Around 20 students, faculty, staff and alums discussed the University's possible responses to Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath in a brainstorming session at Hillel Thursday night.
"We all could find the places where we could write checks or donate money," said Alan Flam P'05, senior associate University chaplain and senior fellow at the Swearer Center. But Flam, who facilitated the discussion and another like it earlier Thursday, said he felt "the need for a larger conversation."
"This is not a political conversation," Flam said. "We're not here to denounce the president, FEMA, the mayor of New Orleans or anybody." FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The discussion opened with questions about the $5 million gift from Sidney Frank '42 to aid the University's hurricane relief efforts. Flam said he had no information on how the money would be spent.
While some, including Ben Creo '07, suggested that students would not have control over how Frank's gift would be used, Tod Edgerton GS said community members "need to know how the money is spent."
"The majority of Tulane students are fairly well-off," Edgerton added, referring to some of the students who are taking refuge at Brown for the semester.
The discussion also dealt with how the displaced students' tuition will be handled and whether part of Frank's donation will go toward their personal expenses.
"Other schools are just waiving the cost or picking up the fees," said Julia Lazarus GS.
Since displaced students will be unfamiliar with Brown's customs, such as shopping period and meal plan, Lazarus said some Brown students could act as "mentors" or "buddies." An effort is underway to match displaced students with such students, according to an e-mail sent to summer residential counselors and others.
Vinay Ganti '05 suggested that students could volunteer to have their dorm rooms be a "day locker for (displaced) students living off-campus." He added that carrying books was perhaps a trivial thing to worry about, but small inconveniences "only exacerbate the fact that they're not in the Brown community."
Tragedies like Katrina are "so quickly forgotten ... the visceral reaction initially gets softened with time," Lazarus said. She suggested "some traveling exhibit, a film," for "re-inserting what happened into the public mind."
Students jumped at the idea with ideas for charity events and action tables. "We should all just collaborate to make something big," said Carly Edelstein '08.
"It's kind of unrealistic to get people to go down to New Orleans, especially now that classes have started," Ganti said, referring to some participants' suggestions. "The practical utility we have as Brown students isn't really that high. Sponsoring Rhode Island people who have training" could be a better option, he said, advocating "five engineers" rather than "50 students."
But Lazarus said a student delegation could be a good "press opportunity" for Brown to express solidarity with the storm's victims.
Ken Deblois, a program coordinator in the Office of the Dean of the College, said "skill-matching" might be the best way to get Brown students involved, such as linking engineers, engineering students and engineering professors. "We could have a funky team of people going down there - students, professors and people doing (aid work)."
The attendees also discussed what other universities have done in response to the storm. Flam said the University of Pennsylvania's response to Katrina was "paid leave for members of the university who have skills and want to travel to the region."
Allison Grubbs '09 said three students from Duke University managed to steal press passes and drive into New Orleans. They saved seven lives "with a 24-pack of water bottles," she said. Flam and others cautioned against rash behavior, however.
Creo suggested bringing Brown's community health program to New Orleans. "It's a good match of existing need to existing resources," he said, noting the University's strength in that field. "It matches our institution."
Ganti warned against overreaching. "We need to sit down and really figure out what Brown can offer. This is a great springboard, but we all need to go out and figure out some specifics."
Flam also suggested cooperating with Tougaloo College in Jackson, Miss., an institution affiliated with Brown, to "shape our responses." He suggested asking the Tougaloo exchange students at Brown, "What does your family need?"
"Ten years from now this will still be a catastrophic event," Flam said. "I hope a year from now I can be talking with the University" about the continuing effort in New Orleans, he added.
The staff and students at the meeting planned to communicate through e-mails and hoped to accomplish something positive for the region. But they were aware of the need for a quick response.
"We have to capitalize on the immediacy of the situation," Edelstein said. "We can't keep (the students') attention all year."
