Penn Student Government donates $500,000 to Emergency and Opportunity Fund amid pandemic

Penn Student Government announced a $500,000 contribution to the University’s Emergency and Opportunity Fund on Friday.

The Emergency and Opportunity Fund, created in 2017 after a gift from the Class of 1967, was depleted earlier this spring after helping many students move off campus and adjust to remote learning during the coronavirus outbreak. The donation from PSG will help replenish its funds and assist students in unprecedented academic, medical, pre-professional, or personal challenges.

Grants may range from $100 to $1,000, according to the fund’s application page, and may cover expenses such as medical bills, technology repairs, winter and professional clothing, travel over school breaks, and graduate school exam fees.

“As your student government, we recognize the hardships and challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought upon many Penn students,” Undergraduate Assembly Speaker and College senior Jude Dartey wrote in an email to undergraduate students announcing the $500,000 contribution.

Funding is available to any undergraduate, graduate, and professional students and is not limited to first-generation, low-income students, according to the application. After filling out the application, students must meet with Student Intervention Services staff to discuss their stated financial needs.

Each application will be reviewed by Student Financial Services, Penn First Plus, and Student Intervention Services, according to the application page.

Dartey wrote that PSG has worked closely with those three offices and the Office of Vice Provost for University Life over the last six months to ensure that the needs of a majority of Penn students are met.

This donation from PSG comes just one month after it contributed $250,000 to support Black student programming on campus, including Makuu: The Black Cultural Center, UMOJA, and the Center for Africana Studies.