Two types of students strolled in and out of Campus Village on Monday: those carrying luggage to their cars and those walking out of the Village Market with paper bags full of food.
“We were just worried that we might not be able to get stuff since almost every store my friends went to were out of stock,” said aviation freshman Sungwoo Cho, who resides in Campus Village B. “We don’t really have a car to go into the stores in the first place.”
The Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced a shelter-in-place order Monday, instructing all residents to stay indoors except for “certain essential activities.”
Cho and his friends bought a 24-pack of water, stacks of frozen food, bags of Doritos and a few bottles of Gatorade as well.
“We basically cleared out the freezer so we could actually survive,” he said. “But if some restaurants stayed open for Uber Eats or something, we would get that primarily and then eat this [food] second.”
Many shelves at the Village Market were empty, including the sushi, juice and some of the freezer aisles.
Students also emptied the chip and ramen noodles racks, with market employees restocking items just as
fast as students took them to the register.
Village Market employees were unavailable for comment.
The Spartan Food Pantry, Dining Commons and Village Market were the few campus food services that remained open after the “shelter-in-place” order.
At the food pantry, students staying in San Jose lined up to pack bags of food and avoid packed supermarkets struggling to stay in stock.
“I actually went back to [Los Angeles] hoping I was going to be a little bit better over there but going to Target and seeing, like, my family kind of struggle to get goods was kind of scary,” meteorology senior Liliana Chicas said. “So then I came back here and then it was kind of the same thing.”
She said that she passed the food pantry by chance and immediately hopped in line to grab goods. At stores outside of SJSU, she said customers have emptied far too many shelves for her to buy anything in bulk.
“I feel like it would be really difficult to stock up, especially with the amount people are grabbing,” Chicas said. “I personally don’t think I could do it. So I’m kind of just grabbing what I need for the week and hoping you know, that’s enough.”
Many students scrambled for food as more businesses at SJSU closed their doors.
“We’re really hungry and there’s, like, a shortage of food on campus, so we just got some necessities for today,” said business freshman Natalie, who chose to only provide her first name because of privacy concerns. “We tried to be healthy and get some fruit, but there wasn’t much.”
She stocked up on Cup Noodles, Lunchables and water before heading back to her dorms, unsure about what could happen the next day.
After finding out she would be out of a job for the next few weeks, Natalie said she is staying in Campus Village B until the university sends a mandatory eviction notice.
“I’m from really far away, I don’t know if my parents can pick me up. I could get on a flight but I don’t know if the airports are closing down,” Natalie said. “I’m just living day-by-day right now.”
International business freshman Cesia Kawada said she went to sleep Sunday night with the intention of staying on campus through spring break. The next morning, she found herself quickly getting ready to go back to her Los Angeles home.
“I’m still packing, it’s been more than 30 minutes,” she said.
Meanwhile her roommate in Campus Village 2, graphic design freshman Alison Chen, came out of the apartment complex with a pillow over her hamper full of clothes.
“For me, it was two hours-ish to pack,” Chen said.
Some students, on the other hand, are more concerned about rallying for tuition reimbursements because of classes
moving online.
Mechanical engineering freshman Taha Abdulsalam said he wants to petition for the school to give him a refund on lost in-person services, such as parking, Wi-Fi and health services.
“Just because the coronavirus is taking effect and it’s spreading, doesn’t mean we have to take the loss on our finances,” Abdulsalam said. “It’s also good for the university because they can take pride in their name by showing how they care about their students.”
Mauricio La Plante contributed to this article
