Knights and Devils Matter

Revitalizing the Campus Food Pantries 

By Rebecca Maxon

November 22, 2024 — Under the leadership of Quadier Adams, BA’23 (Flor), a Metropolitan Campus graduate student and campus resident director of housing and residence, the University’s food pantries are back in action and better than ever.

Quady Adams

While he was interviewing for the resident director position, Adams was asked if would he be interested in reestablishing the Metropolitan Campus pantry, “I said, ‘I would love to!’”

Adams, who is studying cyber security and information assurance, advises both pantries: the Devils Care Pantry and the newly named Knights’ Market.

His work on the Knights’ Market made an expansion possible. Originally a food pantry, the market now also provides clothing, toiletries, household cleaning products and more to students. He hopes to do similar things at the Devils Care Pantry now that it has a larger space on campus. He also recently secured a $5,000 donation from Stop & Shop to benefit the Devils Care Pantry.

“My first few months, I went to the Knights’ Market quite a lot. I grabbed some people and cleaned it out,” Adams says.

On a slow day the market will see about 40 to 60 people, but on busier days, there will be upwards of 100 visitors. Students, faculty and staff were recently invited to a grand-opening event, on September 23. “It was basically an event to get people out to see the market in person. We had close to 200 students sign in that day.”

He does a lot of management in his housing position, too. Living on campus and overseeing the graduate hall directors, the RAs and all the residence halls on the Metropolitan Campus has helped Adams develop his people skills, including de-escalating tense situations. “If students are having problems with their roommate, the cleanliness of their room or anything else, they come through me and I’ll handle it,” Adams says.

He is also adviser to the Resident Hall Association (RHA), an advocacy group for the student body. “They ask students, ‘How are you enjoying your time on campus?’, ‘Is there anything that you’d like to see more or less of on campus?’ and ‘What changes do you want to make to the campus environment?’” Then they present the students’ needs to the higher ups, hoping to get those things done.

Adams is keen on changing campus culture for the better, supporting students and offering them more resources through housing and the pantries.

“I want to thank all the volunteers who made the pantries possibles and those who have donated items,” Adams says. “With their help, our students will continue to benefit as the pantries thrive.”

To find out how to help, go to fdu.edu/campuspantries, or email knightsmarket@fdu.edu or devilscarepantry@fdu.edu.