Dr. Buffy Smith, dean of Dougherty Family College at the University of St. Thomas, recently spoke with Sheletta Brundidge from WCCO Radio on supporting students with housing, food and transportation insecurities through DFC emergency funds. Smith also spoke on the importance of “Ohana” at DFC.
From the interview:
Smith: It was, in fact, when the shutdown happened, Sarah Dougherty reached out to me to provide grocery cards for our scholars who might need additional support during the shutdown. And that is why I have some grocery cards to provide them support, and that’s why we try to do … We meet their needs as much as we can so that there will not be an emergency crisis that will prevent them from being able to persist and earn their degree.
Brundidge: Well, I’m going to just say that is one of the things that separates Dougherty Family College from other colleges and universities. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of anything like that …It was never that much care and concern about how we were doing, if we were hungry, (or) how we got to class … And I need to talk a little bit to you for those folks out there who have never heard of Dougherty Family College, family’s in the name for a reason, right?
Smith: Yes, absolutely it is … I want to say we are grateful for our partners ... but I also want to give you an example from last week. A DFC staff member gave some additional grocery gift cards, and I want to emphasize this because this DFC staff member already gives her time to our scholars to support them inside and outside of the classroom, yet she also wanted to give additional financial support to our scholars. This staff member embodies what we refer to as “Ohana,” which is a native Hawaiian word that means family.
So what makes Dougherty Family College special is that we have caring and loving adults who are committed to making sure that our college is student centered. And so what that really means is that every day we work really hard to assure that our amazing, resilient, hardworking scholars are seen, heard, valued, firm, supported, cared for, and loved every day.
