The Basic Needs Coalition began as an initiative led by first-generation and low-income students to increase visibility and access to food, financial, housing, and other resources. Our initial aim was to establish a Basic Needs Center on the Cornell campus, inspired by the students of UC Berkeley, among other schools.

We started by meeting regularly with the Cornell administration to achieve a centralization of services and resources that appropriately served marginalized students. As the meetings dragged and action stalled, we responded with a direct action campaign to pressure the university towards addressing the gaps in their system.

After a semester of dedicated advocacy was met with a lukewarm response, we realized any tangible impact would have to be accomplished through collective effort from the ground-up and redirected our energy towards community care initiatives. We started with the Basic Needs Pop-Up series, where we provided free hygiene and household items to the community. From there, our coalition has grown, and we’ve sustained our commitment to create an equitable campus that is truly for “any person, any study.”

BNC in the News

• “One-Stop Shop”: First-Gen, Low-Income Students Advocate for Basic Needs Center On Campus
• Student-Run Organizations To Hold First Ever Campus-Wide Pop-Ups for Household, Hygiene Products
• Students Advocating for a Basic Needs Center at Cornell Plan to Continue Efforts Despite Inadequate Administrative Support
• President Martha Pollack Highlights “To Do The Greatest Good” Campaign at State of the University Address, Students Demonstrate Outside
• Students Rally for Free TCAT, ‘Basic Needs’ During Family Weekend