Campus News

Grabowski asks for support for UB emergency funds

Published March 30, 2020

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Dear university community,

At UB, we value community. Day in and day out, our faculty prepare our students to step boldly into the world, eager to make it a better place for all of us, alongside alumni and friends. Our students — who come from around the world and from varying backgrounds — are the lifeblood of the UB community.

Although we are living in a time unlike what many of us have ever seen, we remain true to the tenets of Loyal Blue, and we are committed to supporting our students. The university transitioned to a distance learning model last week. Thanks to herculean efforts from our faculty and staff, we were able to implement this new model of teaching and learning for 99 percent of classes and labs — that’s over 4,000 classes — in less than 10 days.

As we adjust to this new normal, we are heartened by the acts of generosity we have seen in the UB community:

  • Tops Markets has waived the delivery fee for students who remain in our on-campus housing.
  • Amid a nationwide shortage of materials, departments throughout UB mobilized to ensure medical personal in our community have the materials they need to do their jobs and remain healthy, such as producing 3D safety masks to be used by medical professionals at our associated hospitals and clinics, and donating laboratory supplies, including nasal swabs and molecular biology-grade ethanol, to grateful colleagues in Erie County to support local testing for COVID-19.
  • Our students also continue to assist those most vulnerable in our community; for example, our law students are adapting to new methods of advocacy and representation of domestic violence victims.

Our transition to distance learning, though prudent and necessary, has meant that some of our most vulnerable students — those who rely on UB for food, income or housing — are left without the resources that are critical to getting them through these difficult circumstances. If you are able, we invite you to support them through student emergency funds established in each of our academic units, as well as for student life, athletics and in our libraries.

Gifts can be made online.

When you make a gift to UB, you will have an immediate, tangible impact on a student in need and help our community remain strong. You ensure that student workers who rely on off-campus jobs for their income can receive supplemental funding, that those who don’t have the necessary technology for distance learning can be provided with laptops and those who might not have access to healthy food can utilize Blue Table, the university’s student-dedicated food bank.

We have also established a health sciences emergency fund to help the members of our community, many of whom are UB alumni, working on the front lines of this crisis in Western New York. From our medical and social work students who are volunteering in call centers to our translational research faculty who have transitioned all of their work to the development of two anti-viral drugs to combat COVID-19, your contribution will support these critical efforts that are already underway and provide funding that will enable us to quickly address the evolving needs in our community.

As we practice social distancing, it’s easy to feel isolated and wonder how you can help in these unprecedented times. By making a gift to UB, you reinforce that even though we are apart, we are still a community. We are #UBuffalo Strong. We are family. We are bold. And we will get through this together.

We — and the whole UB family — are grateful for your generosity.

Sincerely,

Rod Grabowski

Vice president, University Advancement