Giving During COVID

Timley Fowler Gift Helps Hundreds

Char and Chuck Fowler’s $1 million gift paved way to relocate the Lift Up Vikes! Resource Center and Food Pantry to a more accessible campus location and nearly triple its size. The gift also created an emergency fund, providing small grants to students who experience unforeseen expenses that could negatively affect their ability to pay rent or continue to stay enrolled in school. 

During 2020, applications for emergency aid skyrocketed and close to 100 students received support from the Fowler Fund, largely for housing costs. It was a 528 percent increase in approved grants over the period just before the onset of the coronavirus. 

Since reopening in its new location, the food pantry has distributed more than two tons of food. 

For more information about Lift Up Vikes! or to donate, please visit www.csuohio.edu/liftupvikes. 

Rotary Club Of Cleveland provides aid to international students affected by coronavirus shutdown

Over a dozen international CSU students received relief in the early days of the U.S. fallout from the coronavirus thanks to a $5,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Cleveland. 

The students with support networks thousands of miles away faced compounded challenges as they found themselves stranded domestically, as campus jobs halted and loans ceased and as families struggled to send aid, hampered by their own economic uncertainty. And with the early determination that international students would not qualify for federal CARES Act funding, many of those attending CSU were left without a means to pay rent, utilities, college fees, groceries and more. 

“The committee felt that these kids really needed the help,” said Jennifer Kelly, chair of the Rotary Club’s community service committee, responsible for approving the gift, which CSU’s Center for International Services and Programs distributed to students in need. 

Cleveland Federal Reserve donates laptops to CSU for remote learning

When CSU made the shift to remote learning in early 2020, thousands of students were forced to turn on a dime. 

However, for some, readily accessible computers and internet away from campus is an unaffordable luxury, leading them to rely on the university’s resources and equipment to study, complete assignments and remain engaged. 

To help meet the urgent need, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland donated more than 300 laptops for CSU students to use. In all, the university distributed 800 laptops to students and provided more than 200 hotspots for internet access. 

CSU Foundation contributes $1 million to 2-for-1 Tutition Promise

The Cleveland State University Foundation is providing $1 million in support of the university’s 2-for-1 Tuition Promise. Using gifts earmarked for general student success initiatives and scholarships, foundation officials were able to provide additional dollars toward CSU’s effort to provide much-needed financial assistance for students. 

“Given what our world is facing and the heightened unease, I am delighted that the Foundation was able to invest in our students at a time when financial support is needed the most,” said Julie Rehm, executive director of the CSU Foundation and vice president for University Advancement. 

Find out more about CSU’s Student Success Initiatives at www.supportcsu.org.