By Ciera Terry
The Campus Closet is exactly as its name implies — an open closet for all Cameron students to utilize; however, the Campus Closet provides a multitude of amenities that aren’t just clothes.
Financial and Community Resource Specialist Francesca Morris, oversees the planning and organization of the resource and describes it as a free thrift store for students.
“It’s really meant to be a space that helps to fill in the gaps for student,” Morris said, “so that they can focus on school and they don’t have to take time out of their day to go to the store to buy hygiene items. Or so that they don’t have to spend money on professional attire or things like that. We also have school supplies, so just hoping to support students so that they can be successful in their academics,” she said.
The Campus Closet is located on the bottom floor of Shepler and began around 2019, however, when Covid hit, the operation was put on hold. When Morris arrived at Cameron four years later, the Campus Closet was revitalized.
“It was really a blank canvas whenever I got it,” Morris said. “So I’ve been operating it since 2023, but the operation falls with the SEC, the Student Enrichment Center, and actually owned by the Student Alumni Association, that’s who started it all those years ago,” she said.
The Campus Closet resources depend on the community and what is donated. In order to help out, the Alumni Office here on campus runs donation drives.
“They host them one to two times per year, just kind of depending on the need,” Morris said. “So if I’m running low on things, then I’ll reach out to the Alumni Office, and they usually are really great about putting a drive together for whatever we need,” she said.
In spite of the name, clothing isn’t the only thing provided.
“It does kind of, you know, lend itself towards you having people think that it’s just a clothing closet, and maybe that’s how it started,” Morris said. “But at this point, it has grown to include professional attire, hygiene items, and school supplies … We even have some decor items, you know, things you can hang up in your dorm room. And sometimes we even have little appliances like coffee maker and microwave, just all depends on donations,” she said.
The Campus Closet is actively accepting and looking for volunteers.
“One of the main ways that we get volunteers is through a partnership with Student Support Services. They have a student leadership team, so they usually try to send someone to help volunteer. But we also get volunteers from PLUS like our plus scholars or our athletes,” she said.
The Campus Closet has partnered with many organizations and clubs around campus from the softball team, to most recently with Lawton Business Women.
“They (Lawton Business Women) had a few of their members come out and help us go through all the donations we had gotten over the summer and then get everything ready for the start of the fall semester,” Morris said.
In order to have such a successful resource center, volunteers are more than needed — they are required.
“Otherwise it would just be me and the student worker from Alumni. So definitely appreciative of anyone that wants to come and volunteer with us, and they can come during normal hours for the fall 2025 semester. We’re open Mondays and Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m., so anyone wanting to volunteer can just come during those hours or reach out to us,” she said.
The Campus Closet is a space that provides for students in need.
“Whether you think about it as, you know, those typical categories of first-generation or, you know, low income college students, things like that — I think just in general, aside from any of those categories, having a place where you can get resources like this is just so helpful, because you’re able to eliminate an area of stress in your day,” she said. “Because everybody knows that there are times in our college journey where funds might be a little tighter than others, and everything that’s in the Campus Closet is free,” Morris said.
Resources like the Campus Closet are not only good for the students but also help advocate for sustainability
“It’s just going to be great for us and for the future of our environment. And I think it’s really cool that students get to play a part in that just by utilizing a free resource,” she said.
In regards to future plans, Morris hopes for only two things.
“I would love to be able to have a regular source of donations that would be monetary, so that we could make sure that, you know, let’s say we’re running short on some items and we haven’t had that item physically donated, we would have access to some sort of funding to be able to purchase items just to keep the necessities on hand,” she said. “We’re in the works of exploring options, and I can’t make any guarantees, but we are definitely looking into potentially having a food pantry, and I would love for that to be associated with the Campus Closet, so maybe it could be open at the same time,” she said.
Morris’ for advice to students who might be hesitant to use the Campus Closet:
“You just have to be brave enough to step over the threshold,” she said.
Acie Rodriguez has been a student worker for the Alumni Office for around two and a half years working in the Campus Closet to help Morris in partnership with the Student Enrichment Center.
The Campus Closet has provided accommodations for all students and for special circumstances.
“A lot of students will have maybe a presentation coming up where they have to wear professional clothing, but they can’t,” Rodriguez said. “Either they can’t afford the professional clothing, or they don’t want to buy it and keep it for the rest of their lives.”
The Campus Closet is a safe space.
“It’s so cozy, and I feel like it’s very welcoming here. Students are able to just come in and vent if they want to,” Rodriguez said.
Being a worker in the Campus Closet for so long, the dynamic between students and faculty becomes deeper than transactional need for resources — it becomes stronger and community motivated.
“The great thing about this Campus Closet is that it’s not just a store. It’s a place to build relationships and organic ones at that,” Rodriguez said.