Emergency Relief Fund reupped

UTD makes relief fund accessible independent of COVID

FATIMAH AZEEM Opinion Editor

After a change in its primary funding mechanism, UTD’s Emergency Support Fund (ESF) is still available for students seeking financial assistance.

Created during the peak of the pandemic in 2020, the grant started within the Division of Student Affairs in collaboration with the Financial Aid Office and the Bursar’s Office. Funds for the ESF originated from institutional funds and federal COVID-19 financial aid programs last fall and spring. However, Associate Dean for Health and Wellness Initiatives Laura Smith said the grant is funded primarily through donations from faculty, staff and UTD community members now that the programs are inactive.

“We created [the Emergency Support Fund] to help students with unanticipated expenses,” Smith said. “We were noticing that there were a lot of students, especially during the pandemic, that were all of a sudden needing new technology now that classes were remote. Or they were having difficulty meeting their rent because their loved one has lost a job due to COVID, or they weren’t able to do something.”

Smith said many of these unforeseen expenses are still at play for students struggling financially, whether from COVID-19 or not, which is why the grant will stay active until funds are exhausted. Students can receive a maximum of $1,000 in funds through the grant and can apply for the grant as many times as needed until they reach the cap. Smith said funds can’t be awarded tangibly in the form of food cards or technology, but students can put the funds received in their Bursar account towards these necessities if they choose.

“It was really designed to be for shortterm unforeseen expenses,” Smith said, “So, [it’s] not something that we can award students monthly or regularly, but if they needed textbooks or they needed a laptop or they needed help with rent or with their grocery bill for that month then we can as-

After a year-and-a-half hiatus, food trucks are back on campus! If you see a crowd gathered outside the Student Union between 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on a weekday, they’re probably getting lunch from the day’s lineup of food truck partners. With 11 different trucks on rotation, food options range from egg sandwiches and boba to pizza and even Asian-Cajun fusion.

Michael Luttinger, owner of the food truck Eggstand, has been serving at UTD for about three years. The truck serves all kinds of sandwiches—ranging from burgers to a spinach grilled cheese—but the unifying theme is that each one comes with a fried egg. He says the inspiration came from seeing something similar during business trips to the west coast.

“I started this truck about five years ago after being in sales management, where I was traveling the country three weeks out of the month. When I saw something