Our #GivingTuesday campaign raised $515 toward the Student Aid Fund. This is enough to provide one growth and learning grant to a student interested in expanding their education. Additionally, there were gifts made to other funds in honor of #GivingTuesday that totaled $7,225!
Students, faculty, staff, and trustees of SKSM would like to thank all of our community members and donors for their generous gifts to this special institution.
To make a gift today, visit our main donation page.
Interview with Kathryn Jay (M.Div. student)
Q: In what way(s) has the Student Aid Fund/growth and learning grants helped you?
Kathryn: The Student Aid Fund provided the only (non-loan) financial support I received while in seminary. When I received funding last year, I was able to take an extra class in the spring semester because I didn’t need to work as many hours. This year, the fund helped my family be able to move to St. Paul for the year for my internship without going into debt for moving expenses. Moving for an internship are one of the many hidden costs of seminary, a requirement beyond tuition that stretches the budget to a near-breaking point. The Student Aid Fund didn’t PAY for my moving, but it allowed me to reallocate funds from tuition to this other need. I appreciate that.
Q: How did the aid you received support your growth and education at SKSM?
KJ: Last semester, I took an intensive class on Poetry and Prayer because I had support from the Student Aid Fund. The class was transformative for me. I use the insights I learned in my daily spiritual practices, in my sermon preparations, and as part of my small-group ministry. I read poetry with deeper spiritual understanding and I pray more poetically. I wouldn’t have taken the class without the funding I received. I am so grateful the Student Aid Fund made the class possible.
Q: Why do you think it’s important for us to grow our Student Aid Fund?
KJ: Seminary is expensive. And seminary in the Bay Area is especially expensive! As someone who changed career in mid-life, I have more resources than some of my younger classmates in terms of paying for tuition. But I also have children nearing college and rapidly aging parents, so going to school full-time and accumulating debt is sobering and scary, no matter how serious I am about my spiritual path toward ministry. The Student Aid Fund helps.
Interview with Rivka Gevurtz (M.Div. student)
Q: In what way(s) has the Student Aid Fund/growth and learning grants helped you?
Rivka: As a low resident student, I’ve not been able to take advantage of the consortium of seminaries in the same way as high residents are able to. The learning grant allowed me to go more deeply into my own tradition’s life cycle rituals, working with a local mentor.
Q: How did the aid you received support your growth and education at SKSM?
RG: As a student in the joint program between SKSM and ChI the two programs have been invaluable to my understanding of the breadth of multi-religiousity. This support allowed me to go more deeply into how rituals can be made both authentic and re-imagined to meet the needs of interfaith families, LGBTQ families and families with no religious identity.
Q: Why do you think it’s important for us to grow our Student Aid Fund?
RG: The Student Aid Fund is invaluable to help seminarians craft both scholarly learning and experiential learning that, in our rapidly changing world, will uniquely empower us to bring creative, relevant and counter-oppressive tools to serving a wide variety of seekers.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about your use of the Student Aid Fund?
RG: In the case of my particular project, what made this opportunity so valuable is that our rituals are how we make sense of the liminal moments of our life. Lifecycle rituals in particular have the power to either embrace or alienate, and can have multigenerational repercussions. To have the opportunity to go deeply into the historical “orthodox” formulas and learn to identify the key elements in ways which can speak in meaningful ways to a family who doesn’t fit into the dominant paradigm will serve my ministry for many years to come.
About #GivingTuesday
The following information is from the official Giving Tuesday website.
#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.
Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving. Since its inaugural year in 2012, #GivingTuesday has become a movement that celebrates and supports giving and philanthropy with events throughout the year and a growing catalog of resources.
2017 Results
