Monday, March 24, Gov. Glenn Youngkin D.P.S. ’22 signed the Hunger-Free Campus Act into law, allocating $500,000 to Virginia colleges and universities to combat food insecurity. The law establishes the Hunger-Free Campus Food Pantry Grant Program.
Both public and private institutions are now eligible to apply for grants through the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia that will support existing campus food pantries.
The bill’s passage into law follows months of advocacy from student groups focused on addressing food insecurity on college campuses. In a 2020 study, the United States Government Accountability Office found that 23% of all college students experience food insecurity, amounting to 3.8 million students nationwide. Experts believe these numbers have worsened in recent years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The College of William and Mary’s Food for All organization has been at the forefront of advocacy efforts for the Hunger-Free Campus Act. Former Food for All President Allisyn Lam ’25 spoke at a Virginia Assembly press conference in January to advocate for its passage.
“Many students are missing key nutritional requirements from their diets, even becoming anemic, underweight or exhibiting signs of disordered eating,” Lam said. “Some students lack the energy to attend class or complete exams without worrying that their stomachs will be heard rumbling amongst their classmates.”
As a student-run club, Food for All manages two food pantries in the campus area that are open to all students, faculty and staff in need. Its main location is in the basement of the Wesley Campus Ministry, and it opened a new satellite location in Sadler 157.
Food for All Co-president Bennett Snyder ’25 celebrated the new law. He explained that while data on food insecurity at the College is scarce, other state institutions provide data that contextualizes the need for well-stocked food exchanges at the College.
“For William and Mary, we don’t really have the data on food insecurity on campus,” Snyder said. “For a lot of other schools in Virginia, you can basically look up ‘UVA food insecurity’ or ‘VCU food insecurity’ and be able to find a number. And those numbers range from a quarter of students to a third of students, so it’s a pretty prevalent issue across campuses in Virginia.”
The regular emptying of Food for All’s shelves is an unmistakable sign of student need.
“We do see a lot of movement of what we put on our shelves in our food exchanges,” Snyder said. “So I think it’s pretty clear that there is an issue.”
Associate Vice President of Student Engagement and Leadership Michael Patterson serves as the co-chair of the College’s Basic Needs Coalition, which was formed this semester to address both food and housing insecurity among students.
Food for All, along with several student organizations and university departments, is represented on the committee, which has met once a month since January.
Patterson outlined the nascent coalition’s goal of centralizing all of the College’s resources and streamlining access to essential resources for students.
“In student affairs broadly, we noticed that there wasn’t really a lot of cross-communication in terms of what was happening,” Patterson said. “There came to be an awareness that it would be helpful to put all of the different people across campus together.”
In advance of the Hunger-Free Campus Act, Patterson described the coalition’s work this semester to meet students’ needs and identify gaps in administrative support.
“We’ve had a couple meetings so far to make sure everybody knows the level of services that currently exists, so that way we can identify gaps and make recommendations for what action items might be in the future,” Patterson said. “We are looking at basic needs more broadly, not just food insecurity. So that is housing insecurity, clothing insecurities and other support services that might need to be required.”
Snyder addressed the layers of challenges students face when trying to access resources at the College, from stigmatization to connecting with offices quickly. He stressed that the Basic Needs Coalition intends to make these steps less daunting.
“One, you’re gathering the courage to tell your story and advocate for yourself and say that ‘I actually need these resources,’” Snyder said. “And two, you have to do it to multiple people, kind of on your own. I think it’s a really difficult bureaucratic process for a lot of these students to get the resources that we have for them to use.”
While Snyder is happy with Food for All’s progress in assisting food-insecure students, he acknowledged that other state institutions are much further along than the College.
“I would say that William and Mary is like five years behind a lot of these schools in the development of these pantry programs,” Snyder said. “VCU and JMU have really excellent resources for students. At William and Mary, it’s a group of students that has grown from six students to 15 students working to run a food pantry. We get some assistance from the school, but really it’s the students doing all the work.”
To be considered for state funding under the new food pantry grant program, colleges and universities will have to submit applications to SCHEV soon.
The College is still waiting for details on the application timeline, which is expected to be released once revisions to Virginia’s budget for fiscal year 2026 are finalized. Lawmakers are currently debating the details of the state budget in the General Assembly.
“We are eagerly looking at what that application process looks like,” Patterson said. “SCHEV will have to make that announcement.”
Patterson specified that the application may consider the College’s percentage of Pell Grant eligible students as a major criteria for approval.
“We intend to apply when it becomes available,” Patterson said. “The question is whether we will get selected. And that might be a determination of how many Pell eligible we have compared to other institutions that apply. So we’ll have to navigate that as it comes out.”
As a recognized student organization, Food for All receives funding from the Organization Budget Allocation Process in the same manner as other clubs. However, Food for All depends largely on external donations for its food pantries.
“A year ago, we had a bill through student assembly that got us some funding for food items,” Snyder said. “But most of our support comes from outside donors, especially churches in the area, community foundations, individuals. Plus, people donate goods, and we run food drives.”
Patterson highlighted that many students receive federal SNAP benefits, which they can use at campus exchange stores. While students at the College have not been affected, Republican lawmakers at Trump’s behest are considering ways to decrease agricultural expenses nationwide, including SNAP benefits, by $230 billion over the next ten years.
“Every institution has a requirement to manage and make sure our students are aware of SNAP benefits,” Patterson said. “The store downstairs in Sadler takes SNAP benefits, so students can use their SNAP benefits here on campus.”
Patterson touched on the College’s responses to student housing insecurity. While the College already provides emergency housing, the Basic Needs Coalition hopes to expand access for students who need housing over summer, winter and spring breaks, as well as collaborate with local partners.
“Our housing partners and Residence Life will need to answer some of those questions,” Patterson said. “We’re still very entry-level in figuring out what those best recommendations are and how to move forward.”
The College had initially reached out to the Williamsburg House of Mercy regarding collaboration on housing insecurity. However, the House of Mercy lost federal funding for housing accommodations last month and was forced to end its program.
In a community statement last month, Executive Director of WHOM, Liz Buckley, explained the organization’s tough decision.
“Without a continuation of Housing Trust Funds, we cannot fulfill that promise of stability, and we recognize it would not be sustainable to continue the program,” Buckley said.
Snyder expressed his desire to see the Basic Needs Coalition and Food for All continue growing their support systems for students, along with increased administrative backing.
“One thing I want to emphasize in the context of the Basic Needs Coalition is that we’re doing it in a time when trying to expand these resources and getting access to these resources is going to be really difficult,” he said. “But that’s what makes this work all the more important. William and Mary really needs to work towards making sure that these resources, as best as they can be, are being provided to the students.”
