Operators follow suits against colleges, contractors over meal plans

Reed Compton is a Firehouse Subs franchisee with five locations around Auburn, Ala., and Columbus, Ga. One of the units is directly across Magnolia Avenue from the Lowder Business School at Auburn University.


In 2008, Auburn, a state school with some 20,000 students, began a mandatory dining program called Dining Dollars that requires students to eat at campus-sanctioned venues. The idea is to generate revenue that could be used to upgrade campus foodservice. 


But such program