Student Emergency Fund Comes Through When Needed Most
Jun 2, 2020
For many Xavier students, the situations truly were an emergency.
One student was visiting Italy for a study abroad assignment, and just happened to be there when the country started to shut down due to the COVID-19 virus. She had to leave immediately, to get back home to the United States. The only problem? She had no money to do so.
Fortunately for her, Xavier has the Student Emergency Fund, which provides limited emergency financial assistance to students currently enrolled at Xavier. She applied, was quickly awarded the funds, and was able to come back home.
Her story is just one of many, says Angie Kneflin, director of Care Management Services in the Dean of Students Office. In fact, over a two-month period from March 17-May 15, the Emergency Fund was able to help 205 students by awarding more than $86,000.
“And there’s more requests still coming in,” Kneflin noted at the time.
To put the numbers in perspective, last year, the fund helped 25 total students, Kneflin said.
The stories are dramatic. One student, a native of Africa, needed to get to her home country but was unable to afford the ticket. The Emergency Fund made sure she got there. Another student was unable to afford the gas money to drive home to Texas. Now, he’s home. Still another student was in a dire situation and needed funds for rent. That request was approved as well.
Kneflin says applications are sent to a working group that reviews them (made up of the four Deans and three faculty members, among others). They may talk to students to investigate further before deciding on awarding funding.
Kneflin said the unprecedented use of the funds has left it with a significant shortage.
Similarly, Gary Massa, vice president for University Relations, noted how many alumni have reached out to him to ask how they can help students during this time. His answer? The Emergency Fund.
“The Emergency Fund has been a critical resource to financially support Xavier students in the many obstacles and hardships they have experienced during this time of turmoil,” he said. “We have already helped students with unexpected expenses, and we want to be able to continue that financial support to any current student in need.”
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TOP IMAGE: The top image illustrates how from March 17-May 15, 2020, the Emergency Fund was able to help 205 students by awarding more than $86,000. By contrast, in 11 months from July 2018 to June 2019, just 25 students were helped with about $14,000.
