The University of Texas El Paso (UTEP)’s Student Government Association (SGA) has launched The Free Meal Pass Program. This initiative was designed to address food insecurity on campus and provide students with the resources for them to concentrate on achieving their professional goals.
The program was launched this spring 2026 semester, in collaboration with the Green Fund Committee and the Division of Student Affairs. Any student will be able to go to the Food Pantry and pick up a free meal pass, which they will then take to the Pick and Shovel, a buffet style restaurant located on the second floor of Union East and redeem it.
Although the program is now fully operational, it began as an idea led by SGA President Ryan Boatright.
“It was something that I had wanted to do and is why I ran for President. I‘ve been working on this [program] since the summer. My first meeting that I had with President Wilson in July I told her ‘Hey, I want to do this.’ She gave me the blessing and said ‘Okay, yeah, make it happen.’ So I’ve been trying to work on that since then, and the reason why is because it‘s about 61% of students at UTEP experience food insecurity, and that, to me, is just a crazy number that I can‘t help but feel compelled to do something about and this, to me, this was one of the best ways possible to try and bring that 61% to zero,” Boatright said.
Recent studies done by UTEP’s College of Health Sciences show that the majority of UTEP students experience food insecurity at some point in their four years of college. Charlie Gibbens Ed. D, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students emphasizes the urgency of acting on this issue.
“We know from research that when you are hungry, you can’t focus on anything else. We have a fairly robust food pantry where we can provide food to students, but it’s food that you have to take home and cook. So, in working with SGA and Dr. Jaime Mendez, our assistant dean for student support, we identified that it would be helpful to be able to provide a meal to students. So, we identified some funds and worked with Sodexo. [For] students that are going to the food pantry, we offer a pass where they can get into the Pick and Shovel and they can have a meal to eat.”
Through collaboration across departments, program leaders secured $80,000 in funding, ensuring at least two years of free meal passes. The program is currently serving about 100 students per week, and following its announcement on SGA’s social media, more than 200 students showed up, leading Boatright to believe that the more people spread the word, the less people will suffer food insecurity.
“I think also continuing to voice support to people in higher up positions that this is something that they care about. So, if we have a bunch of students that are saying that they care about food insecurity, the university is going to listen,” Boatright said.
Mendez was happy to collaborate and believes programs like this are essential to find ways to give back to their communities and turn ideas into impactful realities.
“Great ideas don’t become greater by just keeping them with yourself. You got to expand your network. Knocking on doors and trying it out [with] no shame. Maybe it’s not a great idea, but until someone tells you otherwise, I think you just keep going with it and that’s what you need to do.” Mendez said.
By expanding access to prepared meals, meal pass program builds on existing campus resources and represents a collaborative effort to better support student well-being and success.
Vivien Noe C is a Staff Reporter at The Prospector and can be reached at [email protected]
