Not everyone has the means to go home for spring break. Some students are international, some have transportation issues, and some people just really don’t wan to go home for personal reasons.
That being said, given how our university is surrounded by corn fields on all sides, I think that it would be beneficial to allow at least the C-store to remain open.
Even if it was just on the weekend before and after break, giving students an opportunity to use the dining plan that they paid for only seems fair.
I understand that employees, both student and non-student, deserve a break, and they should get a break, but our current system leaves some students hanging, so to speak.
I’m just worried for the students who may not have the ability to get food on their own, and while there is the cardinal food pantry, not every student knows where it is, and some are shy to use it.
Not every student remains on campus during spring break by choice, and while they’re here, they should have access to the food and household items they need.
Truth be told, I can’t think of a system that would fix every problem.
Employees deserve a break, but students deserve food, and I don’t know the best way to balance that.
I know that we’re given warning of the change in hours of operation in advance, but if you’re a student with no transportation and no outside income, theres only so many packets of beef-jerky you can buy to get you through break.
Some students live off their dining plan alone, and it isn’t fair to them to make it unstable.
The big perk, in my opinion, to a dining plan, is that its pre-paid and you don’t have to worry about if you can afford your next meal, the same way a perk to on-campus-housing is you don’t have to worry about rent every month.
That perk is contingent on the access to food being stable, though.
Knowing theres gaps in food availability could be very stressful for students who struggled with food insecurity in the past.
The mental health and wellness center remained open during break, which is amazing. But if we can continue to provide students with mental health care, why cant we continue to provide them with food?
I‘m certain there are student employees who wouldn’t think twice about taking a few shifts over break, especially if there were incentives added to it in some way.
Being scheduled over break should by no means be mandatory, but I feel that if it was an option, people would probably jump at it enough to keep something open for a few hours a day.
Overall, it just doesn’t sit right with me that everything closed for the entirety of break.
Campus should be safe for everyone, and that means that nobody should have to face need insecurity during spring break.
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