Birmingham-Southern Phonathon is back Sept. 8, with a few changes to keep our campus community safe and healthy.

Aastha Sharma, a sophomore biology major from Kathmandu, Nepal, was one of many students who benefited from the COVID-19 Student Emergency Fund this spring.

To reduce risk for our students attending in-person classes on the Hilltop, off-campus callers will contact our alumni and friends of the College. Our Phonathon program, during an academic year like no other, will raise support for student scholarships, technology, resources, and other needs during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and transition back on campus.

“We look forward to connecting with parents, alumni, and friends of the College through Phonathon each year,” says Sarah-Kate Masters Roberts ’11, director of annual giving. “This year, the needs of the College look a little different, and we’re grateful for the ways that our community wants to help current students.”

During last year’s Phonathon, the BSC community came together to support numerous campus needs through both the Forward Ever Fund and the COVID-19 Student Emergency Fund. Gifts funded financial support for students, technology for remote learning, and resources for campus services like Panther Pantry, which provided dry goods and other groceries to 57 students facing food insecurity.

Brandon Brown, associate dean of students, and other Student Development staff packed bags from the Panther Pantry for students who were still on campus in March.

Gifts to the Forward Ever Fund allowed BSC to award $88,925 in additional support to students whose financial needs have been affected by COVID-19, and will continue to meet additional needs. This academic year, the Forward Ever Fund will aim to support:

• 67 students (and counting) who applied for additional financial assistance for tuition and housing.
• Additional technology for in-person, remote, and hybrid classrooms, including cameras, microphones, portable projectors, and whiteboards.
• Equipment for our science labs, studios, and outdoor rehearsal spaces, such as plexiglass dividers, additional outlets, and special masks for singers.

BSC has already installed new equipment this summer to keep the campus safe through our return to campus plan, and gifts to the College this fall will help every student, regardless of circumstance, experience the sense of community that makes BSC special.

The COVID-19 Student Emergency Fund focuses specifically on student needs as they arise throughout the term. Gifts will continue to help students and families who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic due to layoffs, furloughs, and the loss of hourly jobs and off-campus internships.

If you are in a position to give, you can invest in current BSC students by making a gift through a Phonathon call or by visiting bsc.edu/give/call.