By Liz Paige, Class 7
Hello everyone! My name is Liz and I am a graduate student in the Legal and Ethical Studies program, expecting to graduate in May of 2017. I also graduated from UB in May of 2014 with my Bachelor of Arts in History. I had previously been chosen to participate in LeaderShape, however after the orientation, I had to rescind my acceptance because I wouldn’t have been able to fully commit – I was just too busy! This year, my final year at UB, I wanted to experience LeaderShape and further a vision that I’ve had for several years – ending hunger on college campuses.
Three years ago, I learned that close friends of mine were struggling financially and that food was what they had to give up in order to afford rent, textbooks, and the like. I was so upset when I found out – college is hard enough and expensive enough – you shouldn’t have to worry about where you are going to get your next meal from. After talking to people around campus, I floated the idea of a food pantry to the UB Student Government Association, who were wildly supportive. Fast forward three years, tons of research and meetings and strategizing later, and the UB Campus Pantry is opening on October 18th!
Opening this food pantry at UB is important, but it illuminated a larger problem that college students everywhere are facing. We discovered that schools with no meal plans, no dorms, and a large upper-level undergraduate and graduate student population feature some of the most food insecure students. Does that sound familiar? Because that’s UB in a nutshell. We also learned along the way that college food pantries are popping up everywhere – from community colleges, to large research universities, to everywhere in between. No population, region, or class level is immune to food insecurity, especially coupled with the rising costs associated with a college education.
I want schools to feature more services that target these issues that are external to the school, but still have a huge impact on your collegiate experience. Issues like homelessness, transitioning from foster care, taking care of your children/family while in school, financial instability and others are things no one wants to talk about, but they exist and for many, their college experience is not just about going to events and studying, it is a struggle for survival. While all of these issues are important, I feel as though addressing hunger on campuses can be a gateway to talking about these other issues. Typically, hunger is a symptom of a larger problem in someone’s life.
I hope to open up other schools to establishing a food pantry on their campuses, because some institutions are hesitant to acknowledge they have a problem. They might be worried it ‘says something’ about their population, or don’t know where to get started, or just see a mandatory expensive meal plan as the perfect solution (it isn’t). Instead of assuming something about your population, survey them and ask them what they need. You might be surprised by what they say.
I know that with the support of LeaderShape and my wonderful cluster, anything is possible.
