Funding Resources

Cooper Fund

All members of the Swarthmore College campus community may propose an event for any semester in which they are on campus. In addition to a complete application, a faculty partner is required for all proposals. The Cooper Foundation will pay all costs related to the public portions of approved events, including artists/performance/speakers fees and advertising costs.

Conference Fund

The Student Affairs Division has a limited amount of funding which is used to support students who would like to attend a conference. Applications may be submitted by email to Felicite Gibson or in person in the Student Affairs, Parrish East 140.

There is no guarantee that a conference funding request will be approved for funding. The Dean’s Office encourages you to choose carefully the conference you are hoping to attend. If approved, the office will fund only one conference per academic year for an individual student or group of students.

Office of Student Engagement

The Office of Student Engagement supports, advises, and advocates for student organizations and student programming. The office provides leadership opportunities and resources for students to impact extra-curricular life on-campus through diverse programming. 

Sager Series

The Sager Fund was created in 1988 by Swarthmore College alumnus Richard Sager ’73. The creation of the fund also established the Sager Symposium at Swarthmore College, which over a period of 20 years explored current topics for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community.  After a series of meetings and conversations with Richard Sager, formal plans for restructuring the Fund were finalized, with a revised set of operating guidelines authorizing the Sager Fund Committee (SFC) to replace the Sager Symposium with The Sager Series.

Serendipity Fund

The Serendipity Fund was designed to support events that could not have been foreseen within the timeframe required to apply for a full Cooper Grant. Applications should make a strong case for the serendipitous nature of the event. Examples of serendipity include, but are not limited to, unexpected proximity and/or availability of a speaker, timeliness of subject matter, coordination with other significant events on campus (including events funded by Cooper), and/or coordination with events taking place in the greater Philadelphia area. Applicants should be aware that the awards usually range between $500 and $1000.