HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) — Hampton University is asking for community donations to support students through the coronavirus pandemic.
The university has established the Hampton Cares Student Emergency Fund. Money from the fund will help students continue their education at HU despite financial stress put on them by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release.
The money will be used to help students with transportation, technology, and basic needs.
“As we work to get through these tough times together, everyone in the country has been affected by this crisis. This fund is an example of how we are continuing to follow our Founder Gen. Samuel Chapman Armstrong’s ideal that an education is encompassed by educating ‘the head, the heart, and the hands.’ By setting up this emergency fund, we want to ensure our students are able to get the financial support they need, so their only concern will be excelling in the classroom,” HU President Dr. William R. Harvey wrote in a news release.
Students can apply for emergency aid if they meet the following requirements:
- They are enrolled at HU at the time they apply for emergency funds
- They have an immediate financial hardship due to COVID-19
- They have at least a 2.0 GPA
HU has also launched two scholarship funds: The Hampton Cares Endowed Scholarship Fund and the Hampton Cares Current Use Scholarship fund.
The call for donations comes more than two weeks after HU received more than $4.2 million in emergency COVID-19 relief funding through the CARES Act. Congressman Bobby Scott said that at least half of the money — $46 million total for colleges and universities in Hampton Roads — would go directly to meeting students’ needs in the form of grants.
