Dartmouth Student Government Senate voted to earmark $15,000 of their budget for a student “emergency fund” during their April 20 meeting. The vote passed with nine in favor, two opposed and eight abstentions.
“[The fund] will be disbursed if we are able to find a set of policies for its expenditure that works within the parameters of the Student Activity Fee and state and federal law,” student body president Chukwuka Odigbo ’25 wrote in an email statement to The Dartmouth.
The motion was raised by general house senator Sabik Jawad ’26. He initially proposed an emergency fund to reimburse immigration-related expenses for international students at last week’s meeting — but the proposal failed. Last week, some senators raised concerns related to how funding would be allocated and audited.
In an interview after tonight’s DSG meeting, Jawad said an emergency fund was necessary because of how “uncertain” the current situation for international students is.
“Any day, someone might end up in a pretty bad situation,” Jawad said.
Two Dartmouth students’ F-1 student immigration statuses have been revoked. One of the students, Xiaotian Liu GR, has since had his immigration status temporarily restored by a federal court.
Odigbo will release details on how the money will be spent within the next three days, according to the motion to earmark the funds.
“Student Government is currently working to figure out the landscape of laws and policies,” Odibgo wrote. “We will be interfacing with our partners such as the deans of the College, the Office of Student Life and the Office of Financial Aid. We hope to have updates for students over the next few days.”
Jackson Hyde ’28 is an intended philosophy major from Los Angeles, California. His interests include photography, meditation, and board game design.