As the first person in his family to attend college, Kerry has struggled to pay his expenses, juggling a full academic course load and two part time jobs to make ends meet. All the while, Kerry struggled with the fact that his mother was back in his hometown, and suffering from a terminal disease. Determined to help his mother, Kerry spent his last years of school shuttling back and forth from Buffalo to New York City. Sadly, last spring his mother passed and he headed back home for her funeral. 

Shaken, but determined to finish his degree, Kerry came back to campus to complete the six classes he needed to earn his degree. He applied for financial assistance and was shocked to discover that he was ineligible. With no family members able to help him pay tuition or co-sign a loan, Kerry turned to the College of Arts and Sciences AEΠ Student Assistance Fund. The fund was established by members of the College’s Dean’s Advisory Council who were members of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Chapter at UB. They established this fund in order to provide critical support for students in the College of Arts and Sciences, like Kerry, who have financial need, and for whom a grant makes the difference between their ability to complete their education or withdraw from their studies.

With an award from the AEΠ fund, Kerry is now able to continue to work toward the goal he and his mother set forth for him long ago—for him to be the first in their family to graduate from college. “Without this funding, I would not have been able to graduate.” 

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