Jolie speaks with Dani Haynes, coordinator of student case management at BGSU, and Dr. Sandra Earle, an associate professor of pharmaceutical science at the University of Findlay and a university advocate at BGSU. They discuss how COVID-19 has exacerbated food insecurity for many students and share advocacy strategies to mitigate the stigma, shame, and misinformation around basic needs insecurity on college campuses.
Announcer:
From Bowling Green State University and the Institute for the Study of Culture & Society, this is BG Ideas.
Musical Intro:
I'm going to show you this with a wonderful experiment.
Jolie :
Welcome back to the Big Ideas Podcast, a collaboration between the Institute for the Study of Culture & Society and the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University. I'm Jolie Sheffer, Associate Professor of English and American Culture Studies and the Director of ICS.
Jolie :
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we're not recording in the studio, but from home via phone and computer. As always, the opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of BGSU or its employees. Bowling Green State University is located in the Great Black Swamp, long a meeting place of the Wyandotte, Shawnee, Lenape, Ottawa, Kickapoo, Fox, Pottawatomie, Erie, Miami, Peoria, Chippewa, and Seneca Indian Tribes. We honor the rich history of this land and its indigenous inhabitants past and present.
Jolie :
Today, I'm joined by Dani Haynes and Dr. Sandra Earle. Dani works in the BGSU Dean of Students office as the Coordinator for Student Case Management. She also founded the Falcon Care Grab and Go initiative to address student hunger and food insecurity. And Dr. Sandy Earle is an associate professor of pharmaceutical science and Associate Dean for Assessment for the College of Pharmacy at the University of Findlay. Sandy also serves as a university advocate at BGSU with a special interest in providing assistance to those in crisis and ensuring food security for all students.
Jolie :
I'm very happy to have this conversation. To start, I'd like each of you to share how you got interested in student crisis intervention and advocacy work, particularly around the issue of hunger and food insecurity. Dani, do you want to start us?
Dani:
Well, I got started in student issues, student crises about six years ago. I used to work for a nonprofit and originally I was working in survivor services for survivors of sexual violence, domestic violence. And I was an advocate at the University of Toledo for their Title IX process. And so throughout that time, I began to notice some of the issues that students were having that didn't necessarily coincide with Title IX incidents, but was still very traumatizing to the individual.
Dani:
So, when I started here at BG, I still had some of those same notes in my mind, but I wasn't sure if it translated to the student population. Within maybe my first six months, I began to see some students who were housing insecure and food insecure. And I know that BG already had the Falcon Care program, which you can donate some swipes to students in need. Then,throughout the summer, I realized the dining halls weren't necessarily open, and so those students didn't have the same opportunity to receive resources.
Dani:
And originally I began to provide them food from Kingsbury, which is where I lived. I would take food into the office and then Chris was like, "Are you feeding students?" And so I said, "Hypothetically. Will I get in trouble?" Because we need this job." And so I explained, "Well, students are hungry. And I, as a mom, cannot see students hungry. I just can't do it." And I explained what some of the issues were.
Dani:
And so he said, "Okay. You can
