Food-Filled Thoughts: Shayne Simmons Reflects on his Servant Leader Award-Winning Fight Against Food Insecurity

Every day, people speak about proverbially "walking a mile in someone else's shoes" to gain a more informed understanding of others. For Shayne Simmons, the one-mile walk to campus from his former Newark apartment changed the trajectory of his academic pursuits and collegiate athletics career.

After two years at TCU, Simmons, a native of Danbury, Conn., transferred to Seton Hall to continue his academic and athletic career as part of the men's swimming and diving team. During his junior and senior years, Simmons walked from his Newark apartment to campus, passing the Upper Vailsburg Student Organization on the corner of Sanford and South Orange Avenues. What he saw there didn't sit right with him.

"The people were from my neighborhood, the people that I walk by and say hi to," Simmons remarked. "Those are the same people that were lined up in a line that wrapped around the corner and down the block. They were all waiting for food donations from the Community FoodBank of New Jersey." Soon after, the then-junior had a self-described "epiphany moment" that would change the trajectory of his time at Seton Hall.

For his three years of work focused on food security, sustainability and community empowerment, Simmons was one of four students to receive Seton Hall University's 2025 Servant Leader Award. For the past 21 years, the Servant Leader Awards have honored students who dedicate themselves to selfless service both on and off campus. The winners of this award serve as an example to their peers and the Seton Hall community about what we can do to make the world a better place for everyone.

It all began when Simmons initially contacted the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, the same nonprofit that operated out of the Upper Vailsburg Student Organization building, about an available Policy and Advocacy internship. After getting that internship and spending a little under a year gaining a better understanding of the ecosystem, Simmons took his knowledge of the nonprofit space and looked towards Seton Hall's campus to see what could be done.

At that time, he was working on a research project about food insecurity in Newark. While sitting in the dining hall, he noticed perfectly good food being thrown out and saw an opportunity for change. "I realized that there was such a stark difference in the quarter mile that separates South Orange from Newark," he remarked. "Despite being so close, the difference in food accessibility and the resources that both places had showed me a path forward." With that in mind, Simmons teamed up with other students and faculty to help him make a difference.

As part of the Environmental Sustainability Committee, he established a partnership with local food pantries to take all pre-consumable food from the dining hall, food that would have been previously thrown out, to these vessels of community outreach instead. Through this initiative, Simmons estimated that the committee's volunteer drivers have helped provide hundreds of pounds of food each week to those who need it the most. Yet, this was only a fraction of the work to be done.

In addition to reducing the food waste in the dining hall, Simmons founded Seton Hall's Sustainability Club to target ways to reduce the university's waste footprint. As part of an initiative that will be introduced over the summer, the campus will add an aerobic biodigester. This machine, as Simmons explained, possesses the ability to rapidly compost food scraps and other biodegradable materials in around 24 hours and will support projects around campus. "This end product can be used by facilities staff, in the campus gardens that are being worked on for next year and even potential research projects examining how to increase the nutrient richness of the byproduct," he explained. In the end, he is proud of all the projects, both big and small, that he has worked on.

While all this work may sound time-consuming, to Simmons, it was a centering force of his life. He found the balancing of service, academics and athletics all complementary. "When I look back and see trying to juggle schoolwork and athletics," Simmons shared, "I always felt like there was another part to it that still felt unfulfilled. When I started getting into this work and realizing that I could make a difference, it only improved my time in the classroom or in the pool." Having found a new centering force in his life and with greater appreciation for the opportunities afforded to him, including being a Division I athlete, Simmons continued to grow as an athlete, earning a trio of finals swims at the 2025 BIG EAST Championships in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and the 400 individual medley.

Despite all this work, he admitted that there is still so much work left to do both in the local community and the world. With his graduation quickly approaching, he shared that he hadn't yet decided on the next step in his career.

"There are a lot of jobs where I'm very passionate about staying at the grassroots level and sort of continuing the research and the work that I've been doing in the city of Newark," Simmons shared. "I've been talking to some local nonprofits there on continuing that." Aside from local opportunities, Simmons shared that he has been asked about helping build a new Boys and Girls Club chapter from scratch. For him, merely being asked about helping with that project was an honor.

When asked what he hoped the lasting message of his work would be, Simmons paused for a moment. As the weight of his work sat heavily on his mind, he pondered his final message for a few moments.

Hoping to provide a code for those who might follow in his footsteps, Simmons mused, "I always found it really tough to recognize how I could make a difference at all. When you think of how big the world is, or you think of all of the amazing things that have already been invented, like the amazing movements that have already been celebrated, I always felt like there's no point in trying to do the right thing. But then I think, as I grew up and I started going through my own stuff, I realized all of those things started with taking the first step, or taking the risk, or wanting to do something for someone other than yourself."

"I feel like a lot of people feel that they are powerless over certain situations or see something that they don't like. They feel like they can't do anything about it. That's not the case. It takes that person's actions to start something bigger. I didn't recognize that until coming here to Seton Hall, but I'm so glad that I did. I feel like it gave me the courage and the capacity of knowledge to know that there's so much worth in at least trying, rather than never doing anything at all. So, just take the first step. Whatever it is, it's always better than wondering "what if?"