LEXINGTON, Ky. – A group of University of Kentucky students began a hunger strike Wednesday night to demand better services for their peers suffering from food and housing insecurity.
Representatives of the SSTOP (Sustainable Solutions to Overcome Poverty) Hunger group at UK said at least seven students will not eat anything (but will drink water) until President Eli Capilouto’s administration creates a Basic Needs Center with staff and funding to help low-income students. About 50 more will be limiting their meals to one a day.
“We’re committed to striking until UK meets the demand,” said Beau Revlett, SSTOP’s director. “This is a way to get the public to understand these issues.”
SSTOP is pushing for one central resource to help students who may not be able to afford food or rent because it’s difficult to navigate UK’s labyrinthine administration for resources.
A Basic Needs Center was one of the recommendations of a UK task force that has studied the issues for several years. That group did a survey that found 43 percent of the 2,000 UK students interviewed said they experienced food insecurity on campus, with nearly half of those reporting actual hunger because they couldn’t afford to buy food. Eight percent said they had experienced housing insecurity, too.