CIU students “weather” Hurricane Helene with volunteerism, help from caring faculty/staff
October 2, 2024
By Bob Holmes
By 7 a.m. on Friday morning Sept. 27, wind gusts in Columbia began howling at 70 miles per hour. That’s just below the official status of “hurricane force” winds. As trees fell on power lines, portions of greater Columbia were suddenly without electricity. That included СƵ.
The CIU administration had already made the decision the day before to close the school after a Tropical Storm Warning was issued for all of South Carolina. Between that time, and the time the power returned the following Tuesday, much kindness overcame the challenging inconvenience of living without electricity.
Of course, without electricity, hot meals and hot showers are hard to come by. And then there is the issue of the laundry that piles up. But a request went out to faculty and staff who were fortunate to have electricity, to open their homes to students — and over 40 responded giving an opportunity for students to refresh themselves.
Staff members attended to the special needs of those who live in Pine View Apartments on campus. No refrigeration can mean spoiled food. So, the big grills behind the Pine View Community Center became the place to gather for hot dogs and hamburgers, bringing the apartment residents closer together for stress relief and fellowship.
Meanwhile, undergraduate students played a variety of games outside their residence halls and spent more time building community, some even camping out together in front of their dorm.
Students Ian Paladino and Jeff Spurling said “this was honestly the best weekend they’ve had at CIU.”
Resident assistants (RAs) took on vital fire watch patrols while the power was out, allowing the CIU security team to focus on campus safety.
CIU Dean of Students Philip Ritchey also thanked the RAs “for their tireless efforts in checking on residents and ensuring their needs were met.”
By Saturday, power was restored to the Jones Center, home of the Cook School of Business. That’s the building nearest CIU’s entrance. It became a magnet for students who needed to charge their mobile devices. Brandon Lee, a senior, was among them.
“Everybody was camped out at the business building trying to get wi-fi, trying to do homework,” Lee said. “It was packed.”
But staff members Sarah McKillop, Ann Pierce and April Small came to the rescue. They gathered volunteers from local churches and the community to provide snacks and Chick-Fil-A breakfasts for students in the Jones Center.
Lee was also a part of a group of students who looked beyond campus and reached out to others in need. Students organized clean-up crews to help residents in the nearby Denny Terrace neighborhood where tree limbs and other debris littered the ground. He noted the reaction of one resident.
“She really appreciated it,” Lee said. “She invited us to stick around afterward and got us some snacks and drinks. She was really thankful. She was very sweet.”
Helping to organize the outreach was senior Mercy Berkemeyer who says another group of students assisted in disaster relief in Columbia by passing out food and water to the community.
"I was so thankful to be a part of serving during tough times," Berkemeyer said.
Classes would resume by Thursday Oct. 3 with faculty and staff swapping stories about their own Helene experiences. Also that day, the format of the regularly scheduled Chapel was changed to focus on prayer for students and their families who live in the regions that experienced the most severe damage from the storm. Interspersed between worship music, five faculty members or administrators took to the stage of Shortess Chapel to also pray for rescue teams in the mountains of North Carolina, sister colleges that have been damaged from mudslides, and power company employees trying to restore electricity across the Southeast. The last to pray was College of Arts & Sciences Dean, Dr. David Dewitt:
“Lord we put our hope and our trust in many things like our electricity, our air conditioner, our refrigerator, our phones, our internet. But Lord when these things are stripped away, we see that it is only You that we can rely on and trust.”
Higher learning. Deeper faith. A Christ-centered community on campus and online.or request information on enrollment at CIU by contacting Admissions at (803) 807-5024 oradmissions@ciu.edu.