UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — On Monday, March 28, Penn State Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims joined Pennsylvania first lady Frances Wolf, state Sens. Vincent Hughes and Carolyn Comitta, and state Reps. Joanna McClinton and Jennifer O’Mara at the Pennsylvania Capitol to speak on the issue of food insecurity on Pennsylvania’s college campuses.
Approximately 100 students and school administrators joined the gathering, which was a call to action convened by the first lady.
“College should not be a privilege reserved for individuals with disposable incomes, and hunger should never be what holds someone back from succeeding in higher education,” said Frances Wolf. “And yet, national studies estimate that over 30% of college students are food insecure. We must do all we can to support our students as they pursue futures that can benefit all of Pennsylvania.”
In his 2022-23 budget proposal, Gov. Tom Wolf allocated $1 million to create a grant program that could help Pennsylvania’s institutions of higher education address this issue on their campuses.
The program could help schools create or expand campus food pantries, increase outreach about available support, hire social workers or benefits navigators to assist students, improve data gathering efforts, and more. The details of the program are still being developed, but it is inspired by the hunger-free campus bills that Comitta and state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta have proposed in recent years.
In November 2021, Penn State administered a Food and Housing Needs Survey to better understand student need and help guide ongoing efforts to respond to that need across the University.
“There is growing awareness at Penn State and on other college campuses of the significant impediment to student success caused by food insecurity. A student who lacks access to sufficient and healthy food simply cannot learn and participate as they otherwise would,” said Sims. “It has been heartening to see the commitment of our student leaders to meaningfully address this fundamental issue in partnership with the Penn State administration. The funding proposed by Gov. Wolf would make an enormous difference in our collective effort to overcome a challenge faced by too many students across the commonwealth. We can all do better by these students, and I know we shall.”
In February 2020, Penn State President Eric Barron formed a Food and Housing Security Task Force to evaluate this challenge across campuses, identify existing initiatives, understand gaps, and identify innovative approaches to build on the work that has been conducted across the University. The task force completed its assessment and shared its recommendations in March 2021, and the University is currently advancing a variety of initiatives. In addition, the University Park Undergraduate Association, in coordination with Student Affairs, formed the Student Advisory Board on Student Poverty in October 2021. The board released its set of recommendations in March and is working with Student Affairs on an action plan for moving these recommendations forward.
All Penn State campuses have food pantries on campus or in the community. Most campuses offer either food pantries, food distribution services, and/or campus community gardens. In addition, Penn State has partnered with Swipe Out Hunger, which give students at every campus the option to donate to the Penn State Student Emergency Fund when they pay for their meal at any residential dining facility or via a mobile order.
Students can learn more about available financial, food and housing security, and other basic needs resources online. As a first point of contact, students at every campus can always call or email Student Care and Advocacy for guidance and help connecting to the appropriate office or resources.