The financial meltdown of the past six months has changed everything from our financial institutions to the way we invest to the products we buy. The world as we knew it in early September no longer exists. Unfortunately, the economy is likely to get worse before it gets better, and we are still a long way from the bottom. However, amid the pessimism and the gloom, we as a community have an opportunity to make a profoundly positive statement and alter the life of one of our friends by contributing to the Tufts Student Fund.
Tufts has been hit hard by the financial crisis. Staff members have already been cut at the medical school and professors here in Medford are going without pay raises for the foreseeable future. Although the fiscal budget for 2009 will be balanced, the effects of deep cuts have yet to be felt and key positions will be left unfilled. As a result, many student services will likely suffer. Fortunately, the administration has committed to prioritizing students above all other aspects of the university. Staff members are forgoing pay raises because more money than ever before is being channeled to financial aid — in fact, the financial aid budget is seeing a $3-million increase in the 2009 financial year alone, a remarkable statistic given that many schools, such as Middlebury College, are actually cutting financial aid to make up for budget deficits. One professor has even donated a portion of his own salary toward financial aid, and everywhere around us we see signs of the university coming together under our shared values of community and active citizenship.
Given the university's commitment to helping students and the selfless actions of university staff, it behooves students to step up to the plate and help our own. It would be a poignant symbol if students rose to the occasion and declared that they value, above all else, a community in which all students have the opportunity to live and learn regardless of financial means. One of the foremost observations made about Tufts is that, all too often, students go through their experiences at the university in a vacuum and that they don't feel connected to something larger than themselves. This lack of community is reflected in our 21 percent alumni donation rate, one of the lowest in the country for a school of Tufts' size and prestige. The Student Fund presents us with a clear opportunity and a clear choice: We can continue floating on by through our college years, disconnected from the institution which has afforded us so many incredible opportunities, or we can seize the initiative and give back to a fellow student, thereby strengthening our bond to the university and to each other.
Six hundred thousand jobs were lost nationally in January alone, a number that is likely to increase in the coming months. Doubtless among those 600,000 were fathers, mothers, uncles and sisters of Tufts students. According to CampusGrotto.com, Tufts is the 22nd most expensive school in terms of total cost for the 2008-09 school year, and for many students, making ends meet is one battle after another. From filling out the complicated Free Application for Federal Student Aid, to dealing with the financial aid bureaucracy on campus, to buying books and covering the costs of meals, many of our peers are quietly struggling to stay afloat in the demanding college environment. We see this every day, as we make the decisions to eat out less, to spend less money going into Boston or to not go to that show or see that Celtics game. However, these cost-cutting measures are often not enough. Many of our peers need a little bit of help.
Many of us were initially skeptical about donating money toward financial aid; even those who can afford to come to Tufts have been hit by sinking market values, and both the affluent and less-well-off have been affected by job losses. With the already-high cost of attendance at Tufts, some oppose giving any more money to the school. But this is different. Any money donated to the Student Fund will go directly toward helping another student — no administrative decision-making and no endowment. The money raised will go directly to a fellow classmate. Those of us who had qualms about giving any more money to Tufts realized that this isn't about that. It is about helping your roommate, teammate, fraternity brother or sorority sister, and classmate stay at Tufts.
Everyone has been pushed to make sacrifices. It is at times like these that we see what a community is all about and what we, not as an abstract entity, but as a solid, united group of students, value. It is easy to be supportive when times are good and the Dow is at 14,000, but when it comes down to it and everyone is struggling, that is when we must show just how unique Tufts is and what it means to help our own.
To give, please see today's Tufts Student Fund ad for more information or visit www.tufts.edu/givenow.
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Chas Morrison is a sophomore majoring in International Relations. He is a member of the TCU Senate. Sam Wallis is a sophomore majoring in political science and economics. He is also a member the TCU Senate. They are both members of the Tufts Student Fund Committee.
