The Student Hardship Fund, which provides financial support for students experiencing catastrophic events, received a $50,000 donation from the Stahl Family Foundation that will provide $10,000 to the fund each year for the next five years.
"I think I speak for everyone who's been involved in the development of the fund that we're proud and humbled that the Stahl Family Foundation would have the confidence in this project to help the Emory community and help the most vulnerable in it,” said Stephen Ratner, who established the fund last year with fellow student Jordan Stein.
Including the $50,000, Ratner and Stein have raised $70,000 during the past year. The Emory College Council donated $7,000, while President James W. Wagner, Provost Earl Lewis, and the Student Government Association (SGA) contributed a total of $13,000. Last year, the SGA passed a bill to allow an allocation of $1,500 from the organization's executive board account, bringing last year's total to $5,500 including donations from Wagner, Lewis, and the Graduate Student Government Association.
The Hardship Fund has received 23 applications from university students in the past year and has made 14 grant awards totaling $5,150, Stein said.