Would a Flat Tire Have Changed the Course of Your Life?

Chris Gray, Ph.D.

Founding President, Erie County Community College

Strange title I know but hang with me. Today, I write to celebrate another milestone for EC3. This one comes with an ask, but as I am putting my money where my mouth is, I hope that you'll bear with me.

I'm excited to announce that we have officially launched the EC3 Foundation! Our Foundation exists in order to directly support students because, as I can tell you from my experience, a flat tire can absolutely change the course of a college student's life.

To many of our readers, a flat tire may be nothing more than a nuisance and or a distraction. If I were to get a flat tire, for example, I'd definitely be annoyed but then would just go to the tire shop and pay the small fee to get the tire fixed. Not a big deal, right? It's an hour or so out of my day and a few bucks out of my wallet. Sure, that's true; however, it's a giant deal if you don't have that small fee.

Let's go further down this rabbit hole. Let's assume that it costs $40 to fix a flat tire. Again, this is not a big deal for me at this stage in my life. But imagine what it would be like if I didn't have immediate access to that $40. I may still be able to figure it out; I could call a family member or a friend and borrow $40, or maybe I could throw it on my credit card. But what happens when you live in systemic poverty and don't know someone that can loan you $40 and/or you don't have a credit card?

Well, then that flat tire that was just a nuisance or a distraction becomes something much bigger. What do you do? Do you decide to leave the car on the side of the road and hope you don't get ticketed — or worse, towed — while you try to find a solution? Do you consider just skipping — or worse, dropping — a class so that you can pick up an extra shift at work in order to pay for that flat tire? Do you hope that you don't get multiple tickets that lead to a tow, which could result in your car being impounded and causing that $40 flat tire to end up costing much more? Do you just abandon the car entirely because you know there's not a way to fix it given your financial circumstances?

Sure, this is an example of the slippery slope in action, but it's no exaggeration to say that even seemingly small things can spiral quickly when you don't have support or access to resources. I have seen this time and time again with community college students. A flat tire, an unexpectedly high electric bill, or an emergency dental procedure can put our students in jeopardy of having to make life-altering decisions. I have seen students drop out of college all together over financial hurdles such as these, most of which many of our good readers would dismiss without much thought.

And that is exactly where the EC3 Foundation comes in. At EC3, we have established an emergency fund to assist students through crises like these so that they don't have to make a finance-based decision that could negatively change the course of their entire lives. Our emergency fund is used for one-time, unexpected costs for our students who do not have access to financial support. We use these funds all the time at EC3, and we should.

Recently, our student success coaches reached out to a student who performed very well in the first half of class but then disappeared for a week. When the coaches reached out to the student, they found out that he stopped attending because he found a side job whose hours happened to conflict with his class hours! This student was willing to give up his academic record — and his academic success — because the immediate crisis and fear of losing his transportation felt more pressing than his future educational goals.

But this is where we can help! I am asking each of you as readers of this blog to open up your wallets and give whatever you can to help prevent our students from ever having to make these choices. Whether it's $5, $50, or $500, these funds will go directly to help support students who are facing crises. As you know from my previous blogs, I would not be in the position I am in today without the support of so many of those around me. And for this reason, I am pledging to match your contributions with my own funds, up to $10,000, for those of you who choose to support our students through the EC3 Foundation.

I believe in this community, and I believe in our students. I believe that we have the power to shape the future right now, and I believe that our job as a community is to help and support each other. Please join me in helping build the support system that some of our students most desperately need.

Our community: your college.