Laurentian students raising money for emergency aid

Two Laurentian University students are lending a hand to their classmates, as massive cuts at the school throw a twist into academic plans.

Demetra Evangelou and Kayla Christodoulopoulos have started a GofundMe campaign in the hopes of getting money (about $100)to each studentaffected by the cutting of close to 70 undergraduate and graduate programs.

"There's so many little things that we don't think about," Evangelou said. "There are extra costs when you have to move cities or really anything when it comes to change or at least change that came out of nowhere at this point."

While $100 may not sound like a lot, Evangelousays it can make a big difference to students, especially as fees mount for transferring to other schools andmoving.

"It's definitely going to help them with relocation, like transportation or literally any little tiny thingthat they might need help with along the way," Evangelou said.

"If we see the donations coming in and we reach the [$10,000] goal or surpass the goal and it keeps going, then we might raise the amount that each student is getting."

She notes that international students are likely going to be hit hard by programsdissolving, especially as they don't have support networks like family or friends to help them adjust.

There's an estimated 600 international students who were enrolled at Laurentian.

"I really felt for those [international] students because there's so many of them in Sudbury, and they have to make all those changes now," she said.

Evangelou knows the feeling. She came to Canada from Greece to finish high school and now studies at the McEwen School of Architecture, while her partner in the campaign, Christodoulopoulos, in enrolled in the nursing program.

Evangelou said she was lucky to have additional family support around her, to make the transition less severe.

But so far, Laurentian University hasn't offered any additional support to international students.

"My heart got so heavy.," Evangelou said. "And I just tearing up. I was like, I need to do something. I can't just sit here and do nothing."