Crowdsourcing his tuition
In an age where everything from a Nikola Tesla museum to a public statue of Robocop can be crowdsourced, one student has applied this idea to funding his tuition.
Kambi Gathesha is a General Studies student who, after following an eclectic path that includes studying at Julliard and pursuing a career in dance and acting, realized that scholarship was his true passion.
A year and half away from completing his degree, however, Gathesha ran out of funds — and GS financial aid was unable to help. However, rather than give up, he has taken his struggle to crowdsourcing site gofundme.com. His fundraising page asks that “family, colleagues, professors, and acquaintances” to help him raise the $40,000 he needs for tuition.
Though he is still far from his goal, the page has so far raised over four thousand dollars in fifteen days. Donations have come from “friends, their families, former colleagues, and strangers” and have been in amounts between $5 and $600.
Even with $36,000 left to raise, Gathesha says he is not discouraged by the long road ahead.
“I think the chances of its success are pretty strong,” says Gathesha. “It will require great tenacity from me in terms of publicizing my cause and taking it to more people within the Columbia community and beyond.”
His optimism is matched by determination: “Failure for me is not an option… I have much more to do here. I am not failing. I will do whatever it takes to walk across that stage. This is my life I am investing in.”
In addition to gofundme, Gathesha has publicized his project on the Columbia African Students Association’s Facebook page and on his Twitter account (@KGathesha), where he has asked talents such as Ellen DeGeneres and Alicia Keys to help with a fundraiser tentatively scheduled for Sept. 8.
Despite the confidence he projects, it’s clear that this has been a trying process for Gathesha, and his struggle both exposes and rejects a secret shame felt by many low income individuals. He advices other not to be ashamed of their struggles:
“I think another thing I’ve learned is that there is such a stigma around those who are afflicted with an issue. I can’t tell you how many anonymous messages I’ve gotten from people that write to me ‘you’re so brave for making your struggle so public’ since I’ve launched my campaign. It troubles me that people, myself included feel ashamed of their personal struggles.”
Should the project succeed, Gathesha has big plans for his graduate career. He states on his gofundme page that he hopes to “film a documentary and companion book on the connections between dances of the African Diaspora from Hip-Hop to jazz, tap to swing, and dances from the Caribbean” and after graduating, “turn that project into a thesis, resume my career as a dancer, actor, and filmmaker, and pursue a PhD in African History.”
Regardless of his hardship, Kambi bears no ill will toward Columbia. He calls GS “an institution I love, an institution that has helped me grow, and an institution that I want to contribute to.”
Three of the eight people in my clique last year dropped out due to funding problems, and four of the remaining five are in the dark every summer as to whether we can cobble enough loans and aid from acquaintances to attend Columbia and hang with the no-loan CC students. That’s great that Gathesha bears no ill will towards Columbia, but I’m sure as hell outraged.
education needs to be fucking cheaper.
Why was GS financial aid unable to help? Aren’t they also need-based?
No, they are merit-based.
There is no more apparent case of incompetence/mismanagement on campus than the joke of a financial aid office at GS. Go there if you want to be ignored, misinformed, abused, or told to simply go elsewhere.
There needs to be a complete house-cleaning there. Bring in people who can re-invent the financial assistance model there. And, if I once again hear the excuse that GS is doing all it can, I will accept that but will insist, then, that perhaps GS simply needs to cease to exist.
BTW: with all due respect, Skip Bailey & Co. really need to find a different source of employment.
GS is an excellent institution and I respect the School and its impressive students very much, but this is unacceptable and very upsetting. GS is an Ivy League college and needs to get this financial aid issue resolved already(although I realize it is still a very new establishment with a smaller alumni base).
I wish you the best of luck, Kambi. Don’t be ashamed, and never give up!
Have you ever tried to deal with the GS Office of Financial Aid? If you have, you will know the answer to this question.
What question?
Please elaborate, and raise some awareness, then.
If you want to help, pressure Low Library to dedicate more funds to GS. GS wants to help, but it has limited resources.
the university has an endowment that is nearly $7bn and yet some students are still forced to pull stunts like this? columbia will never see a fucking penny out of me.