Help a Disowned Student-Athlete Finish His Degree

My name is Cody Smith, and I am a junior mechanical engineering student-athlete at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. On July 29, 2023, my parents informed me by means of a phone call that they were withdrawing all financial and parental support due to my status as a transgender male. Due to their history of prior physical and emotional abuse over the last 8 years, attempting to reconnect with them would have put me in an unsafe circumstance; therefore, I had to accept their condition of cutting contact.

Over the past few months, I have worked full time at the Whistling Kettle to cover the cost of rent and food expenses. I have not received any financial help from my parents since cutting contact with them, and at the end of the summer semester, they drove to New York to collect the family vehicle that they had previously allowed me to use after removing me from their car insurance, causing me to have to walk across the city of Troy to work each day. With the Spring 2024 semester approaching, I find myself in a position where I am unable to keep up the cost of RPI tuition as it is based on my parents’ collective income as opposed to my own. They have refused to co-sign loans in order for me to cover the cost of said tuition, meaning that I will have to pay tuition out-of-pocket if I cannot come up with the funds—I do not have enough to even make next month’s partial payment.

Finishing my degree has always been my biggest priority in life—it is why I worked so hard to become the valedictorian of my high school graduating class and what has propelled me to become a Dean’s List student here at RPI. It would be devastating for me to lose the opportunity to close out the degree I have put so much time into as well as the community I have found for myself as part of the RPI Track and Field team. I would be so appreciative of any help to get me back on track with my plan of graduating from RPI.