The College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences hosted a winter clothing giveaway on Nov.14, ahead of the cold-weather season.
This winter clothing drive and giveaway was a joint effort between UCA’s CAHSS and Global Learning Engagement to serve students with cold weather gear and gender-affirming clothing for the upcoming winter season.
Paige Rose, associate dean of the CAHSS who helped organize the event said the college has worked closely with other groups on campus such as the Lavender Library and Global Learning and Engagement to reach the students who would benefit from these resources.
“The purpose of the winter clothing drive is to provide clothing for UCA students who might not have resources to buy them or acquire them. Some examples are students coming from warm climates, who may not even have winter clothing or enough space to bring them. We also want to reach students who may not have gender, affirming clothing at home,” Rose said.
CAHSS Administrative Support Supervisor Liz Taylor-McMullen also helped with the event.
“I create signage for these events, I reserve the rooms for the giveaways, and I collect, sort, fold, and display clothing for the giveaways along with my coworker, Sable Greer,” Taylor-McMullen said.
Taylor-McMullen said her time spent completing her master’s degree in music is what helped inspire her to help with these kinds of events on campus.
“I befriended a few international students during that time. One of the things I noticed is how resourceful these students have to be. They come to Arkansas with only one or two suitcases and then have to buy everything or rely on donations in a city that does not have much in the way of public transportation. Several of these students are coming from countries that don’t really have a winter either,” Taylor-McMullen said.
This clothing giveaway had a successful turnout with 50 to 75 students coming through and taking clothes according to Rose.
Taylor-McMullen said, “I think this serves students by helping them to expand their wardrobe, and I feel very strongly that when we have options and get to dress the way that suits our mood and personality, we align our thoughts and feelings with the image we present to others.”
Rose said the clothing students can take from their giveaway was all donated leading up to the event.
“We do a clothing drive leading up to the giveaway date. The clothing that was donated has been an ongoing process and collection. We’ve had a pretty good inventory of clothes we have kept since we started over a year ago; however, we received so many donations for this winter clothing drive, where we asked specifically for coats, rain, gear, hats, gloves, and scarves,” Rose said.
The leftover clothes from this event are also being put to good use through a new branch of UCA’s WOW closet called the SEW closet.
“Our clothes will be called the SEW closet, which stands for Student Everyday Wear. Both closets will be in one area of Bernard Hall, and there will be gender neutral dressing rooms in the area for everyone,” Rose said.
The clothes from the SEW closet will be accessible to any and all students during regular operating hours at UCA.
Article by UCA Journalism major, Ashlyn Taylor.