Fletcher/Haiti

There has been a lot of Haiti-related news and activity here at Fletcher.  Our communications office has been maintaining a news update page, and the University also has a page, but I thought I would compile a few more links that readers may find interesting.

First, of course, is the wonderful news that the group of Fletcher students and researchers who had been in Port au Prince returned safely last week, as mentioned in a Boston Globe story.

Also, a group of students sprang into fundraising action, and has managed to pool over $10,000 from many Fletcher-linked donors.

Much of the media attention has been pointed toward Ushahidi, for which several students have established an earthquake crisis situation room.  Team members search social networking and news sites, and compile the information they have found, in order to assist aid efforts on the ground.  They have been featured on New England Cable News (Note that the NECN anchor, R.D. Sahl, is also a Fletcher alum. Sorry that I can’t provide a link that helps you avoid the commercial.), on CNN (starting at 1 minute 20 seconds), and Al Jazeera.net, with a mention in the Wall Street Journal.

Not Fletcher-focused, but still relevant to understanding the concern felt in this area, is a Boston Globe article that explains how it is that a Northeast U.S. city came to have the third largest population of Haitians outside of Haiti itself.

Of course, there’s a heap of good public relations for Fletcher in all of this.  My reason for featuring it in the blog is a little different.  Prospective students often wonder about the nature of our community.  I hope the reaction to the Haiti earthquake shows Fletcher students to be engaged and involved — caring people who react to a crisis such as this one in generous and interesting ways.