This past Sunday, the University of Kansas hosted their annual Late Night Breakfast. The event took place from 8:30p.m. to 10:30p.m. at Mrs. E’s Dining Center, and was advertised as a chance for students to fill up on food for free. Alongside free food, they provided students with the chance to help prepare for finals with the assistance of a diverse range of student organizations at the event.
Students queued up before the dining hall officially opened, hoping to get in line in time to be one of the first thousand students to make it, as the incentive was only the first thousand get free breakfast. The menu included chicken & waffles, ode to mucci, breakfast burritos, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, cereal, fresh fruit, and more. Student organizations had tables lined up along the north side of the dining hall.
The organizations who participated in the event were the Center for Orientation & Transition Programs (OTP), Jayhawk Academic Advising (JAA), University Academic Support Centers (UASC), Health Education Resource Office (HERO), Sexual Assault Prevention & Education Center (SAPEC), Watkins Health Services (WHS), Student Union Activities (SUA), and KJHK 90.7 FM. Students were able to win prizes by getting involved in games, get academic support from advisors, and get information on student organizations they were interested in getting involved in.
Jack Bugee of KJHK 90.7FM was one of the people DJing the event. “The turnout was huge. I remember seeing pictures of the line trailing pretty far outside the building and it definitely showed,” Bugee said. “Our booth was kind of in a weird spot so we didn't get a ton of traffic, but we still had a pretty steady stream of people coming by to grab some stickers and see what was going on.”
However, some students seemed upset that only a thousand students were offered free food. “We were confused why only the first 1000 students were offered the food for free and why it couldn’t be free for everyone,” student David Tauser said. “The school definitely has enough money to pay for everyone’s food for one night.” Tauser came with three of his friends, one of which had similar opinions on the matter. “Every college student loves a free meal, but they could have not had a limit on the amount of free meals given,” student Yulisa Chihuahua said. “They definitely have enough money to not have to put a limit.”
According to their website, the University of Kansas’s “Donors contributed a record $318.1 million to KU Endowment in support of the University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Health System in fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30.” Tauser and Chihuahua brought up the endowment when expressing their distaste for the limit. “The endowment has like, what, millions of dollars? The profit they make is probably insane, the least they could do for students who pay thousands each year is assure that all students taking finals can have a free meal,” Tauser said.
Despite the upset some students were feeling regarding the limit of students who were to receive free food, the effort of the staff in working the event didn’t go unnoticed. “I gotta give it up for the staff, they were working their tails off to accommodate that many people,” Bugee said. Students seemed happy to have a chance to blow off some steam before finals, and have something to lighten up the end of the semester.