At 1:03 p.m. on Oct. 22, freshman occupational therapy major Matthew Pappadia updated his Facebook status with a call to action.

“Attention Dillingham students! Theater majors, meet at Campus Center, the upstairs lounge tonight at 11 p.m.! Our friend is in need, and we’re not going down without a fight!” it read.

At 6:54 p.m. that night, freshman musical theater major Divine Marsh updated her Facebook with the reason for Pappadia’s status. She was being told to leave Ithaca College.

Her Facebook status read, “Divine Marsh is thankful. God, I thank you for my Ithaca friends ... Your love is worth so much more than $17,000. I love you all and just know that you will never be forgotten…”

Marsh transferred to the college last semester from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., with limited financial aid. She said she missed the priority deadline for the FAFSA by about one month and was awarded a Federal Pell Grant and Stafford Loan totaling about $8,000. She started her first day of classes with about $34,000 unpaid.

From a young age, Marsh was a natural performer. At 5 years old, she sang gospel songs at her church. She started writing her own music at age 8 and would always tell her mom she wanted to be famous.

“I’d always go to my mom’s room after school and tell her I really wanted to be on TV one day,” she said. “My mom would say, ‘You will be, baby.’”

In high school she was cast ahead of seniors in a leading role in her school’s production of “Grease.” After starting her first year at Regent, she began working as an entertainment cruise line performer on breaks. While at Regent, she worked another job as a waitress. She said she missed the FAFSA deadline after getting caught up in work and the stress of her first year in college.

“I was taking on too much, and I had my own apartment, so I had to pay bills because they ran out of rooms at Regent,” she said.

Nevertheless, she auditioned and later enrolled as a musical theater major at Ithaca.

“I came to school without a way [to pay],” Marsh said. “I relied on God.”

Marsh considered many options to raising money including asking relatives and family friends to co-sign a loan, which would obligate them to pay the accrued debt if Marsh could not. No one she approached agreed.

With the deadline to pay approaching, Marsh found herself with nothing left to do. The Office of Financial Aid had already extended her enrollment until Oct. 22 to give her time to pay the full balance.

After hearing the news that Marsh had to pack up and leave, her friends decided it was time to take action.

A few hours, countless texts and several Facebook statuses later, more than 20 freshman theater majors gathered at McDonald Lounge in Campus Center.

“She’s one of our own,” freshman musical theater major DeAnne Stewart said. “We couldn’t let that happen.”

They wrote letters to Leslie Lewis, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, urging her to help keep Marsh at the college.

Freshman musical theater major Andrew Miller, who helped come up with the idea for the meeting earlier that morning, said his decision to bring everyone together was a quick one.

“I knew we had to act pretty fast,” he said. “We weren’t expecting any money [from the dean] … we just wanted to buy time.”

Stewart said the atmosphere in the room of people writing letters was chaotic. She said students took turns reading small bits of their letters to the group as they worked, while others walked around helping where they could.

“Everyone was so determined,” she said.

Miller wrote the cover letter for the box of letters sent to the dean. He laughed to himself when recalling his rationale for representing the group.

“I had four years of mock trial before I came to college, and I thought I had a bunch of formal language I could use,” he said.

The letter read, “Dear Ms. Lewis … You will soon discover that these letters contain a cry for help; a call to action… .”

Lewis said in her time at the college, she had never seen such a dedicated response from students facing a crisis.

“This is the first time that I’ve seen students rally around one of their classmates in this way,” she said. “It’s a testament to the remarkable way that the theater students have bonded and formed a community.”

Associate professor of theater arts Susannah Berryman, who teaches Marsh in a voice and movement class, said Marsh’s commitment to her fellow classmates is what gave them the inspiration to help her.

“She’s very sincere, committed, empathetic, hardworking and very concerned about the welfare of the ensemble,” Berryman said. “She’s a terrific student in my class.”

The rush to help Marsh ended and the next day, Larry Chambers, director of Student Financial Services, contacted Marsh at 4:30 p.m., just 30 minutes before her enrollment would officially be terminated. Marsh walked into his office prepared for the worst.

“I was ready to cry my little butt off,” Marsh said.

In the meeting, Chambers offered Marsh $23,000 in financial aid for the school year.

Chambers declined to comment on the specifics of the grant and why it was distributed to Marsh.

James Marsh, Marsh’s father, who works as a janitor and a minister, said the money coming in was an act of God and a relief to him, as he’s been the main support for six foster children, Marsh and her brother. His wife died of breast cancer when Marsh was only 15 years old. Since her death, James has remarried, but has a full house to take care of.

“It was pressure off of me because … I feel more of the pressure of trying to come up with plans or solutions where her mother and I would do it together,” he said.

However, 20 grand wouldn’t be enough to let her continue pursuing her dreams at the college. Marsh still had to raise $10,000 by Jan. 11 to remain enrolled. She decided to put on a benefit show at her church in Williamsburg, Va., to raise funds.

“The name just came to me,” Marsh said. “The Divine Cabaret.”

Marsh’s cabaret on Jan. 3 featured singers, musicians and dancers in her local area. She performed songs like “Silent Night” and “Home” from “The Wiz.”

About 500 people attended the show, which raised nearly $6,000, just $4,000 shy of what Marsh needed. Her father deposited the rest from money he had saved just in time for her to return for a second semester.

Marsh and her father are now looking for ways to pay for her next three years at the college. Marsh said she plans to have more cabarets, apply for more scholarships and do all she can to pay for her education at the school she loves.

Through all the hardship in the situation, Marsh said there has been one constant reminder of her purpose and drive in life — her name.

“Thank God for my name,” she said as she looked up, smiling subtly at the thought. “Whenever people say it, it brings me joy. It says that I’m blessed … and highly favored.”