For the past year, 40% of students said they have worried about running out of food before receiving money to purchase more. More than half of those polled by Dr. Mary Buzzetta and Blaire Wyatt-Cruzan, co-chairs of the Student Wellness Committee, said they were either constantly stressed about money or frequently stressed about their financial situation.
Student hunger is one of the findings Buzzetta and Cruzan found after conducting the “Healthy Minds Study,” a research initiative from the University of Michigan, in April 2022.
The school has a general store where students can get groceries for free, located in Room 110 of Patriots’ Casa. Students can use their student IDs at the check-in desk outside the store.
On other survey findings, one in 10 respondents indicated owning a firearm that is on or near campus, which is about 2.5 times greater than the national average.
Seventy-two percent reported feeling down, depressed or hopeless two weeks prior to the survey.
Four weeks prior to the survey, 90% reported emotional or mental health problems had a negative impact on their academic performance. Seventy percent reported they had required help with emotional or mental health concerns in 2022.
Cruzan and Buzzetta both agreed the study has spread awareness about the need for a health clinic at Texas A&M University-San Antonio.
“Implementing a social media campaign on mental wellness as well as events titled “Wellness Wednesday” and a development of a website easily accessible to students — I feel is crucial to the betterment of student mental health,” Cruzan said.
More information on the study is available at the university website.
Editor’s note: this article was updated at 4:32 p.m. April 21 to correct the name of the committee conducting the survey and to include a reference link to the study.
