Student and university companion tucking into kind of light meal (8)

'meal' is the definition.
(I know that luncheon is a type of meal)

'student and university companion tucking into kind of light' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'student' could be 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers) and 'l' is located in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found in the answer.
'university' could be 'u' (abbreviation as in UMass) and 'u' is present in the answer.
'companion' could be 'ch' (Companion of Honour) and 'ch' is found within the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'en' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?