Emergency Aid: Students Supporting Students

Students helping students.

That’s the goal of a significant gift from the Smith Student Government Association to the Smith Emergency Aid Fund.

SGA president Rosalie Toupin ’20 said that the transfer of $100,000 is designed to help students with unexpected needs associated with disruptions to their education as a result of the transition to remote learning at Smith due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When students learned that they’d be spending the last half of spring semester studying remotely, SGA leaders started to think about what to do with seven weeks of unused student activities fees.

“We knew right away we wanted to use the money to benefit the student body in some way,” she explained.

Toupin—along with SGA vice president Ro Antoine ’21 and SGA vice president of finances Dominique Straughn-Turner ’20—decided that the Smith Emergency Aid Fund was the best way to have a direct impact after hearing from different students on campus about their greatest needs. 

The Smith Emergency Aid Fund was established by the college in the wake of the COVID emergency to help students with unexpected needs.

“The Emergency Aid Fund seemed the best way to help students who needed assistance such as airline, train or bus tickets, rental cars, gas and other expenses associated with getting students home during this emergency,” Toupin said, “as well as technology needs associated with being unexpectedly sent off campus.”

SGA wanted to have an impact on the widely dispersed student body, Toupin explained. “We’re finding a new use for student activity funds, since we don’t have the same kind of activities on campus.”

Payton Armstrong ’20 received support from the Student Emergency Assistance Fund for a flight home from campus. “As a senior,” she said, “I have never felt more supported and cared for by the school. In this truly horrible time, I've never been more proud to be part of the Smith community.”

SGA will be working for the rest of the semester, Toupin noted, organizing future projects, including next year’s elections. 

“The college is working so hard to support students in an extraordinary time,” Toupin added. “We’re glad to be able to supplement that work in whatever way we can.”