The Graduate Student Council (GSC) unanimously approved $6,000 in discretionary funding for the Bridge Peer Counseling Center, a student mental health resource that has faced potential threats to its funding and survival, at a Monday meeting.
After being relocated from Rogers House to Munger Graduate Residence during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Bridge has seen disputes with University leadership over funding, space and its live-in counselor model.
Live-in student volunteers currently pay $20,000 out-of-pocket for the $80,000 cost of operating in Munger and have pursued funding from the University and student government to meet their cost of living.
Dante Danelian ’24 M.S. ’25, a Bridge counselor, said that leadership of the Bridge met with the Provost and the Vice Provost of Student Affairs to create a written agreement, which is expected to be released this week. The agreement would allow the Bridge to remain in Munger with a Resident Assistant stipend of $12,400 per academic year for live-in counselors – students who provide 24/7 counseling for students and live at Munger.
The stipend covers 60 percent of the total cost of living, which the Bridge is working to reduce from $20,000 per student volunteer to $1,000 per student. The Bridge made discretionary funding requests of $6,000 each to the President’s Office, GSC and the Undergraduate Student Senate, which would fully cover students’ costs as live-in counselors.
“[Funding] is not something we ask for lightly, but it is quite a substantial cost that has fallen upon us volunteers,” Danelian said. “It would really be incredibly helpful to receive support from the body at this point.”
Some GSC members voiced concerns about the University defunding organizations more often.
“This is not an isolated incident in regards to the University spontaneously deciding to stop funding things that they have previously agreed to fund in previous years,” said GSC Co-Chair Emmit Pert, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in chemistry.
Although the Bridge received an annual grant from the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) dedicated to student organizations, its potential defunding by the University led leaders to seek last-minute funding opportunities.
The students learned about the out-of-pocket costs they would face as live-in counselors relatively late, creating uncertainty about whether they could still apply for quick grants including GSC discretionary funding, Danelian said. Quick grants are more commonly used to fund student activities than organizations, according to Pert.
“It was kind of a last minute decision that we made, and I think [it] has been a substantial cost that would really mean a lot to get covered,” Danelian said.
The GSC also acquired 100 tickets for Frost Fest to increase the participation of graduate students in Stanford-wide events. The GSC and the Stanford Concert Network’s (SCN) goal is for 50 percent of the event’s attendees to be graduate students.
GSC social chair Leslie Luqueno, a fifth-year Ph.D. student in education, said that the GSC and SCN are excited to increase the presence of graduate students. Luqueno said there was an increase in the number of graduate students interested in this year’s Frost Fest, which will be headlined by 2025 Grammy winner and rapper Doechii.