The University of Maryland Student Government Association announced Thursday that it is allocating more than $410,000 to support classmates impacted by the pandemic. The SGA said the funds will go toward “critical services” to meet student needs.
“This year, students have experienced unparalleled academic, financial, physical, and mental obstacles as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” read an announcement from student body president Dan Alpert and speaker of the legislature Kislay Parashar. “We have witnessed an increased need for student services, and in response, the SGA is committed to advocating for the expansion of student resources to help address students’ new and heightened challenges.”
As a result of the atypical spring semester this year, the SGA ended up with a surplus of funds for the fall.
Per the announcement, $48,000 will go toward supplying free menstrual hygiene products in campus bathrooms, while $10,000 will be earmarked for free mental health first aid training and $5,000 will go toward a fund to provide students facing food insecurity with temporary free meals from UMD dining halls.
The SGA will also put $300,000 toward the Student Crisis Fund to help students in need of financial assistance – particularly due to the health crisis – and around $47,000 will go to the campus pantry, to aid the installment of a “full and functional” culinary training center.
Alpert told the Washington Post that the move was a first for the SGA, made possible by unused student fees. Full-time undergraduate students on the school’s College Park campus pay $40 per semester to support about 400 clubs, while part-time students pay half that.
“It’s going to affect hundreds of students, thousands over the years with some of these projects,” Alpert told the paper. “We can utilize an unfortunate event like COVID and turn it into a positive for students.”
This summer, UMD students petitioned for the school to reduce fees for amenities and resources students could have little or no access to, following a delay in the start of in-person classes, according to the school’s student newspaper The Diamondback.
A statement provided to the paper by spokesperson Hafsa Siddiqi said that mandatory fees “remain essential to our operations and functions.”
The statement continued, “We recognize the financial impact COVID-19 has had on our students and their families. Our mandatory fees support a variety of resources and services that students will have access to when we begin the fall semester.”
Following a spike in COVID-19 cases locally, the school transitioned nearly all undergraduate classes online last month.
Students at other local schools have taken similar steps. Georgetown University students also petitioned this summer after some discovered their financial aid packages would be significantly reduced this fall. The school later said it would review their requests, and waived summer work contributions.
In a separate press release Thursday, Vice President for Student Affairs Patty Perillo said the funds would help with important student services, both on and off campus. “Together with the university, the SGA is providing much-needed support and relief to our campus community during an unprecedented challenging season,” she said. “This is an example of exceptional leadership.”
