February 10, 2010
The earthquake in Haiti has touched our community and reminded us that the world as we know it can change in an instant. On behalf of the Clark community, we offer our deepest condolences to the people of Haiti and all those who lost loved ones, or were affected by this tragedy in one way or another.
We realize the challenges and needs of the Haitian people will last for weeks, months and years. For this reason, we have created the Haiti Relief Initiative, so that we can organize and coordinate ways in which the Clark Community can best assist the people of Haiti, both now and in the future.
There have been several fundraising events on campus over the past two weeks and these efforts continue. To date, Clark students have raised more than $4,960 for Haiti Relief. The University hosted an all campus meeting on January 25th to discuss a long term strategy for our Haiti Relief Initiative.
Please check in with us periodically to learn about the progress of this Initiative. In the meantime, we provide you with a partial list of aid organizations that are still accepting contributions online for this cause.
January 25, 2010
On January 25, 2010 Clark University hosted an all-campus meeting to discuss as a community our response to the earthquake in Haiti. The meeting was moderated by Provost David Angel with faculty, staff and students in attendance. Our discussions focused on medium and long term recovery and development initiatives. It was agreed that the immediate needs of disaster relief could best be addressed through support for the many relief and humanitarian agencies with an on-the-ground presence in the region. A partial list of these disaster relief agencies is available on the Haiti Relief Initiative web page.
How might Clark University best support the people of Haiti now and in the long term? A variety of initiatives were proposed, including long term partnerships with universities, local organizations, and NGOs in Haiti. Clark’s International Development, Community and Environment program brings a variety of relevant expertise and experience. Our Community Engagement and Volunteering Center, our initiatives in Social Entrepreneurship, and other departments and programs also may be a basis for support. More broadly, it was agreed that effective engagement begins with sophisticated understanding not just of the current crisis, but of the long term economic and development challenges of the region and of the institutional and global economic contexts within which poverty, health and other challenges occur. The meeting concluded with a commitment to coordinate a series of meetings on campus that would deepen our understanding of the challenges facing Haiti now and in the future, and clarify how best Clark University might make a difference over the medium and long term.
We will use the Haiti Relief Initiative webpage to communicate with the campus community.