Another Ray of Hope

Colleges around the country are responding to Hurricane Katrina in various ways, all of them good. I wanted to take a second to pass along this statement from Steve Ciesinski, the chairman of the Board of Trustees at my own alma mater, Union College:

"I know that we are all shocked and frustrated by the events in Louisiana, Mississippi and other Southeastern states. This short message is to inform you of some good things that are happening – and how Union is involved.

A number of students who had been accepted as incoming freshmen at Tulane University – a fine institution - were informed that the university may be shut down for a while, given Katrina's wrath. These students have re-applied to Union on short notice hoping to be accepted for admission this fall. Our Admissions department is 'fast-tracking' them and, if their qualifications for admission are acceptable, we will welcome them as first year students.

According to Dan Lundquist, Dean of Admissions, one mother said, "Union is a lifesaver; my son Marc had a hard time deciding between Union and Tulane before the tragedy. The college application process was stressful enough - then Katrina - our plight is trivial compared to others but THANK YOU UNION!"

Furthermore, President Underwood and I discussed this morning reaching out formally to Tulane (and other schools such as Dillard and Xavier) about perhaps assisting with upper-class students there who do not have a school to attend in the fall. I encouraged him to 'go for it.' We had a brief conversation about transfer students affecting class size and other factors, but agreed that the need by far outweighs the inconvenience, if we can handle it properly (and he thinks we can).

I asked President Underwood if these students were in need of financial aid, and he thought that they probably were. I personally said that I would be digging a little deeper into my pocket to help, and I encourage you to give a little yourself, if you are so inspired.

Union has really jumped in very rapidly on a Labor Day weekend to help.

Thanks, let's hope for better news for our country."

Union's a great place, and it will only be made better this fall if it can make some lives a little bit easier. Kudos to Steve, and to my dear friend Jim Underwood. We couldn't ask for better leadership at a time like this.