The transition to college is a big step for many people. For some, it means moving across the country to live in a dorm room with someone one only interacted with through a screen. For others, it means incorporating a daily forty-minute commute.
With this big change, it is normal for students to have questions about campus life, including what resources they have access to help smooth out this transition. On Hamline’s campus, there are plenty of resources available to help manage and eliminate this newfound stress. Whether needs include food to keep inside dorm rooms during the winter months, a counselor to vent their frustrations to or access to free feminine hygiene products, Hamline has funded and provided many resources to help secure these necessities.

FRC
The Food Resource Center (FRC) is one of the many places to gain food access on Hamline. However, unlike the Dining Hall or Leo’s Corner, the FRC is completely free. With donations from many local grocery stores and restaurants, such as Trader Joe’s and Panera Bread, students have access to fresh produce, poultry and bakery items. The FRC also has new funding provided by the Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress, although specific details regarding funds have not been released.
This large array of food items includes a variety of options to best fulfill the diverse needs of Hamline students. Alongside the traditional food pantry-style items, canned, non-perishable goods and basic baking ingredients (baking soda, salt and sugar), they provide microwaveable meals for students.
The FRC offers not only a variety of food items, but pet products as well, such as kibble dog food or puree cat food pouches, and health and personal care products such as toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner and paper towels. However, students are limited to how much of the non-food items they can take, as there are per-household restrictions on high-demand items.
Their updated hours are posted outside of their office in West Hall 110, as well as on their website and Instagram page @hufoodresourcecenter. Their social media also gives updates about what microwaveable meals are provided each week.

CG+S
The Center for Gender + Sexualities (CG+S) is the newly upgraded version of the Women’s Resource Center (WRC) and Hamline’s Gender and Sexuality programs, which combines the work from both programs into one accessible organization. The CG+S has put tremendous effort into honoring the history of the programs while also doing what is best for current and future Pipers.
One of the many changes they have brought to Hamline is the inclusion of All-Gender Bathrooms in almost every building on campus. The accessibility and amount of All-Gender Bathrooms have increased rapidly over the past four years, as they were previously limited to the dining center and a small handful of residence halls. Now, most if not all buildings on campus have at minimum, one bathroom on campus.
Additionally, all across campus there are many bins filled with a variety of sexual and menstrual health supplies, such as condoms, pads and tampons. These are funded and stocked by the CG+S and are free to all Hamline students. If any item that students are interested in is not stocked, the CG+S requests that students reach out through their email, wrc@hamline.edu to send in what needs to be refilled.
The CG+S, located in Anderson 320, is now open during all of the Anderson Center’s open hours, meaning students will have access to their brand-new in-center queer-focused library and the sexual and reproductive health resources they provide during most hours of the day. If the room is locked, students are encouraged to call Hamline Public Safety (HPS) to let them into the building.
One of the newest resources, implemented by the center’s new coordinator, Eli Scriver, is the ability to check out books that have found residence in the center for the last decade. Previously, students were only allowed to read the books while physically in the center, but now with the help of many student workers and the Bush Memorial Library, students are able to check out books. One of the many changes that Scriver has implemented to make the CG+S’s resources more accessible for Pipers.