Dean of Students Linda Donnels left Washington. Sept. 3 in a wheelchair-accommodating car on a mission: to make the 1,100-mile trek to Gentilly, La., and rescue her 87-year-old father from the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast.
“I knew where my father was and hoped he wouldn’t be moved,” Donnels said in an interview Wednesday in her Rice Hall office.
Evacuated from a hospital in Slidell, La., the afternoon before the hurricane hit New Orleans, Donnels’ father was moved to a second hospital in Hattiesburg, Miss., where Donnels was finally able to reunite with him.
“It became clear that there was nothing for him to go back to and that I would need to bring him back here,” Donnels said.
Donnels’ father is staying at an assisted living facility in D.C. until she can figure out more permanent arrangements.
“He came with a change of clothes and no I.D., but thankfully he is still in good spirits,” Donnels said.
GW as an institution has continued to assist coastal residents affected by the storm.
Approximately 60 students from Tulane University in New Orleans and other Gulf Coast schools have enrolled as non-degree seeking students in GW classes. The University Counseling Center has been providing seminars for transfer students at GW, and an abbreviated Colonial Inauguration for the displaced is taking place later this week (see “Special CI to introduce displaced to Washington,” p. 1).
“We at George Washington want to extend a warm welcome to the visiting students who are going through a disrupted time in their college educations,” Donnels said.
GW has accepted 45 undergraduate students and 14 students into GW’s Law School, as well as an unknown number of other graduate students.
“We are still trying to find the students who just enrolled and find out what they need,” Donnels added.
In an effort to outreach to GW’s newest students, the Student Activities Center is planning an orientation to take place this Friday on the fifth floor of the Marvin Center, said Renee Clement, assistant director of orientation for SAC.
“I know they’ll have great classes, but I hope we do all we can so that they enjoy being part of GW for as long as they’re here,” Donnels said. The counseling center is offering individual counseling services as well as debriefing and support groups where students can talk about their emotional reaction to the hurricane with other visiting students.
“The collateral effects of something like this are not felt right away,” said John Dages, associate director of the center. “We need to get people in here and help them if they seem overwhelmed.”
Dages said one of the best ways for friends to help visiting students cope with this disaster is by actively listening to their thoughts.
“Draw out the survivor’s story,” Dages said.
Students can also encourage those dealing with the disaster to “take a break from watching endless replays of disaster on the news,” Dages said.
Not watching television coverage of the disaster is also helpful to students, as these images can perpetuate feelings of hopelessness in the disaster’s victims, Dages said.
Dages suggested that visiting students emotionally affected by Hurricane Katrina should “find a productive way to help if they can.”
“There are many organizations set up that people can contribute to,” Dages added. “It gives people a sense of control if they can still help 1,000 miles away.”
