Heading into the November holiday break, several units from the Department of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging teamed up to offer care packages to students who stuck around for the extended weekend.

Women*s Student Services (WSS), the Office of Cultural and Academic Transitions (OCAT), and the Gender and Sexuality Campus Center (GSCC) together initially planned to offer approximately 50 care packages of food, materials and some entertainment items.

Heather Shea, PhD, WSS director, explained that the requests came in fast once the form was sent out. In the very first day of registration, there were already 48 requests. Recognizing the larger breadth of need, the offices further pooled resources so that close to 90 students were ultimately able to receive care packages.

Sharon Reed-Davis, WSS Program Coordinator, helped to lead the effort.

This program is necessary because it gives students more accessible meal options while the university is closed. Students that cannot go home for the November break, especially international and out-of-state students who live in the dorms, can easily face food insecurity,” said Reed-Davis.

Students and campus residents, in particular, stay on campus for a number of reasons. While some simply prefer to stay in the area, others may not have as much of a choice and can lack the appropriate resources to get home. Others yet may not have a supportive home for which to go. 

While campus residents were welcome to stay through the holiday at no extra charge, residential dining typically closes. The care packages were intended to help students get through the holiday until the university reopened. 

Reed-Davis says that one of WSS’ community engagement interns, Maren Nicolaysen, came up with the idea. Nicolaysen is a part of the executive board for the CORES/COPS Coalition and had become aware that the International Student Association had been advocating for assistance with particular needs during university holidays.

“We have to meet the needs of our students whether the university is open or closed. This distribution helps with that,” added Reed-Davis. 

Along with WSS, OCAT and GSCC are also important student-facing resources whose missions align in supporting students. The fit to collaborate was natural for this project. 

“We are always able to do more together. The more organizations, individuals, and offices we collaborate with, the more students we can serve,” added Reed-Davis. “Each of the offices involved in this project have resources that are both specific to the students they support as well as intersectional resources that overall build our reach.”

Along the same line of thought and origins comes OCAT’s Homiesgiving Unity Dinner on Thursday, November 23rd. Now in its 21st year, the Unity Dinner offered a warm, complimentary meal for those staying on campus. Students enjoyed a diverse menu of items (including kosher, halal, vegetarian, and gluten-free options) in the Brody Classrooms. 

The participating units hope the care packages helped nourish the students, but also showed there are resources on campus thinking of them with representatives who care. They also hope the effort, alleviating very real needs, also showed administrators that there are ideas like these for the institution to get behind. 

The three units are now thinking ahead to figure out what can be maximized for the spring break in the upcoming semester.

Coincidentally, the Student Parent Resource Center also held a care package giveaway for the extended holiday weekend, working with a local food bank and organic farm. So, beyond aiming to combine all the resources from these amazing efforts, the units are even looking to find even more collaborators to fill what they expect to be is extensive need again come March. 

Reed-Davis says, “Our hope is that the administration will take this notice and make overarching moves that fund these efforts so that every student can access food during campus closures. This is a huge collaborative effort.”