You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
There can be considerable shame in seeking assistance when the campus environment fails to adequately prioritize both academic and personal development.
filadendron/iStock/Getty Images Plus
Over the past decade, literature approximates that one-third to half of college students experience trouble accessing food at some point in their academic journey. It isn’t a linear occurrence, but rather an ebb and flow of severity that falls along a spectrum of anxiety over food shortage, reduced quality and variety of foods, and reduced food intake.
Many higher education administrators and politicians have resolved this as a normalized experience enveloped in a failed attempt at self-reliance, which has even been jokingly documented by students on social media platforms. Alternatively, students have employed social media to promote campus locations and events that have food—#FreePizza.
Despite efforts to improve or increase food access through campus food pantries, meal plan/swipe donations and emergency funding, perceived shame and embarrassment among students has led to underwhelming use of such resources. Students’ perceptions are supported by noted administrative (eligibility criteria, application/re-certification process), operational (high traffic location, limited time in class schedule) and personal (others know about need for use, student employees, unsure how to use, undesirable and/or unfamiliar foods) factors.
Furthermore, students from historically marginalized populations who may have faced discrimination in other areas of their lives, particularly around seeking food access assistance (i.e., welfare queen), have shown higher rates of food insecurity, shame and overall reluctance to seek out help.
Quite frankly, food access isn’t the only challenge that today’s student is facing: There is a unique combination of basic needs, including housing stability, caregiving, employment, sufficient mental and physical health care, reliable transportation and technology needs that are coupled with academic performance expectations.
Students in the University of California system noted the overarching emphasis on excelling as a scholar rather than a focus on the human being who may be struggling outside of the classroom. As such, there is considerable shame in seeking assistance when the campus environment fails to adequately prioritize both academic and personal development.
Therefore, it is imperative that college and universities play a central role in supporting the needs of students by reducing and removing the shame in food insecurity.
- Validate vulnerability.
Adopt language that intentionally focuses on the reality of basic needs insecurities experienced by college students and contributes to a holistic student experience. For example, the following statement can be used with various modes of communication (i.e., institutional digital and print media, course syllabus): “Basic needs are real needs that can include getting enough food to eat, safe and stable housing, access to mental health services, childcare or having supplies to complete course assignments. Per your level of comfort, let’s chat about the support that you may need today, tomorrow, or even next week. There is no university without YOU – we can’t wait to help you soon.”
- Leave ‘opt-in’ out.
Remove the requirement to expose one’s needs and stake a claim to resources by embedding them into the expected college experience for everyone. In turn, this may help to reduce students’ perceptions of indignity and further create a supportive campus environment.
- Reach out through research.
Explore and evaluate food assistance resources to better understand accessibility and barriers to use to integrate a data-informed and student-centered call to action in program and policy improvement.
Food insecurity, and subsequent hunger, among college students should no longer be considered a rite of passage or gauge of character. This antiquated concept of strength weakens both student wellbeing and academic success. Through thoughtful programming and efforts to normalize need, universities can reduce the shame and embarrassment associated with seeking assistance.
