The Host: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Student Affairs Podcast Series and it will be the summer season of our podcasts. My name is Sasha, and I am a student-athlete here at the University of Louisville studying communication with a minor in Film studies and production. I am super exited to be the host on this episode. Now let’s introduce our guest, Byron Lightsy, Student Care and Conduct Coordinator here at UofL. Today he will be telling us about the Emergency Fund, what that is, how to obtain it, and more. Thank you so much, Byron for joining us today. How are you doing?

Byron Lightsy: I’m doing well. Thank you for having me.

The Host: Then let's move on to the first question, what is the Emergency Fund.

Byron Lightsy: So, the student emergency find was established several years ago, many years ago, by donations from Louis and Louise Bornwasser, to assist students who happened to encounter either a catastrophic event or unforeseen financial emergency. And with that the goal was to help students stay in school during a particularly difficult time that would otherwise maybe cause them to drop out or stop, but to provide them with the financial assistance to kind of continue should they have lost items or been misplaced or something due to the event that occurred to them.

The Host: Wow, that is great to hear that our students have so much support and help from the university. So, how can students apply for the Emergency Fund?

Byron Lightsy: So, it's very simple. On the Dean of Students webpage on the right-hand side there is a button that says Emergency Fund. When you click on that button you are redirected to the application. That page provides all the information for who is eligible, what is the purpose of the fund. It also does require financial documentation to support your application. So, it gives you the information on what needs to be provided for that as well, and if anyone has any questions about completing the application or what is required, they can always contact the Dean of Students office either by phone at 502-852-5787, or email DOS@louisville.edu.

The Host: Well, thank you, but who is most likely to get help after they apply?

Byron Lightsy: So, all students are eligible to apply. Applicants must be currently enrolled students in good standing with the university; must have a financial hardship resulting from some type of emergency or accident or other unplanned event. And, as I said, they must be able to demonstrate that they need support or what that financial support may look like and they can provide that documentation through, say, a lease agreement, repair, or estimates of medical bills or other outstanding regular bills they have to pay or other similar financial documents that they may have. Now it is dependent upon any approval; you have to go through the financial aid Office for eligibility and students that have any unmet need financially would be eligible for the Student Emergency Fund.

The Host: Got it. Thank you. So, thank you so much for such an informative interview. I hope that our students will now feel more confident and comfortable seeking and asking for help if they are in need. We appreciated your time with us. I hope you have a wonderful day and hope to see you again on our podcast series.

Byron Lightsy: Thank you. I appreciate it.

The Host: For more information go to louisville.edu/studentaffairs.

Also, if you are looking for off-campus housing that is affiliated with the University of Louisville, visit offcampushousing.louisville.edu.

For those of you interested in studying abroad, here’s your chance to apply for South Korea Flight Giveaway at gooverseas.com. The lucky winner will have an opportunity to go to South Korea, learn more about culture, a new language and more. Don’t miss the chance, apply by June 15, 2022. Good luck!

Finally, we would like to give a shout out to the International Student and Scholar Services for always being on top of things and helping to expand the borders for newcomers.

That is all for today, thank you to our listeners for staying with us today. We hope you discovered something new and interesting. Come back next week for more! Also, congratulations to our graduates in the class of 2022 and we wish you all the best in the future. Take care. See you next week!