One of the characteristics of Christians is gratitude. When someone has stepped forward to help us, we express our thanks. During the COVID pandemic, universities across the United States felt the impact in terms of lost revenue – tuition, room and board, event income, and adults putting continuing education on hold. At the same time, the added expense of testing, contact tracing, housing for quarantine, and virtual education technology ramped up the expense side of operating a university. And the families and students served by the university were experiencing their own challenges of job loss, medical costs, and stress.
Recently the White House and agencies across the Federal Government celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the passage of the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education celebrated funding under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) and its impact on students and institutions across the country. The assistance Trevecca received in these plans enabled us to continue our educational operations, retain our employees without lay-offs, and help our students with aid. We also used HEERF funds for uses like these:
- Reimbursements for room and board
- Software to enable distance learning
- Providing off-campus housing
- Food service alterations to accommodate social distancing
- Campus safety and operations, including facilities to promote social distancing, testing and vaccination
- Replacement of lost revenue from academic sources
- Replacement of lost revenue from auxiliary sources
The priority that our government leaders placed on higher education enabled us to continue to serve students, provide employment, and prepare the future workers of America. Trevecca is grateful for our government’s assistance. Our prayer is to fill our nation and world with the kind of people who will honor God through their work… and also express gratitude for what they have received.