President's Message to the Community
10/29/07
Dear Campus Community,
Needless to say, this past week has been unprecedented in the history of our region and of our university. Never before have so many students and employees been so displaced and disrupted for so long. Unhappily, some like Julietta Pastor, Copley Library assistant, and David Bergheim, director of relationship management in the School of Business, lost their homes completely in the fires. Untold numbers of you lost a sense of security and continuity, leaving your homes with little notice, finding yourselves without the comforting routine of work, of classes to teach or, even, classes and tests to take. As I write, some of you remain evacuated and await news about the condition of your and your neighbors' homes. In the coming weeks and months, some of our USD family and many of our regional neighbors will continue to need assistance. We are prepared to help on many fronts.
Throughout this past week, I witnessed what each of you observed: a great outpouring of care, compassion, and service in the midst of the great disruption, anxiety, and suffering. I would like to acknowledge the tremendous professionalism of our university colleagues who spent many hours responding to this emergency, even as they and their families were themselves evacuated. In particular, the following members of the University's Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) deserve great credit for their timely and professional execution of our emergency notification and action plans:
Carmen
M. Vazquez, Vice President for Student Affairs - Convener
Larry Barnett, Assistant Vice President for Finance and Administration for
Public Safety Moises Baron, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Student
Wellness
Doug Burke, Director Network and Information Systems
Tom Cosgrove, Associate Vice President for Student Affairs, Student Life
Msgr. Daniel Dillabough, Vice President, Mission and Ministry
Kelly Douglas, General Counsel
Elaine Elliott, Director, Community Service Learning
Donald Godwin, Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students
Debbie Gough, Assistant Vice President for Academic Administration
Yolanda Ingle, Assistant Vice President, Constituent Relations
Dayanne Izmirian, Assistant Dean, Residential Life
Quinton Kawahara, Patrol Lieutenant, Public Safety
Andre Mallie, Executive Director of Auxiliary Services
Roger Manion, Assistant Vice President, Facilities Management
Pamela Gray Payton, Assistant Vice President, Public Relations
Gregory Pogue, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources
Nina Sciuto, Director, Employee Relations and Diversity
Brent Wakefield, Director of Parent Relations
Chris Wessells, Chief Information Officer
Gregory Zackowski, Executive Director of the Hahn University Center
Alternate
designees or consultants to the CIRT team meetings:
Michael Lovett-Colyer, Director for the Office of University Ministry
Rick Hagan, Director of Housing
Martin Kaplan, Director, Alumni Relations
Joshua Lawrence, Director of the Jenny Craig Pavilion
John Loggins, Assistant Director, Community Service Learning
Tim O'Malley, Vice President, University Relations
Shahra Meshkaty, Senior Director, Academic Technology Services
Ky Snyder, Associate VP for Athletics - (via conference call)
Julie Sullivan, Vice President and Provost
Vice President Carmen Vazquez, the chair of this team, was in contact with me as early as Sunday evening. Her team members assembled at 7:30 am on Monday and put into action all of their training and experience on behalf of the safety and well-being of our students and employees, meeting throughout the day to assess and respond as this quickly changing situation evolved. Our CIO Chris Wessells and his staff are to be credited for providing updated information on our website within one hour of every CIRT meeting. You are all to be credited for registering your mobile and land-line phone numbers so that our NTI system worked efficiently to contact you with critical information about class cancellations etc. Those of us who live on campus are very grateful to all maintained essential services. Personnel in public safety, facilities and general services, grounds keepers and transportation, food service, campus ministry, student affairs, residential life, academic affairs, and administration÷so many of you insured that this "city on a hill" kept going, despite the fire storms. Beyond this, others worked so hard, under the direction of one of our newest managers, Andre Mallie, executive director of auxiliary services. Food service and catering personnel prepared thousands of meals each day for evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium. Students, faculty and staff volunteers served these meals, did some heavy lifting, and worked side by side with our partners from Catholic Charities and Fr. Joe's Villages to provide services to those in need.
While we give thanks for the many professionals and volunteers who fought÷or still fight÷the fires, provide for the public's safety, and aid the many victims of this disaster, let us not forget to thank one another for the kind and generous work that kept this campus going and our people safe and secure during this trying episode in USD's history.
Over the next few days, I urge you to join me in saying "thank you" and, perhaps, uttering a few prayers of gratitude for them and for all who suffer the loss of loved ones; those who are injured; and those who have lost their homes.
God Bless You All,
Mary E. Lyons, Ph.D.
President
10/25/07
Dear Campus Community,
While we continue to watch with utter disbelief the overwhelming destruction caused by the terrible wildfires which continue to burn throughout San Diego County, we are now beginning to receive information about employees and students whose families have lost their homes.
As you can imagine, our Alcala Park campus has been relatively quiet this week. Because of the fall holiday last Friday, we began the week with approximately 1,600 residential students on campus. Today, we have approximately 1,000 students with us as many have returned home or are staying off campus with friends or family. For those who remain on campus, the Residence Life, Campus Ministry, Dining Services, Student Health Center and Counseling Center continue to serve our students.
Since Monday, student volunteers have helped Dining Services and the Center for Community Service Learning prepare and deliver 2,000 meals three times per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) for evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium. Other USD students are helping with animal control and clean-up duties at Qualcomm.
Several resident students collaborated with StayClassy.org to set-up a donation drive to collect food, clothing and essential items requested by the Red Cross. The students were able to collect three bins of donations which were delivered to the Red Cross yesterday afternoon.
Another Residence Life and student coordinated fund-raising activity took place last night at the Chevy's restaurant in Mission Valley. The restaurant will donate twenty-five percent of all bills to the USD Fire Relief Fund. USD will then donate the funds to Catholic Charities.
For those of you who have lost your homes or been affected by the losses of others, may you find solace in knowing that your USD community continues to keep you in our thoughts and prayers. Several families have opened up their homes to provide temporary housing for anyone in need.
In the coming days, we will announce plans to come together as a community to provide direct support for anyone within our community that has experienced a loss. Until that time, helpful information is available on the USD Web site.
Sincerely,
Mary E. Lyons, Ph.D.
President
10/23/07
Dear Campus Community,
The tragic wildfires that have destroyed homes and disrupted so many lives throughout San Diego County, among them many of our students, faculty, staff, and alumni prompted consultation to determine how many of our colleagues would be available for work over the next few days.
Knowing that many families have been severely impacted, along with public concerns about the residual poor air quality, prompted the University of San Diego to cancel classes for the remainder of the week. Classes and regular business operations will resume on Monday, October 29. Supervisors will contact those non-essential employees whose assistance will be needed during the next five days.
Residence Life, University Ministry, Student Health Center, Counseling Center, Dining Services and other support services will continue to be available to students in the residence halls.
We are very proud that USD's Dining Services staff and student volunteers have provided desperately needed food and supplies to evacuees at Qualcomm Stadium. Students are welcome to support the University's community volunteer efforts coordinated through the Center for Community Service Learning.
For further updates, please visit the University of San Diego web site: www.sandiego.edu.
During this very difficult time, I ask that you keep those affected by the devastating fires in your thoughts and prayers.
Sincerely,
Mary E. Lyons, President
University of San Diego
