The University is taking part in relief efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. Through the month of October, students, faculty and staff can make monetary donations that will be distributed to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army or AmeriCares. Personal checks can be made payable to Drexel University or the Drexel University College of Medicine with “American Red Cross,” “Salvation Army” or “AmeriCares” indicated on the memo line. Checks can be mailed to: Drexel Gifts, P.O. Box 8215, Philadelphia, PA 19101-9684 or Drexel University College of Medicine Gifts, P.O. Box 8235, Philadelphia, PA 19101-9685. President Papadakis announced that the University will match the total collected by employees. He has encouraged faculty and staff to donate at least one hour’s salary.

In addition to monetary support, the University is providing provisional admission and counseling services to undergraduate and graduate students from the Philadelphia and Gulf Coast regions whose colleges have been closed due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina. Drexel established an emergency tuition fund with grants available up to $10,000 for one-year to assist students enrolled full-time who are from the Philadelphia or Gulf Coast regions. These funds are available due to the support of Drexel alumni and other donors. It is anticipated that these students will return to their home institutions either at the end of the fall term or the academic year. Admission application and matriculation deadlines and fees have been waived for these students.

Drexel faculty have participated in the Hurricane Relief efforts by offering their expertise about numerous hurricane-related topics to the media. Dr. Joseph Wartman, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, went to New Orleans with a team of engineers on behalf of the American Society of Civil Engineers to assess damage to the city’s levees. Dr. Lisa Ulmer, chair of the department of community health and prevention in the School of Public Health, flew to Baton Rouge, La., to assist New Orleans residents with crisis intervention at the Louisiana State University emergency facility. Dr. Peter Rumm, associate professor in the department of environmental and occupational health in the School of Public Health, went to San Antonio to assess the needs to hurricane victims sent there.

For more information on Drexel’s Hurricane Katrina relief activities, visit www.drexel.edu/univrel/events/katrina.asp.