Introducing Swipe Advocacy Chapters, A New Approach to Student Led Solutions

We’re excited to announce the Swipe Advocacy Chapters, a new initiative designed to strengthen student-led advocacy efforts for food access and basic needs on college campuses. Jointly led by Swipe Out Hunger’s Advocacy and Community Engagement teams, this program partners with student organizations in states with active advocacy campaigns to support and amplify the work students are doing to advance policy change.

Participating chapters collaborate with Swipe through advocacy training and planning, while leading campus and state-level events such as lobby days, legislator visits, awareness events, coalition meetings, and movement building activities. Chapters also engage in media and visibility opportunities, including op-eds, social media campaigns, interviews, and legislative engagement to elevate student voices and influence policy conversations beyond their campus.

Rather than prescribing a one-size-fits-all approach, the program partners directly with student organizations, supporting them with resources and guidance to advance advocacy efforts that reflect their campus needs. As Jay Lyon, Student Impact Manager, shared, “The goal with this program is to ensure that students are the ones leading the grassroots advocacy movements in their state. We want to empower student voices, who are already doing amazing work on their own campuses, to show legislators how important the issue of college student food security really is.”

We’re proud to launch this program with our inaugural Swipe Advocacy Chapters:
– Buckeye Food Alliance at The Ohio State University
– CWRU Food Recovery Network at Case Western Reserve University
– Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society at Central Ohio Technical College

Students know the issue of college hunger better than anyone and should be central to all solutions. As Swipe Advocacy Chapters grow, we look forward to learning alongside students and continuing to build a stronger movement to end college student hunger.

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