(Editor’s Note: This message is from President Jeffrey Herbst)
As the world watches Japan in sympathy and horror, all of us at Colgate wait and wonder how we can best be of assistance to those whose lives have been so devastatingly altered.
I have sent an e-mail to all Japan-based Colgate alumni and parents for whom we have addresses. I am relieved to report that, to my knowledge, no one has suffered grave personal injury.
One 2010 alumnus, who had been working at a school in Yokohama, was in touch to report that he fled by train to Osaka and is now safely home in New Jersey. We do not have a study group in Japan at present, though one Colgate student is scheduled to begin an academic program in April at Tokyo’s Waseda University.
Now that our students and faculty have returned from spring break, University Chaplain Mark Shiner will coordinate planning of a campuswide event to express our solidarity and raise funds for relief efforts.
Meanwhile, as we continue to monitor the situation in Japan, we are reminded that our community in Hamilton is connected to many across the globe.