Steep hills, many long, winding staircases and far-flung class locations — any UT student is well aware of the physical commitment that attending this University takes. For many, walking is the only option.

In an ideal world, every student would possess footwear with strong foot support to ensure health and wellness on campus while reducing the risk of injury. However, some students cannot afford the shoes they need to navigate the Forty Acres, making their time on campus more difficult than it should be. 

UT Outpost, the free on-campus food pantry and career closet, should expand its offerings to include athletic shoes. This would provide UT students with year-round access to this much-needed resource through their physical store-front. It already has procedures for accepting, cleaning, and giving out business casual shoes; adapting the same processes to athletic shoes would help many individuals at UT. Students with financial hardships should not have their college experience and opportunities diminished because of difficulties walking around campus.

Leland Murphy, student government president for the 2022-23 school year and incoming LBJ School of Public Affairs master’s student, also emphasized the need for sneakers due to our large, walkable campus. 

“We have a huge campus; (I) live in North Campus and classes on the south side near Jester were a 20-minute walk,” Murphy said. “Some students might even live farther. They’re going to be doing 30-minute walks just one way and a 30-minute walk back if they don’t have a car or take other forms of transit.”

 Offering sneakers at UT Outpost would help reduce financial inequality on campus, especially for Pell Grant recipients and people from Title I school districts, making the Forty Acres more inclusive. UT Outpost can become a greater resource to students by removing financial obstacles that limit their students’ ability to comfortably go to class or participate in extracurricular opportunities. 

“It could not just be used for going to class, but also for leisure sports, which would make campus even more athletic and energized,” Murphy said.

Since UT Outpost already gives out professional shoes, adding sneakers would only require slight adaptations  to existing processes. Students already have access to high-quality, clean and professional shoes; sneakers would be a much-needed and appreciated expansion for the organization. 

“Every piece of clothing is processed and checked by our team for quality,” said Valeria Martin, the Student Emergency Services coordinator for UT Outpost. “We want our students to look and feel really good when they’re going in for an interview. We do have a strict criteria for shoes that we do accept.” 

The UT Outpost already has an established cleaning process for clothing items and shoes. 

“We have a fabric disinfectant spray for clothing that we spray on all of our shoes that go through the UT Outpost,” Martin said. “If we received a donation today and we weren’t swamped with other things, a volunteer or team member could process the shoes immediately and put them straight out into the Career Closet.”

UT Outpost offering athletic footwear would be an easy addition for the organization, but it would be incredibly impactful. The University should make it easier for students to participate in on-campus life and their coursework; offering sneakers for those in need would make our campus more accessible. Financial disadvantage should not prevent students from going to and from locations within the University’s physically-intensive campus. 

Gardner is a German and government sophomore from Corpus Christi, Texas.