The Student Association Senate unanimously passed a resolution Monday calling on officials to give students more money to spend on meals in an effort to combat food insecurity.
The resolution asks the University to increase the amount of money on dining plans and revamp its discounted meal program to include healthier and more cost-effective meal packages. The legislation was based on a report released last week by three fellows at GW’s Food Institute, which found that GW’s online dining recommendations don’t allow students to maintain a full diet.
Sen. Will Raderman, U-at-Large, said he sponsored the resolution because students are often forced to go hungry if they can’t afford meals at GWorld dining venues.
“There’s no reason that anyone should be going hungry on a day-to-day basis,” he said at the meeting. “Everyone has a right to affordable and healthy, fresh options, and that is what this is addressing.”
The existing meal plan has come under fire over the past year amid student complaints about running out of dining cash early in the semester. As it stands, the dining plans afford about $19 a day to freshmen, $12 to sophomores, $10 to juniors and $5 to seniors, which students say is not enough to cover the high cost of eating in the District.
Logan Malik, the SA’s director of sustainability policy, said he endorsed the resolution because past statistics have shown that roughly half of GW students have experienced food insecurity and that passing the resolution would call on “both the University and the Student Association to take action and take strong action against food insecurity.”
“It is a massive inhibitor to student success and it is something that significantly decreases the student life experience,” he said.
During the meeting, which was held in packed lecture hall in Funger Hall, the senate also passed a highly anticipated resolution calling on the University to expel Alpha Phi from GW after a racist Snapchat from members of the sorority ignited a firestorm on campus last week.
The senate also tabled a bill introducing amendments to legislation passed last semester overhauling the way SA elections are conducted. The senate will host a special meeting Monday.
