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Update on COVID-19 Joint Relief Fund

The SCS and WCC are delighted to announce that CAMWS, CANE, and CAAS have joined forces with us in sponsoring the SCS/WCC COVID-19 Relief Fund. This fund will support microgrants of up to $500 to graduate students and contingent faculty based in North America. Each organization will additionally offer free membership for the remainder of 2020 to successful applicants.

Already, only a week after the April 23 launch of this initiative, we have much to report. As we noted in our initial announcement, the WCC and SCS started this fund together with $15,000. Within eight hours of launching the fund, we had more than thirty applicants, enough to consume our entire seed money. At the same time, individual donations started pouring in, as did substantial pledges from the regional organizations CAMWS, CANE, and CAAS. Thanks to all their generosity, the fund has now doubled in value, allowing us to help more people. Yet we are still not able to meet the need: as of today, there are seventy-eight applicants to the fund, with more arriving daily.

Due to the high demand, the COVID-19 Fund Selection Committee met this week on an accelerated schedule and selected twenty-five individuals with urgent needs, mostly graduate students but also contingent faculty, to receive this award in an initial round. The committee will meet again to consider applications on May 10th for disbursement by May 20th.

Given the overwhelming number and need of worthy applicants, we gratefully welcome donations to this fund from more financially secure members of our community and from anyone who simply has a little more and would like to support others who have less. To contribute today, please click here to donate via WCC or here to donate via the SCS. Your support, in any amount, will be put to good use and greatly appreciated. Please note that on the SCS Donation Page, you can choose to make a recurring payment on a monthly or quarterly basis in addition to a one-time payment by selecting from a drop-down menu.

To read more about the award, click here. We encourage anybody in need who has studied the ancient Mediterranean world at a graduate level and is based at a North American institution to apply, including those working on Classics-related projects. To apply for a grant, please click here to complete a simple 5-minute form. If you have already applied but did not receive an award or decision from the selection committee, you will automatically be considered during the next decision cycle and do not need to submit another application. If you have already received an award from this fund, you may submit another application but will be placed at the end of the queue. Preference will given to those who have not received an award.

We thank you and wish you all continued health during this time.

All best wishes,

Helen Cullyer, Executive Director, SCS

Lisl Walsh and Serena Witzke, Co-Chairs, WCC Steering Committee