This story originally appeared in Res Ipsa, the UMKC School of Law alumni magazine. To learn more, read the full issue or visit the School of Law website.

During the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting crisis, the UMKC School of Law responded by providing emergency support for students through the Students First Fund — an example of collegial assistance that is not unusual for students or alumni of the Law School.

The Students First Fund began with an email campaign to law alumni. The firm of Davis, Bethune & Jones, LLC agreed to match all donations through June 30, 2020. With the match, alumni contributed more than $18,000. The annual appeal at the end of 2020

supported the Students First Fund as well, and the Jack and Helyn Miller Foundation gifted a $10,000 challenge grant to support the fund while encouraging law alumni to make a year-end gift to help even more students.

Tom Jones (J.D. ’88) and his partners Scott Bethune (J.D. ’88) and Grant Davis (J.D. ’87) say they established the match because they know how challenging being a student in law school can be.

“We remember how hard it was for us to be students — the time, the sacrifice, the money,” Jones says. “Being a student has historically been a financial hardship – not only on students, but on the people surrounding the student. Sometimes we forget how people are struggling to get by.”

Ashley Swanson-Hoye, who administers the fund, encounters students with these challenges regularly. She says the Students First Fund was established to help those students who are experiencing a financial shortfall with immediate needs such as rent, utility bills, childcare and groceries.

Payouts are considered an emergency loan, which students can pay back in a set amount of time with no interest. Swanson-Hoye also works with students to see if she can connect them with additional resources, such as counseling or long-term financial assistance.

In addition, Swanson-Hoye makes sure that the students know about the UMKC Student Emergency Fund, the Roo Pantry and other community services that may be able to provide long-term help. She says the Law School leadership and administration anticipated that students would have greater need.

“Some students or their partners worked in the restaurant industry part-time and lost their jobs,” she says. “The unexpected loss hit them hard, so the emergency fund helped them make it.”

The one thing students seeking emergency funds had in common, she says, was their reaction when they discovered it was available.

“Relief! They have all been so grateful that we had funds that can be used to help them with immediate needs,” she says.

Fortunately, there are still funds available.

“We continue to have requests and we want students who are facing emergency situations to reach out and use the funds,” she says. “Our goal is to support our students holistically. The emergency fund is just one piece of that.”

This community environment is one reason the firm of Davis, Bethune & Jones continues to support student success in many forms.

“My partners and I have enormous affection and respect for UMKC’s Law School,” Jones says. “We feel lucky to have been able to attend. Our experiences there as students and now as alums has inspired us to give back.”

To make a gift to the UMKC School of Law, visit us online or contact Marie Dispenza, J.D., at UMKC Law Foundation, at 816-235-6328 or dispenzam@umkcfoundation.org.