At Gies College of Business, we are beginning to see COVID-19 make a significant negative impact in the lives of our students. Many are losing their part-time jobs, and several more have parents who have lost their jobs. Sadly, this could be the difference between a student being able to continue their education at Gies and being forced to drop out of school.

In order to support these students until they’re able to get back on solid financial footing, we will need to provide more emergency scholarships than ever before. You can help us meet this urgent need by contributing to the Gies Emergency Scholarship Fund. This fund helps ensure students are able to continue their education uninterrupted when they face a personal financial crisis.

This is the same fund we supported during Gies Giving Day this past fall. It was great to see so many of you step up at that event and throughout the year to support our students. If you’re in a position to help, you can truly make a lasting difference in the life of a student.

Unfortunately, many of our students are in a dire situation. They’re making decisions now about whether they’ll come back to campus in the fall, so the sooner you can make a decision to give, the better it will be for our students. There are many ways to give. You could give a lump sum or pledge a gift over the course of several months or years. Knowing in advance that money has been pledged allows us to put it to work now. If you’d like to give back, you can make a secure gift online using our online giving form or contact Associate Dean Molly Tracy at 217-244-9918 or mollyt@illinois.edu.