Following another tuition increase approved by Grand Valley State University’s Board of Trustees (BOT) this past summer, campus has become less and less livable for students. On-campus wages have barely risen and parking spaces remain both limited and expensive. The University continues to draw more from students who are already stretched thin, making daily living at GVSU seem impossible.

Among other outcomes, this has manifested itself in large numbers of students at the University being food insecure, which was covered by the Lanthorn last month. A 2024 study conducted by Feeding America West Michigan shows that roughly 82% of GVSU students surveyed reported cutting the size of their meals or skipping meals entirely due to lack of money. Let’s be honest, that number is utterly embarrassing.

To the University’s leadership– as you can see, food insecurity among students is a massive problem. While resources like Replenish and Laker Meal Share Program help, I know students who have used both and still ended up skipping meals.  While we are grateful for these resources, they are not enough to solve a food insecurity crisis that reaches 80% of the school’s population. There are systemic issues that make campus unaffordable and frankly, unlivable for far too many students.

I don’t believe the BOT is intentionally malicious. The better word is “out of touch.” However, this does not equate to administration being useless or incapable of solving this issue. It means the University community has to make this issue impossible to ignore.

This school does not exist without the students who pay tuition, room and board and parking fees. Those who work on campus are a source of endless cheap labor for the school. Without us students, GVSU stands still. Yet, I am willing to wager at the next BOT meeting, this statistic will barely be acknowledged, if at all. If you want to prove me wrong, attend the BOT meeting on Oct. 24 in the Russel H. Kirkhof Center. I plan to be there, and I hope to see a packed house.

In addition, I wanted to mention that fast-food locations in Allendale are also happy to profit at the expense of students’ health and wallets. Within minutes of campus, you can find a Wendy’s and Taco Bell, eager to sell cheap food to students who can’t afford healthier on-campus alternatives. The sad part is, even these options may be out of the question for many students. Fast-food chains tend to increase the prices of food near college campuses, scraping every last dime out of students who are just trying to get enough food to make it through the day.

I implore students, faculty and administration to take these statistics and information seriously, making the changes necessary to ensure GVSU is a place where students don’t have to choose between tuition and their next meal.