Keio University's 2020 COVID-19 Response (3): Emergency Support

2021/06/17

In February 2020, news broke of a mass infection of the new coronavirus on a cruise ship in Yokohama Port. Because Keio University has a hospital and the Keio Academy of New York in the United States, it began responding to this issue from a very early stage. Before the university entrance exams in February, a COVID-19 Infectious Disease Response Headquarters was established, centered around the President, Vice-Presidents, and the Secretary General.

Subsequently, the COVID-19 pandemic gradually spread throughout the country, and on April 7, 2020, the first state of emergency was declared. The Office of Fund Raising, which handles donations and fundraising activities, began receiving inquiries from Keio University alumni and Mita-kai regarding donations specifically for COVID-19 countermeasures. Initially, these were accepted as designated donations (donations with matching purposes were later integrated into emergency support). Later, as voices wanting to "support the Juku" grew even louder, the Office of Fund Raising became the department in charge of accepting donations through two main channels: the "Keio University Degree Completion Scholarship," which focuses on supporting Keio students, and the "Keio University Hospital Medical Support Fund," aimed at supporting medical staff on the front lines of COVID-19 countermeasures at the School of Medicine and Keio University Hospital, as well as maintaining and strengthening the medical system.

Regarding medical support in particular, the assistance of the members of the Keio University Board of Councilors, including Chairman Hiromichi Iwasa, served as a catalyst. Furthermore, the leadership of Akiko Suganuma, Chairperson of the Keio Rengo Mita-Kai, played a major role in calling for donations from Mita-kai across the country.

Following the declaration of the state of emergency, all members of the Office of Fund Raising worked from home in principle until the end of April in accordance with Keio University policy, and the number of days in the office was restricted to about once a week during May. As it was anticipated that this would make it difficult to exchange donation application forms by mail as in the past, an urgent call for emergency support centered on online applications was implemented on the Office of Fund Raising website, and a dedicated page was launched in early May.

Emergency support for the COVID-19 pandemic is broadly divided into support for Keio students and support for the School of Medicine and Keio University Hospital. Regarding support for the hospital, we first made effective use of a portion of the Emergency Medical System Support Reserve (page 45 of the "2019 Business Report (Keio University Activities and Financial Status)"), which was already held through large-scale donations from philanthropists. Subsequently, donations to the aforementioned "Keio University Hospital Medical Support Fund" began, reaching 984 cases totaling 641,233,233 yen as of the end of March 2021. We also received many donations in kind, such as medical equipment, protective gear, masks, and food and beverages, from Mita-kai at home and abroad, as well as from individuals, corporations, and organizations.

On the other hand, regarding support for degree completion, a message from President Akira Haseyama was posted on the Keio University website on May 1, 2020. It stated that for Keio students who found it difficult to continue their studies for economic reasons, Keio University would actively utilize scholarship funds totaling approximately 24 billion yen—including the Keio University Degree Completion Scholarship, the 2000th Anniversary Scholarship, and the Keio Gijuku Iji-kai Scholarship—separately from public scholarships such as the national study support system and the Japan Student Services Organization. Additionally, it was announced that the scholarship fund would be urgently increased by approximately 500 million yen to provide financial support of up to 400,000 yen per person. (https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/news/2020/5/1/27-69699/)

Donations to the "Keio University Degree Completion Scholarship," which became part of this financial resource, reached 1,119 cases totaling 107,820,795 yen as of the end of March 2021. Furthermore, by a decisive move of the Standing Committee of The Iji-kai (Support Group), 150,214,751 yen in donations to The Iji-kai for fiscal year 2020 was allocated to the Degree Completion Scholarship. By preparing the Degree Completion Scholarship through these funds, along with the investment income from other scholarship funds held by Keio University and the ordinary budget as mentioned in the President's message, we were largely able to achieve our initial goal of providing prompt and sufficient support to Keio students in financial distress.

Prior to the Degree Completion Scholarship, a subsidy of 15,000 yen was provided starting in May 2020 to Keio students who had difficulty setting up the communication environment necessary for online classes. Looking toward the future of higher education, Keio University had already been investing human and financial resources into the development of various facilities, equipment, and information system environments to improve the quality of online classes. In fiscal year 2020, we also made significant investments in expanding class support systems and remote conferencing systems. While there may have been minor issues in the early stages, thanks to the wisdom and efforts of faculty, staff, and Keio students, we managed to smoothly conduct online classes in the spring semester, hybrid classes in the fall semester, and daily operations by faculty and staff by mastering these systems.

In this way, during this emergency, we have received donations for the hospital and Keio students from many Keio University alumni, faculty, staff, and organizations including corporations and Mita-kai. Furthermore, this movement has spread to the parents of Keio students, hospital affiliates, patients, and their families. When applying for donations via the internet, many donors include a brief comment in the remarks column, and they are all heartwarming messages for Keio University. Some of these are posted on the Office of Fund Raising website as "Messages Received from Everyone." These messages not only encourage the hospital staff and Keio students fighting COVID-19 but also serve as energy for the Office of Fund Raising staff and general faculty and staff who are busy responding to the situation.

Keio University has the spirit of Keio Gijuku Shachu cooperation, and this past year has truly made me feel that spirit. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported us so far, and I ask for your continued support until the COVID-19 pandemic subsides.