We’ve all heard the phrase “starving college student.” It’s often used loosely, sometimes even as a joke.
When Aristotle “Aris” Mosier, manager of student life and leadership at Phoenix College, talks about what this phrase means to his students, you hear other terms such as shame, hiding, stigma, social mobility, and St. Mary’s Food Bank.
“People don’t see college students as starving… but they are here,” said Aris. “Food insecurity affects whether these students can stay in school. It’s a domino effect. Providing nutritious food helps ease other financial burdens. No one student fits a single profile.”
Phoenix College, one of our agency partners, is one of the oldest community colleges in Arizona, serving primarily first-generation students and enrolling 12-13,000 students.
Aris has made some major improvements since taking over our partnership with the College. First, he moved it from a back room to a central student union space. He wanted to try to reduce stigma and shame around accessing food.
“Having it more front and center makes it less shameful,” he said. “The support through our partnerships with Whataburger and St. Mary’s Food Bank makes it possible. I found our space to be lacking, but it also created a stigma of shame when getting food. Being able to move that into the main space of our student union was a shift toward empowerment for students.
Students have shared feedback. One said the pantry “helps alleviate challenges related to basic needs.” He shared that this support has helped some students graduate and pursue their bachelor’s degrees at Arizona State University.
“Our data shows a 47 percent increase in food resource usage from 2021 to 2025, said Aris. “If we don’t have St. Mary’s, I don’t know how we would survive supporting our students.”
