Students gathered on Trinity Lawn under a yellow pop-up tent lined with hanging clothing beside a sign that read “Free Clothes!” on Tuesday. This was The CoolCat Closet’s first pop-up, free student closet.
The CoolCat Closet is a project hosted by members of the Anthropological Society and is funded by a Sustainability Fund, SFAC, grant.
The pop-up closet aims to provide all students with free clothing on campus. Additionally, it serves as a donation center, accepting clothing and shoe donations throughout and beyond its duration. The only limitation is that students are asked to only select up to two items.
The project started as an idea proposed by three anthropology students last spring – Beatrix Teaney, Alen Pinto and Adin White. The students were in Brian Brazeal’s visual anthropology course together during the spring 2024 semester and heard about the grant opportunity through their professor.
Teaney and Pinto attended community colleges that had community closets on campus and found it to be a need on campus that wasn’t being met through other programs. With that idea in mind, their professor encouraged them to attend a meeting about the grant opportunity and the students drafted their proposal.
White started campaigning for an Associated Students position as commissioner of sustainability affairs last spring. He withdrew before the proposal was approved to avoid a conflict of interest.
They received a $5,000 grant through the SFAC, making it possible for them to start their project.
Teaney and Pinto’s proposal was rooted in their love for second-hand shopping, but they noted that it has become commodified through reseller culture, resulting in a less financially-feasible shopping alternative.
“The idea is, if students are donating their clothing to a thrift store that then charges other students to buy them, why not do the same thing on campus in the form of a giant clothing swap?” Teaney asked.
The pop-up was held from noon to 3 p.m. on Trinity Lawn.
Teaney is the president of the Anthropological Society. She used to be a clothing reseller, but turned away from it for her moral oppositions.
Though Teaney and Pinto’s idea is to obtain most of the clothing through donations, the grant allows them to have money set aside to curate clothing for specific groups on campus, focusing on gender-affirming clothing, size-inclusive clothing and child clothing for students with children.
Tuesday was The CoolCat Closet’s first pop-up, but organizers are hoping for them to eventually become bi-weekly. For this semester, they plan to host them each month.
Eventually, they want it to become a permanent fixture of the Basic Needs Project.
Teaney and Pinto both have a year left at Chico State and hope to build the program enough to pass it on to other students after their graduation.
“A lot of SFAC grants end up dying off after a few years on campus. My dream is that other students will feel the same need that I do and be able to take it over and have the same vision for it,” Teaney said.
The pop-up was held from noon to 3 p.m. on Trinity Lawn.
Hailey Allen, an education student, stumbled upon the pop-up and was happy to see the event’s success.
“This makes me feel like our campus is looking out for us. [Teaney] said there is a grant in place for people to be able to do this, and knowing that our campus is supportive of things like this is super nice to know,” Allen said.
Allen had a lot of clothes of her own that she plans to donate to the cause after seeing the first pop-up closet. Organizers noted that many students and faculty saw the pop-up and ran home to bring their own donations to participate.
White remains a supporter of the project and was excited to see it come to life.
“I’ve been really looking forward to seeing this in action, and this was just an incredible success. At least 200 people were served by this free store and they got tons of donations,” White said.
Teaney encourages other students to apply for grants on campus if they have ideas that could improve the campus community.
The Associated Students website said the sustainability fund was founded in 2006 and aims to “tackle two of the most pressing issues of our time; climate change and environmental justice.”
Each year, $75,000 is set aside for student projects.
The SFAC grant is open for student proposals and closes Nov. 7.
For more information, visit the Sustainability Fund’s website page or email Sharleen Krater at [email protected].
To organize a donation to The CoolCat Closet or find out more information, Beatrix Teaney can be reached at [email protected].
To participate in similar projects or learn more about campus sustainability, contact White at as-sustainabilityaffairs@csuchico.edu or visit his office hours in Bell Memorial Union room 221 on Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 3 p.m.
Megan Gauer can be reached at [email protected].
