With campuses on Staten Island, Eastern Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan and throughout other affected areas in the city, Hurricane Sandy has had a profound effect on City University of New York (CUNY). More than 7,000 students who attend CUNY lived in evacuation areas, and tragically, four CUNY students lost their lives during the storm.

As was shown after 9/11, after a tragedy, the dropout rate for CUNY students goes up, as many lose their part-time employment and have to re-focus their time and energy on just getting by. In order to help CUNY keep students in school, Robin Hood has provided an emergency grant of $300,000 through the Relief Fund to CUNY to provide cash assistance to approximately 750 students who are struggling to pay bills in the wake of the storm and will make it possible for them to stay on course with their studies. Robin Hood anticipates this financial assistance will help these students get through the emergency, stay in school and go on to achieve their goals.