Members of the Graduate Studies community are dedicating themselves this UC Davis Give Day to help current graduate students experiencing a financial emergency.

Earlier this academic year, Graduate Studies launched the Graduate Student Emergency Fund to provide financial support to graduate students experiencing unexpected financial challenges due to medical, dental, and health emergencies, or expenses associated with family emergencies. Just four months after the program launched, however, the fund had been depleted, leaving some applications unable to be filled.

After learning about this, the Graduate Studies Advisory Board (GSAB) — a group of advanced degree alumni who volunteer their time to provide counsel of Graduate Studies administration and programing — were inspired to help through the power of philanthropy and community.  

UC Davis Give Day

On April 14-15, 2023, the university will be hosting its annual UC Davis Give Day event. UC Davis Give Day is a 29-hour online fundraiser held every year in conjunction with UC Davis' time-honored tradition, Picnic Day. As part of UC Davis Give Day, donors create challenges in support of specific colleges, schools, units or programs. Similar to matching gifts, these challenges, which have a set dollar amount tied to them from the lead donor(s), become “unlocked” after a set number of additional donations of any size are made by other individuals. The event, now in its seventh year, has helped raise millions of dollars each year for the university.

"Our Top Priority"

The GSAB has created a challenge for the 2023 UC Davis Give Day to amplify the impact of the Graduate Studies Emergency Fund.

“Growing this essential student resource needed to become our top priority,” said GSAB President David Loury, '79, Ph.D. '84. “Currently, this fund is supported mainly through Give Day donations. We wanted to do all that we could to both support this program and give it greater visibility so others might support it too.”

Graduate Studies’ goal, with the support of GSAB, is to increase support for the Graduate Student Emergency Fund so Graduate Studies can re-activate and scale up this program to help students experiencing emergencies.

“The graduate student experience can be much different than an undergraduate student and many graduate students have little or no safety net for when life happens,” Loury said. “We want to be that community of support for them. We want to make sure they can stay on track toward finishing their degree even when something unexpected happens.”

Up for the Challenge

Loury was personally inspired to make a $2,500 pledge to support the Emergency Fund and kick off our GSAB Give Day Challenge. His generosity inspired other members of the GSAB to also support the Give Day Challenge, which now is at $10,000. They want to incentivize others to make a commitment to support this fund that will serve as a critical resource for the graduate student population.

GSA Pantry

In addition to raising funds for the Emergency Fund, Graduate Studies is also encouraging donations to the Graduate Student Association (GSA) Pantry during the Give Day event. The GSA Pantry is one of the first food and resource pantries in the country specifically for graduate students. It provides graduate students (and their families) a private space, separate from the ASUCD Pantry mostly used by undergraduates, to acquire food items, toiletries and other basic needs products and resources free of charge.

“We know that having the support of the board sends a robust message to our Graduate Studies community,” said Loury. “We hope that our efforts will motivate others to give to support this important cause. Together, we can help graduate students finish their education, so they can go on to help communities across the globe. If we can give them a little help today, who knows how much good they will be able to do in the future.”