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BY HANNA KOZLOWSKA

In print | Published January 21, 2010

Even though classes weren’t in session during or directly after the disastrous earthquake in Haiti, the dean and president’s office phones were ringing with people asking how they could help.

“Students reacted in a typical Swarthmore fashion — they were quick to organize and respond,” said Garikai Campbell ’90, acting dean of students.

Student Council, Coalition for Free Haiti and I20 have been planning events to support the victims of the earthquake. The Deans’ Office, the Black Cultural Center and the Black Studies Department are involved in organizing forms of help for Haiti and the Haitian community on campus.

“We are all concerned about the devastation,” said Darryl Smaw, associate dean of multicultural affairs. “How do we make sense of it? How do we, in the Quaker tradition, hold them in the light?”
The earthquake, which hit on Jan. 12 at 4:53 pm with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter scale, devestated Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. The Red Cross estimates that the earthquake affected three million Haitians. The death toll has been estimated to be between 50,000 according to the Red Cross and 200,000 according to the Haitian Ministry of Interior.

Campbell said that there weren’t any Swarthmore students injured or killed by the earthquake. Jennifer Marks-Gold, the international student advisor, confirmed that every student has been accounted for.

According to Campbell, it is likely that no one from Swarthmore was in Haiti at the time of the quake. Jacqueline Bailey-Ross ’12 of the Free Haiti Coalition estimated that there are 10 to 12 students with a direct connection to Haiti, some of whom were born in Haiti and others who have family there. Both Campbell and Bailey-Ross said that, as far as they know, families of the college’s students are also safe.

“We want to support everyone who feels a connection with Haiti, not just Haitian citizens on paper,” Campbell said. The Dean’s office has established a website in support of Haiti (www.swarthmore.edu/haiti.xml) as well as a Facebook group entitled “Swarthmore Supporting Haiti.” Students, staff and faculty are free to post information about events and links concerning the earthquake and relief efforts.

The Dean’s Office organized “A Gathering of the Community: Responding to the Crisis in Haiti” to, as Smaw said, “hold them in the light.” The event took place last Monday afternoon in Pearson Hall. A few of the speakers emphasized how important and fitting it was that the gathering was on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Approximately 150 students and faculty attended the event.
“Now is a time of silence, prayer, reflection,” said Joyce Tompkins, Religious Advisor to the Campus Protestant Community.

“I invite you into this deep place, a place where we are all connected, where we all are one,” she added, commencing 15 minutes of silence in Pearson Hall. This time for reflection closed with Cecily Bumbray ’12’s rendition of “Amazing Grace.” She was accompanied by Smaw.

French professor Micheline Rice-Maximin recited a poem by a poet from Martinique. Rice-Maximin is a native of Guadelupe, which she called the “sister island of Haiti.”

Saying that she “found she had no words for the occasion,” Allison Dorsey, associate professor of history and coordinator of the Black Studies program, chose to quote Frederick Douglass, who was ambassador in Port-au-Prince and an advocate for Haitian independence.

Rice-Maximin and Bailey-Ross were supposed to attend a conference concerning Haitian literature in Port-au-Prince, starting on Thursday. “My bags were almost packed,” said Bailey-Ross in her speech at the Monday gathering.

“What was God’s plan for this country, which has suffered so much already?” she asked.
Bailey-Ross, who has studied Haiti and the Creole language, wrote a poem about her reaction to the earthquake. She read it in Creole to the those assembled, concluding with “Take courage Haiti, take courage.”

President Rebecca Chopp ended her speech on a similar note: “Things might get worse before they get better, but it will get better with the help of the people of the world and of Swarthmore.”
There are many efforts on campus to support both the victims and the Haitian community at Swarthmore.

“Now we are trying to offer comfort and advice, conversation and facilitate further action,” Dean Campbell said. Faculty that are members of the Black Studies program are deliberating what types of short-term fundraising and long-term support to organize.

Bailey-Ross, in cooperation with Student Council, is working on a raffle fundraiser with Philadelphia 76ERS tickets donated by the Samuel Dalambert Foundation as prizes. The Black Cultural Center will hold the Haitian Earthquake Collection this Friday at 5:00 pm in Bond Hall.

Meanwhile, in her message to the community President Chopp encourages students to donate money to organizations helping the victims. The Dean’s Office, following the recommendations of the State Department, lists the Red Cross and Mercy Corps as possible channels to contribute.

Bailey-Ross, on the other hand, said that she would rather give to smaller Haitian organizations such as the Haitian Rescue Fund.

She also emphasized the importance of educating ourselves about the history of Haiti.
“Learn about the history of Haiti. It’s a bewildering series of events, purposefully kept from history books,” she said. “Do whatever you’re inspired to do.”

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