As the evening time rolls around at Harper College, the institution morphs into a food desert.
With limited options from vending machines to pricey jars of salad, the lack of nutritious food on campus in the late evenings is a common complaint from students and faculty alike.
Eamon O’Grady, a nursing major, explained that, “it’s kind of a pain to navigate around the whole college just to try to find food past 3pm. I’ve found myself leaving the college just to get food.”
The same is true for 20-year-old dental hygiene major, Brianna Stokes, who revealed stated that the majority of her time spent at the college is in the mornings.
“After a certain time, I leave Harper to go get food,” Stokes said. “If there was food here that I would like, then I would probably end up staying here later.”
Harper’s recently updated Cockrell Dining Hall, located on the first level of building A, offers the most variety with its food options including a Mr. Beast Burger for sandwiches and fries, The Farmhouse Grill for breakfast options, a Farmer’s Field for build-your-own salads, grab-and-go options, and occasional local food vendors through the workplace meal service Fooda.
However, this cafeteria is only open until 2:30 p.m. or earlier. The only establishment on campus open into the evening is Starbucks, which closes its doors just after night classes typically begin.
“I think for day classes, the schedule is pretty good with Starbucks and Subway, but then [for] night classes… everything is closed. There’s really nothing, especially if you’re really hungry,” Ella Carnate, a nursing student, said. “If you want a meal, there’s nothing to get.”
Athena Garvin, a nursing major, primarily spends her time at Harper in the evenings due to her work schedule.
The lack of accessibility to food in the evening times has created a unique on-campus experience for her.
“All of my teachers for night classes always either have food or tell us to bring food… if I didn’t have that I would have to prepare otherwise,” Garvin explained.
Garvin said, increasing the access to food on campus would benefit her and many of her peers’ day-to-day experience at the college.
“If I forget something because I’m busy, worried about school, I can just run over to a café or wherever has food,” she stated.
In order to extend the hours of operation of food service at Harper, many factors need to be addressed.
Bob Grapenthien, the College Controller, explained that the problem is a complex one.
“I think [administration and executive council] are constantly weighing: do we ask for more resources from the students in order to keep open the food services?” Grapenthien asked. “Or do we allow the surrounding community… to supply the food at night and save that money from the students per credit hour?”
Grapenthien added that he needed more information to justify extending hours of the current food vendors on campus.
“How unprofitable would it be? I think that a trial run is important, but that’s not as easy as snapping your fingers,” Grapenthien explained. “You have to hire people and change people’s schedules, and it’s important and we’re looking into it, but I can’t guarantee when that will be.”
Without extended hours of operation, students like Jean Cuna, tend to rely heavily on the vending machines at Harper.
Cuna, who is a student studying paralegal studies, has a busy schedule so leaving to go get food isn’t an option.
“And even then, [the vending machines] are full of chips and candy and nothing really nutritious for students,” Cuna described. “I feel like the college has failed us majorly on that aspect.”
In addition to the lack of nutritious options, some see an issue with the prices of the vending machines.
“It is very expensive here,” Garvin emphasized. “It’s $3 for a bag of chips. So I am always prepared for that. I don’t want to be hungry, my brain needs to work.”
According to Stokes, food plays a “major role” in relation to academics and wellbeing at Harper.
“If I’m hungry in class, I honestly can’t focus to my full potential,” Stokes revealed.
Kenneth Reyes, a music education major, revealed that the lack of affordable food has caused him to go hungry many days. While he enjoys Subway, he said he can’t afford Subway every single day.
“I may only drink water for the whole day until I get home at around maybe 9:30PM. Those aren’t fun days,” Reyes stated. “But, yeah, try studying and being productive and just fasting the whole day.”
Students such as Kaylee Antoine, a nursing major, would like to see more food options available in proximity to her classes.
“Being in the science field, I’m in building Z, Y, and X a lot [with] Subway and vending machines only being accessible there. I think that’s kind of an issue,” Antoine said.
Grapenthien stated that he is aware of students’ need to have reliable food available throughout the day and evening on campus.
“From the administration’s side there is a thirst to have students be taken care of,” Grapenthien said. “In my position I feel like what we can do is offer as much as possible at the lowest possible price for as long as we can at break even,” he explained.
In response to the hunger related problems, Harper leadership has implemented a free on-the-go dinner bag program through the Hawks Care Resource Center as of November 2024.
These bagged dinners consist of a microwaveable or shelf stable entrée such as mac and cheese or tuna, along with chips, a fruit cup, and a small water bottle.
The dinners are available for pickup in the Hawks Care Resource Center (D204), at the front desk of the Recreation Center (Building M), and in the Library (Building F, 2nd and 3rd Floors).
“I think it’s a great response,” Cuna said. “I just want more as well.”
Others think the dinner bags lack both nutritional quality and portion quantity.
“[An on-the-go bag] could potentially fill you up… if you drink a lot of water with it,” Reyes said. “I do admit that I wish that the bags had more stuff in it, but it’s free and it’s available.”
Dr. Avis Proctor, President of Harper College, stated that the services at Harper today have improved since 2019.
“Hawks Care was a concept when I got here. And when I talked about us serving students to understand their needs, we discovered that food insecurity was one, so we actually built out Hawks Care,” Proctor said. “I’m proud of what we’ve done given what was in place… and where we are today.”
According to Harper’s 2023 report through the Trellis Financial Wellness Survey, 35 percent of students reported experiencing food insecurity, defined by the firm as “limited and uncertain access to adequate and safe food.”
With Harper’s slim availability of nutritious and plentiful food during the evening hours, it’s apparent that improvements are still needed to address these issues.
Harper’s dining services, food resources, and hours of operation as of February 2025 are as follows:
Cockrell Dining Hall (Building A, 1st floor)
- Monday – Thursday: 7:30AM – 2:30PM
- Friday: 7:30AM – 1:30PM
MrBeast Burger (Mobile Pickup in Building A, 1st Floor inside the Cockrell Dining Hall)
- Monday – Friday: 11AM – 3PM
- Mobile ordering is available through the Everyday app
Subway (Avante)
- Monday – Friday: 9AM – 3PM
- Mobile ordering is available through the Everyday app
Starbucks (Building D, 1st floor)
- Monday – Thursday: 7:30AM – 6:30PM
- Friday: 7:30AM – 1PM
- Mobile ordering is available through the Starbucks app
Food Resources in the Hawks Care Resource Center (Building D, Room D204)
- Monday – Thursday: 8AM – 7PM
- On-the-go dinner bags are available 4:30PM – 7PM
- Friday: 8AM – 4:30PM
- No on-the-go dinner bags available on Fridays
Recreation Center (Building M)
- On-the-go dinner bags available Monday – Thursday between 4:30PM – 9PM at the front desk
Library (Building F, 2nd and 3rd Floors)
- On-the-go dinner bags available Monday – Thursday between 4:30PM – 9PM at the 2nd Floor Main Desk
