Grove City College is using a $210,000 grant provided by the Richard King Mellon Foundation to invest in health and safety measures necessary to protect students, employees and the community this fall in light of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.
“This grant is a great help in offsetting unexpected costs incurred over the last six months and we are incredibly grateful to the Richard King Mellon Foundation for its support. The Foundation’s continuing commitment to higher education as an essential service to the local community, region and state is evident by its generosity and willingness to support the College during a challenging season,” Grove City College President Paul J. McNulty ’80 said.
The Foundation provided $2.5 million in grants to 12 regional colleges and universities to cover pandemic-related expenses, including COVID-19 testing, personal protective equipment, health care costs, technology costs related to offering online learning or for financial aid for students in need. Overall, the Foundation has provided $25 million in grants to help Southwest Pennsylvania weather the COVID-19 crisis.
“Our regional colleges and universities are essential engines for growth – for the students who learn there, the people who work there, and for the local communities whose economies we know they so powerfully impact,” Foundation Director Sam Reiman said. “And we want to be there for them now, at this critical hour, as they navigate the complex logistics of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Grove City College welcomed students back to campus in person for the first day of classes Monday. Under the College’s guidelines, masks are required in most public spaces, social distancing is recommended, travel off campus is discouraged and physical adjustments have been implemented across campus to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. Students were screened before returning, and the College will regularly assess the health of the campus throughout the fall semester.