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Below: Brialle Ringer received the Evans- Strand Scholarship Award, an annual prize that recognizes contributions in advancing diversity at EMU.
“She was like a young savant
who could see her destiny in the tea leaves,” says Bombyk. “We’re both very grateful for the relationship. It’s mutually enriching.” In her letter nominating Ringer for the National Association of Social Workers scholarship she received, Bombyk described her as “one of the most serious, activist-minded social work students I have ever taught. She is simply among the best of the best. It is likely she will have made a genuine impact on the University and future students before she completes her undergraduate degree.” Ringer’s career had been already exceptional when she began work on her paper. She’s a McNair Scholar, a member of the Honors College and, as a sophomore, was the
youngest person ever to have a paper published in the McNair Scholars Journal. Thanks, again, to help from
relatives, Marcum and her family now own a home, but she recalls that “when I was experiencing this, I knew of nothing on campus that would have been of help to me.” Because of the eff orts of people
like Ringer and Bombyk, and of an Eastern community whose awareness of the sacrifi ces many of its students are making has been raised, there’s help now. 3
12 Eastern | WINTER 2016 What If It Happened to You?
Student’s story draws attention; University, community there with helping hand
Ramone Williams became a reluctant
celebrity in December, when an article about his predicament was published in Bridge magazine. The title says it all: “He’s a college senior with a 3.4 GPA. And he’s homeless.” Williams, a senior from Flint majoring
in communication media and theatre arts, began sleeping in his minivan when he could no longer afford housing at the beginning of the fall semester, moving to the library when the weather turned cold. He is constantly and literally worried about where his next meal will come from. And the response to his story, picked up by multiple media outlets, was swift and sizable: GoFundMe accounts were set up for both him and homeless student services at Eastern, and offers of temporary housing poured in. The account for Williams
himself raised considerably more money, but the one for homeless student services represents what will matter more in the long run: institutional support for similarly strapped students. On Sept. 21, not long after Williams
started to bunk in his car, Swoop’s Student Food Pantry opened in the Marshall Building, offering free boxed and canned foods, along with fresh vegetables and fruits and yogurt, to financially needy students. In its first two and a half months of operation, it served 323 students and gave out nearly two tons of food. Referrals to campus and community resources to meet emergency and non-food needs are also available.
“Swoop’s Food Pantry is a great
example of how we can work together to assure that our talented EMU students are not held back by limited means,” says Dr. Lynn Nybell, director of the School of Social Work, one of the pantry’s chief supporters. Conceived and run by students, the pantry has also received support from
Photograph by Brian Widdis for Bridge
the President’s Office, the office of the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, the Office of Nutrition Services, and the EMU Foundation, as well as food donations from the Jiffy Mix company, the Drake’s Batter Mix Company and Eden Foods. Some students in dire straits also have
access to Eastern’s MAGIC (Mentorship, Access, Guidance in College) program, which offers counseling and some limited financial help to students who have aged out of the foster care system. While MAGIC doesn’t specifically target the homeless, about a third of students formerly in foster care find themselves in that plight. 3
photo by Randy Mascharka
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