within an age of diet culture.

When Kertz was in middle school, she began to develop insecurities about her body and fell victim to the dangerous pattern of comparing herself to her peers. As she got older, those insecurities turned into habits. It started as small, seemingly harmless habits like weighing herself or wanting to lose a little weight. But eventually it developed into something much larger.

“I was addicted to the feeling of losing weight,” said Kertz.

This addiction grew and began to seriously compromise her health, her hair started falling out and she developed cardiovascular complications which Kertz described as “holes in (her) heart.” Her physical and mental health were greatly impacted, and she was eventually hospitalized at a recovery center.

During Kertz’s recovery process, she met with a registered dietitian who helped aid her while she regained her physical strength and rediscovered her love for food. This dietitian changed her path to recovery by helping her understand the complexity and science behind eating.

“It’s cool to be able to tell people I’ve been there and help them get away from that,” Kertz said.

She went away to college at Texas State University intending to follow the pre-med track. After a few semesters at TSU she said she “felt a calling from God” to change her major to nutrition and learn about the science that changed her life. She turned what was once an obsession to lose weight into a passion for food and health, and began to dedicate her professional life to helping young adults work through the same problems she experienced.

Upon graduating she entered the job market.

“I was specifically looking for a dietitian job in a school district,” Kertz said, “I first worked at LISD (Lewisville Independent School District); it was really big and really rewarding.”

However, she knew she ultimately wanted to work at the university level.

“I was checking jobs obsessively, I was telling all my friends before the application even opened, ‘watch in a year I’m going to be working at SMU,’” Kertz laughed.

A few months later, she landed the job at SMU and moved to Dallas. She got to work immediately looking at the food options available on campus and assessing how she could do her part to promote a healthy, balanced lifestyle for SMU students.

Kertz spends her time going to all the dining halls and retail food locations on campus, scoping out what’s available and working to make sure the options are appetizing and nutritional.

“I spend a lot of time auditing and making sure the right signs are up, the nutrition information on the boards is correct, and checking specific ingredients,” she said.

SMU students have not been shy when complaining about the restrictive food options on campus. SMU political science student Sophia Diepenmaat described the food as “dismal.”

“I wish I was able to fulfill my needs for healthier options on campus,” she said.

Diepenmaat often chooses to enjoy her on-campus meal from The Market at the student center, claiming the sushi there is “the best option available to me.”

Other students like Sheridan Leahy, a junior finance major, also frequent alternative meal options on campus instead of going to the dining halls.

“I like their wraps. I went six times total and I lived in the dorms for two years,” said Sheridan Leahy, a junior finance major. “Mac’s Place is lowkey good. I had their grilled chicken with a side of fruit cup for ten months straight.”

Kertz is making it her personal mission to revamp the dining halls and offer more healthy options on-campus. Currently there is a “true balance” station at Arnold Dining Hall that offers students a healthier array of food. Her long-term goal is to get one installed at Umphrey Lee Dining Hall as well. She also hopes to include more vegan and vegetarian options for students. She just started working on obtaining her master’s degree in sports nutrition and hopes this will help her better connect with students, especially student athletes. Kertz is working hard to turn her negative past with food into something positive for SMU students.