SOAR Center

About the SOAR Center

The Students Organizing for Access to Resources (SOAR) Center strives to create equitable access to food and scholarly resources, especially books, for WU students. In an effort to help all students succeed, the SOAR Center is available to all Willamette students. The SOAR Center is located in the University Center on the third floor and houses the Book Drive and Bearcat Pantry and is maintained by committed students and guided by an advisor within Student Affairs.

SOAR Center Hours

We are currently going through a number of transitions this academic year and we thank you in advance for your patience.

We are currently are operating a very limited capacity with open office hours from 8am-12pm on Fridays when the campus is open. With our lean amount of resources, we can advise and support students who are facing food insecurity and access to academic resources on a case by case basis and help triage accordingly.

Emergency Fund

Students experiencing food insecurity should complete this Emergency Fund form so that assistance can be provided in identifying needs and possible resources. Students can also make direct appointments with:

Justin Leibowitz, Assistant Dean for Community Care and Inclusion for students in Willamette College, AGSM, or SCIS 

Lexie Zirschky, Associate, Dean for Student Affairs and Administration in the School of Law

Jackson Seemayer, Director of Student Care and Success at PNCA 

Please reach out to us directly by emailing soar-center@willamette.edu for further guidance!

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can use the SOAR Center?

The SOAR Center is open to all Willamette students. This includes the College of Arts & Sciences, the Atkinson Graduate School of Business, the School of Law, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. This resource is free; no questions asked.

Is the number of visitors or visits recorded?

Once the SOAR Center is open, we will be implementing a check-in system to assess the usage of our resources. We will only be asking for basic information like your WU ID number and what resource you used. This is so we can adequately measure the use of our resources. 

This also increases the destigmatization of the utilization of our resources. No student should be ashamed to seek support.

How can I get involved?

We are going through a lot of transition and we want to hear what your ideas are with how we manage the space. With our student population changing, we want to provide adequate support rather than perceiving that there are lesser or greater barriers and challenges. We are looking for motivated students who are interested in joining a task force with transforming the SOAR Center to better address the actual needs of campus rather than what we may perceive is the need. 

We ultimately want this Center to be sustainably run with passionate students to drive the cause.

Our Task Force is currently up and running. If you are interested in joining, please email soar-center@willamette.edu. All CAS undergraduate students of the Salem campus and staff are invited to join.

How can I donate?

Those interested in supporting students who are facing food insecurity can direct their giving to the student emergency fund.