Trinity Support Available During Federal Shutdown
Below is a message I sent to the Trinity Campus Community on Friday, November 7, 2025, and this follows an earlier message asking faculty and staff to donate to our Shutdown Awards for Student Assistance (SASA Fund) as well as our earlier survey on how the shutdown is affecting our campus community. We know that more than 450 students are on SNAP aid themselves or through their parents, and many of our employees and students also are federal workers or have federal workers in their families who have lost wages during the shutdown. What’s happening is a moral catastrophe for millions of Americans; we see the impact right here on our campus. Know that we are trying to help you as much as possible during this increasingly serious humanitarian crisis.
Dear students and colleagues,
As the longest federal shutdown in U.S. history drags on, I am very concerned about the impact on everyone in our Trinity community. We discuss this regularly in our senior staff meetings, and we are always looking for ways to support our students, faculty and staff who are suffering the negative consequences of the political situation. You have told us that you or family members have lost wages, that governmental services you depend on have stopped, and that your reliance on SNAP and WIC benefits is now very precarious. While Trinity cannot possibly replace all of the federal dollars lost in this sad situation, we are doing what we can to provide some support to help relieve your stress. These are some of the primary sources of support at this time:
- Trinity’s Emergency Student Assistance Fund provides grants to students in need. We are grateful to many benefactors who have supported this fund since the pandemic. Dr. Karen Gerlach administers the fund and you can read more about it here: https://discover.trinitydc.edu/student-affairs/emergency-student-assistance/
- This fall, we have awarded more than $100,000 in emergency grants from our private funds and DC Futures funds to 165 students and the numbers are growing. Note that the DC Futures funds are now exhausted so any future emergency grants must come through the regular emergency fund process.
- A group of faculty, staff, alumnae and trustees have contributed more than $15,000 to our Shutdown Appeal for Student Assistance (SASA Fund) to provide additional support to students especially for food or other federal support declining in the SNAP and WIC programs. Dr. Gerlach administers this program along with the other emergency grants and students may apply using the same Emergency Student Assistance Fund.
- If you would like to make a contribution to the SASA Fund program to help students in danger of losing SNAP and WIC benefits, please use this link: https://discover.trinitydc.edu/development/student-assistance/
- We are also grateful to all those who have provided non-perishable goods to help keep our food pantry well-stocked. Dr. Gerlach and Dean Bowie also administer that program. Please note that if you know of someone who needs help to get a meal immediately, let Dr. Gerlach or Dean Bowie know; we are working with Metz food service to be sure that no one who is hungry is turned away from the dining hall.
- If you are an employee, faculty or staff, we have a small emergency fund to help colleagues in need. Please contact Executive Director of Human Resources Ms. Michelle Burke if you need some assistance from this fund.
These are all modest short-term measures to help those in need on our campus. We pray that our political leaders will move quickly this weekend to end their disputes and work together for the good of our nation and the people whom they are supposed to be serving.
Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks to all those who are helping out with your contributions and support!
Grateful,
President Pat McGuire
