On September 8th, President Garrell announced the opening of a food pantry at the Graduate Center for September 12th. We at The Adjunct Project are outraged by the inaccessibility of the pantry’s hours (open 3 hours only 3 days a week, and “by appointment” Monday-Thursday), the use of surveillance tactics (requirements to present an ID and “provide some basic information”), and the policing of the amount of food that community members are able to access (only 5 items per week, and the vague mention of “additional items available for those with families”). These restrictions are abhorrent and need to change immediately.
This lackluster “resource” falls far short of the needs of our community experiencing food insecurity, particularly given the low wages (if any, for unfunded students) for graduate workers. The GC administration has had over 7 months to work together with community members and organizers who very successfully raised funds and ran the People’s Pantry, however, they chose to not only ignore this hardworking group that actively provided resources and a sense of community for folks, but the administration also failed to seek their input/advice and have actively prevented their work from reaching students in need.
We call on the administration to expand the availability of the GC Pantry to all hours that the building is open, stigma-free access that does not require one to identify oneself, and no limits on the amount of items someone is able to access. Anything short of this is insulting and violent.
We need a CUNY for the People.
Living Wages Now.
