What originally began as activist students through SSTOP Hunger University of Kentucky became a coalition of empowered students inciting change on campus as the basic needs campaign. They’ve been working for two semesters on a campaign to help create new programs to assist students in financial need; specifically marginalized students with food and housing insecurity.
They held student meetings, secured organizational support and provided statistics on the severity of the matter at hand. Additionally, the Basic Needs Campaign members met multiple times with the university president, but their demands were not met.
In efforts to progress action, they chose to begin a hunger strike after a day of free food on Wednesday, March 27. Many students joined efforts. Although issues of accessibility and what was viewed by many as a contradictory protest, their campaign offered alternative strike methods for students who couldn’t participate in a full time hunger strike. It didn’t seem logical to some to hunger strike for hungry students. I’ll admit I was skeptical at first about the method of protest, however these actions piqued media interests and placed immense pressure on the University.
“The demographics of 1632 students completing the Fall 2017 student survey were shown to be representative of the UK Fall 2017 student body.” Key findings indicated that an overwhelming, “43% of surveyed UK students experienced some level of food insecurity.” Additionally, “8% of surveyed UK students indicated some form of housing insecurity,” according to UK’s SSTOP Hunger campaign.
The basic needs campaign had three demands:
- Establish and fund a physical Basic Needs Center
- Establish a Basic Needs Fund
- Create a full-time Basic Needs staff position
The president refused to meet with the strikers until they began eating again. They decided this would not do. They joint forces with the Black Students Advisory Council and occupied the main building to make their voices heard. Updates were broadcasted on social media using the hashtag #occupyuk.
The Black Student Advisory Council had five demands as well:
- Put the BSAC on Search Committees
- Revise the William C. Parker Scholarship
- Standardize the roles of College Diversity Officers
- Release the findings from the 2016 Cook Ross Survey on Campus Climate
- Remove the O’Hanlon Mural from Memorial Hall
Surprisingly I’d never seen or heard of the mural. Upon discovery I was shocked. There were racist images of slaves and an indigenous American. Despite this committed additional efforts to enact changes to the damaging racial climate at UKY and advocacy for marginalized groups, President Capilouto denies their demands.
Students gathered in the main building until the president of the university showed up to meet with them. Many packed overnight beds and even slept in the building. Finally, President Capilouto arrived. I was grateful to be in attendance at the this meeting, in addition to other events for the Basic Needs Center. Individuals spoke out about their struggles at the university and the dire situations that students were faced with. It was day six of the hunger strike and strikers were starving, but passionate. We were disheartened that President Capilouto didn’t commit to meeting all demands and the occupation continued.
After his meeting with the students on April 1, President Capilouto reflected. Under the pressure, he decided to meet both campaign’s demands. A campus wide email was sent out delivering the news. We were reassured of the strength in numbers, and the power of individual stories. All eight demands are to be met, with the exception of the mural. The University has covered it for the time being and is in the process of creating a long-term solution. The university now offers many new resources and has changes in action.
I’ve created a list of resources for food, housing and financial insecurity:
- A one dollar cafe
- Free meal swipes for students with food insecurity
- The wildcat pantry, now with extended hours: 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday through Sunday
- UK LEADS (Leveraging Economic Affordability for Developing Success) a grant program for students with financial need
- The Financial Wellness Center for financial literacy programs and guidance
- Wildcat Transitions initiative for first year uk students to inform them of on campus resources
For a list of additional local resources, click here and here.
To summarize the activism that helped us reach this goal and highlight the solidarity, I’ll share some excerpts from a Facebook post by Ruth Niyonzima, a University of Kentucky student:
“LET ME TELL YA’LL ABOUT THE HUNGER STRIKE AND THE OCCUPATION OF THE STUDENT CENTER AND THE MAIN BUILDING THAT WE’VE BEEN DOING.” …
“All our 8 demands were met, with an exception on the mural. It’s going to be covered as of now and then further steps will be taken later to take it down completely. So… we won! Hunger striking worked! Occupying those spaces worked! The power of students working together worked! We won!“ …
“Some of my comrades hadn’t eaten ANYTHING in like 6 days during the strike and wouldn’t eat until the demands were met, what did y’all think we were gonna do? Leave without a fight? Have you met us?” …
“Ain’t nothing like the power of the people because the power of the people don’t stop!” …
“Also, shout out to all the 350 people that joined the hunger strike with us. We couldn’t have done this without you.” …
“And shout out to BSAC for joining us and putting our demands together, and fighting this fight together. “
Compiled information and media coverage on the campaigns can be found below:
Official Information on the hunger strike and basic needs campaign can be found here: