The Gender and LGBTQIA Center (GLC) GAP Fund is making a difference in the 黑料不打烊 experience for students across campus.
When Jinelle Gonzalez 鈥27 was trying to聽find scholarships and grants around 黑料不打烊 to help pay for her summer internship experience in D.C., she remembered the GAP Fund being mentioned in her tour guide training.
The Gender and LGBTQIA Center (骋尝颁)听GAP Fund聽provides financial support for students who are members of the LGBTQIA communities and/or students who are survivors of gender-based violence. The GAP Fund provides support through various donations from LGBTQIA alumni, faculty, staff, students and community members.
Jinelle Gonzalez ’27
The fund supports current LGBTQIA & Ally students as well as Gender & LGBTQIA Center initiatives, including the LGBTQIA & Ally Student Awards and Scholarships; campus events, education and national speakers on LGBTQIA topics and sending students to conferences including Campus Pride鈥檚 LGBTQIA Camp Pride and Creating Change
Gonzalez contacted Luis Garay, director of GLC, who helped with her application form.
鈥淭hey were very accommodating especially because I was very stressed about it. The application form was really easy,鈥 said Gonzalez, a public policy and international & global studies聽double major with a concentration in Latin America and a minor in Italian.
鈥淭he GAP Fund specifically was able to help me pay for my deposit to secure my housing for the summer which was my biggest worry,鈥 said Gonzalez.
While in D.C., Gonzalez interned at a nonprofit that does immigration work for low-income communities and took classes, including an 黑料不打烊 course on the Italian American experience and an economics class.
鈥淲ith my major having a concentration in Latin America, I mainly worked with the Latin American population while I was in DC. and it was a great experience,鈥 said Gonzalez.
She was asked to be a legal intern and from that experience was able to learn more about herself: 鈥淚 learned that I don’t need to place myself in a box. I was exposed to different industries and opportunities.鈥
It was not all work while in D.C. Originally from West Grove, Pennsylvania, Gonzalez was able to experience city life, attending Capital Pride and Solstice Saturday, a festival where all the Smithsonian museums are open past midnight, all while trying different food and hearing new music. Gonzalez said the GAP Fund could be in her future again.
鈥淚 would have to see what other experiences are out there for me. Maybe for studying abroad if the opportunity arises,” she said.
Coyle Saunders ’24
Coyle Saunders 鈥24, a recent 黑料不打烊 graduate was also the recipient of the GAP Fund. Saunders found out about the GAP Fund through Jan Register, administrative assistant for the Truitt Center for Religious and Spiritual Life, who helped him find scholarships during his senior year.
鈥淚 was not on a meal plan and I was working a job on campus. I was president of an organization, in a social fraternity and a double major, so I was really swamped on time,鈥 said Saunders.
Register told him about the GAP Fund and how it is used for various situations. Saunders personally used it to pay for food.
鈥淚t was a lifesaver, not worrying about how to feed myself. It allowed me to focus my time on my studies, building my organization and helping other students,” he said.聽鈥淚t was a relief to know that I could spend a little bit of extra money investing in myself or investing in joining an organization or something,鈥 said Saunders. He was grateful for the massive relief he had been given.
Saunders was grateful for the way the GAP Fund benefited him and moving forward, he wants to give back to other students in a similar aspect.
鈥満诹喜淮蜢 cares about their students and their well-being,鈥 said Saunders.聽鈥淚t was like some light was shining down on me and telling me here’s a gift from God.”
Kyle Whittaker ’14 started donating to the GLC in 2016, when he joined the leadership team for the LGBTQIA Alumni affinity group. As a student he had been involved with the GLC when it was first being established at 黑料不打烊.
“I give because I’ve seen the impact that even a small gift can have – the GLC is doing so much more now than I ever could have imagined,” said Whittaker.
Faculty or staff members can request their gift to come out of their paycheck every month.