New School student group hopes to raise $20,000 for Türkiye-Syria Earthquake victims

The New School student group, made up of nearly 30 volunteers, began accepting donations in the University Center and taking trips to the NYC Turkish Consulate General to drop off items on Feb 9. Image courtesy of Sade Ajas

(Originally Written and Published for The New School Free Press)

A group of New School students have organized a fundraising and donation drive, which raised $1,800 in less than a day, to support victims of the recent earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

The initiative was organized in half a day by Turkish students Dalya Inan, a second-year fine arts major at Parsons School of Design, and Maryam Mushtaq, a second-year graduate sociology student at the New School for Social Research. The girls first utilized The New School’s student workers union’s Instagram, SENS_UAW which Mushtaq helps to run, to ask for donations and volunteers. Set up in the lobby of the University Center with boxes and a few posters listing needed supplies and a personal Venmo account, nearly 30 volunteers, the majority of whom are Turkish, began accepting donations and taking trips to the NYC Turkish Consulate General to drop off items on Feb 9.

The two 7.8 magnitude earthquakes, which hit southeastern Türkiye and northwestern Syria on Feb 6, 2023, has left over 44,000 people dead and millions more displaced across the affected areas, with those numbers expected to rise. Though humanitarian aid from across the world has attempted to provide relief to those affected, many are still struggling with a lack of food, shelter and supplies. In some areas, victims have yet to receive any relief at all. The ongoing civil war in Syria has made border crossings difficult, and damaged infrastructure from the powerful quakes has left thousands with only the clothes on their back and the supplies they can find in the rubble. 

Cansu Celebioglu, a senior interior design student at Parsons School of Design who is from Istanbul, began accepting donations alone before joining the group when she learned about them from a Sens_UAW Instagram post. Celebioglu said, “Seeing other Turkish people in pain, it’s inevitable for us to feel that same pain, even though we’re here, I feel like we were all very much inspired by the efforts at home to be like, yes, we need to help each other right now.”

Students from Turkey make up the 10th largest international student population at The New School. Turkish students at the university have been able to gather and support each other in the wake of the disasters, creating a community they hope lasts.

Knowing that the donation drop-off location in the UC wasn’t a viable long-term solution, the group, now with nearly 20 members, decided to establish their organization, TNS4Türkiye. They introduced themselves on an Instagram account and created their official fundraising profile through Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) on Feb. 18th. In less than one day, the group raised $1,800. With plans to have their Venmo donations matched and added to the fund, they are committed to raising $20,000 by April 23rd in honor of both National Sovereignty and Children’s Day in Türkiye. The money will go towards Turkish children affected by the quakes.

Currently, there are no Syrian students part of the group, and no donations have been directed to those affected in Syria. However, they plan to help both Turkish and Syrian New School students with their long-term goals like fundraising events and establishing a scholarship fund for those economically affected by the quakes. 

“[The scholarship fund] is one of our main goals and we’re looking for ways to bring that to life, I guess, because that would be amazing,” Inan said. She hopes that The New School community will help bring their goals to fruition, “it would be amazing if the school can contribute because we’re a community, we should help each other. That’s why we created this group. We’re looking after each other, but we are also trying to help others who are in need.”

On Feb. 10, four days following the tragedy and a day after the donation drive began, the university offered their support to students who may be affected by the earthquakes. A joint email from University President Dwight McBride and Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, Renee T. White, in which they mentioned the donation drive, included links to resources for faculty and students who may need assistance. 

“I feel like the school was not involved,” Celebioglu said, “All of us were giving time out of our day, out of our free time just to do this. Nobody really reached out to us to offer this type of involvement.”

Other disappointed students took to the comment section of the university Instagram to criticize The New School for their lack of support. 

The New School Instagram account received backlash under this Feb 9 post for not properly addressing the Türkiye/Syria earthquakes. 
Photo: The New School Instagram

Zeynep Atik, Turkish graphic designer and recent Parsons School of Design graduate, commented that the school’s Feb. 9 post, a picture of students taking a selfie with The New School’s mascot, Gnarls, was “distasteful.” 

“Where are the links on your stories today. Why aren’t you sharing that ur accepting donations at the UC, where’s the reminder,” Atik commented. 

Another commenter, Ro McQuaid, a drama major from the College of Performing Arts, said “yet somehow always too busy to make meaningful efforts to care for your students? Where’s the support for your Turkish and Syrian students after the traumatic earthquake this week?” 

The New School’s Instagram account replied to multiple comments with the same copy-and-pasted paragraph, expressing that they are “deeply concerned about the situation.”

“We have shared information on our account. You can see more information in our Link in Bio at the top of our IG profile, and for immediate help with resources, students can reach out to the office of Student Success,” the university’s instagram rep said.

“We’re willing to entertain any type of support if it’s within our reach,” said Shondrika Merritt, Associate Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, “what we really try to do is invite the students in when they’re ready to come and talk to us so that we can understand the specific needs.”

Though they felt the university’s assistance was lacking, finding each other in the wake of the earthquakes through the donation drive has allowed the group to create a community of support that they hope TNS4Türkiye will allow them to build upon. 

“It was actually really nice to build this community and have. Even though it’s a terrible way to meet each other, it was how we kind of found each other,” Ceylin Sunar, Turkish senior architectural design major at Parsons, said. “And it really, I think, inspired us to push forward and continue with these efforts.”

On Monday, Feb 20, another devastating 6.2 magnitude earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria. TNS4Türkiye plans to continue with their fundraising endeavors. Though they are no longer accepting physical donations, they are still accepting monetary donations via their TPF fundraiser and venmo.