By Michael McCarthy, Staff Writer
After learning of the financial pain the coronavirus pandemic would exact on Haverford faculty and staff, a group of concerned Haverford employees decided that the situation required a new kind of community. Hoping to ease the stress of the pandemic, they created the Haverford College Employee Relief Fund to alleviate some of the myriad financial burdens faced by the school’s faculty and staff. Founders of the fund hope that it will promote solidarity by breaking down the social barriers within the Haverford Community and highlighting the profound need for aid among the entire college.
COVID-19 has wrought havoc on the physical and emotional health of millions across the globe, and it threatens to do still more damage economically. As the United States braces itself for a protracted economic crisis that rivals the Great Depression in severity, a group of faculty and interim employees wrote a letter to the administration—signed by 79 Haverford faculty and staff—that listed six requests to improve the college’s response to the pandemic. Among them was a call for an emergency aid fund.
The HC Employee Relief Fund grew out of this proposal. Faculty, staff, and alumni were solely responsible for its establishment, and alumni—particularly three graduates from the class of 2016—played an integral role in coordinating social media for the fund. It functions totally independent of the college. The reasons why the Haverford administration declined to manage it remain unclear; they said simply that the fund did not align with the college’s existing priorities for fundraising.
However, the relationship between the fund and the college has been cooperative, not oppositional. Craig Borowiak, an Associate Professor of Political Science at Haverford and an organizer of the fund, points out that “the genesis of [the fund] was done in dialogue with the college,” even though the ultimate design was independent.
Moreover, Borowiak views the independent structure of the relief fund as an asset, not a drawback. “To be frank, it may be more useful for us in terms of building solidarity among us employees of the college by making it self-organized,” he states. The fund managers expect donors will be moved to contribute to the fund because of their connection to the Haverford community. A relief fund administered on a voluntary basis by fellow Haverfordians may exemplify a stronger sense of community than one administered by the college.
The closest reference point for Haverford’s relief fund is that of Vassar College, the main difference being that Vassar’s fund was run by its administration. Haverford may not want to emulate their model. Through word of mouth, HC fund organizers caught wind of the fund’s failure to meet expectations, possibly because of administrative involvement. Bucknell College has also founded a similar fund, but only after learning of the organizational efforts at Haverford. In short, a fund of this kind is almost unprecedented.
Starting the fund posed significant challenges. For one, Borowiak notes that “alumni like to give to students, so it’s a bit of a harder sell to get donations for employees.” Additionally, maintaining a consistent amount of donations continues to be an ongoing concern for the fund. Professor Borowiak expects 2–3 weeks of large donations, but after that, it is impossible to know how much money the fund will accumulate. As of the publication of this article, the fund has raised $25,372 to aid employees. This link leads to the PayPal page that states the amount raised and provides an option to chip in.
As of June 19, $11,000 has been distributed among the Haverford community to assist with their needs.
Haverford organizers decided the structure of the fund deliberately, but its guiding mission remains open to evolution. Faculty and staff who face unexpected financial strain—loss of employment, healthcare costs, furlough, or anything else related to the pandemic—can apply for the fund, and their applications will be evaluated anonymously by the Review Committee, which is comprised equally of faculty, staff, and alumni. They will decide whether to fund the request in full, in part, or not at all. The fund’s website lists the financial strains that may qualify for aid. The list is purposefully left open for interpretation because, as Borowiak says, the organizers did not want to restrict what qualified for aid as they developed the guidelines.
Haverford organizers acknowledge that the fund could be vital for those facing unexpected financial burdens even after the pandemic subsides. Depending on how well it performs in the coming months, the fund may expand into a broader effort to foster community solidarity and provide aid to those in need. “There is just need,” Borowiak states. “Independent of the pandemic, people have needs. Things happen. You lose work. We have adjuncts and visiting professors who leave and don’t have a job, and they don’t have health insurance. Can’t we provide some financial cushion for them so they can manage their transition in a dignified way?”
Professor Borowiak believes the fund has already had many beneficial effects on the Haverford community. The fund could potentially evolve into a forum for information-sharing among faculty and staff, who rarely communicate with each other on campus. The website could also expand to include other resources to assist people struggling for financial reasons. Most importantly, it could become “a catalyst for other kinds of solidarity” across campus by showing there is a diverse array of people with a diverse array of needs at Haverford.
This could resonate particularly with students, whose interactions with most faculty and staff are limited mainly to classes and a few services such as the Dining Center. As a result, the financial burdens of school employees almost never enter the minds of the student body. In this area, the fund proves that students aren’t the only ones who need to apply for financial aid.
If you would like to donate to the Haverford College Employee Relief Fund, you can visit the website, which has directions on how to donate. People are encouraged to donate as much as they are able.
Image credit: Haverford College Employee Relief Fund
