Opinion » Letters

Letter to the Editor

Sunday Apr 26, 2020

This article is from the April 23, 2020 issue of South End News.


Thank you, Sen. Markey

I am a new resident of the South End of Boston and a student at Northeastern University. A month ago, my peers and I were given three days to make arrangements to move off campus because of Covid-19. Many people I know had to quit their jobs and move back home, and others had to scramble to find a place to stay. Massachusetts, which has always been home to some of the greatest educational institutions in the world, has watched every college close, as schools were forced to switch to remote and online classes. And as all of this played out—the closing of schools—the departures of the students, I am grateful that our U.S. Senator Ed Markey who made sure that members of our educational institutions were protected.
When the $2 trillion relief package passed recently, Senator Markey made sure that there was funding for an emergency increase in grant aid to help students pay for relocating when their school doors closed, and for necessities such as food and transportation. He made sure that students maintained their student status so that they would not risk the loss of their aid eligibility.
Ed Markey also worked to procure emergency funding for colleges and universities to support these schools during periods of lost revenue so that they would not need to raise tuition or lay off workers in order to stay afloat.
This is why I am so proud to have Ed Markey representing Massachusetts in the Senate, especially in a time like this. Ed Markey knows how valuable education is and fights every day for the things that are important to me as a young voter in Boston.

-Adele Andrews
South End