In August 2015, as the new academic year began, we eagerly welcomed home our 34,000 students who joined our 6,000 faculty and staff members in Columbia. The year was off to a great start full of promise and excitement. And although we have weathered some hurricane activity in the Midlands, we had no inkling that an impending storm would soon test our fortitude, our compassion and our resolve.
Fortunately, keeping our Carolina family safe has always been a top priority. Even on the sunniest of days, we continue to anticipate and prepare for a crisis — weather included. Still, it would have been difficult to anticipate a rainfall in the Midlands that would reach a 1 in 1,000-year event level. But it happened. In fact, on October 3, 2015, the rains became so severe that it caused catastrophic flooding. 18 dams were either breached or collapsed, bridges were closed and sections of roads were simply swept away. Even worse, several neighborhoods near campus, where many of our students, professors and staff live, were completely underwater. And Columbia was not alone in experiencing the after effects of the October 2015 rains. Around our university system, especially in Sumter, additional flooding occurred and our Carolina family responded in ways that made me proud.
While our Columbia campus escaped serious damage, for safety reasons, we decided to close down for a week — Oct. 4 through Oct. 9. Students who elected to go home were encouraged to travel in daylight with extreme caution. On-campus residents were asked to check in with their RM. We continued to house and feed our on-campus population. In addition, our home football game was moved from Williams-Brice Stadium to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.
These decisions were not made lightly. But we recognized that it was in the best interest of our surrounding community to remain closed as resuming normal operations would have placed an undue burden on the region’s recovering infrastructure. Fortunately, I have a great management team in place which convened at dawn on Oct. 4 and kept meeting all day, every day throughout the week. Our crisis management plan, already in place, worked as we had hoped. Uncontaminated water became one of our biggest issues; consequently, hundreds of thousands of bottles of water were brought to campus and distributed, as well as thousands of gallons of potable water in tankers for food service. And 170 portable restrooms were brought on campus.
In addition, the provost’s office worked tirelessly with deans, department chairs and faculty members to find flexible and creative ways to make up for lost classroom time. As important was the creation of UofSCRelief, a spontaneous group of student volunteers initiated by then-junior Cory Alpert. Soon, 2,500 students were wading into neighborhood communities providing water and hours and hours of tireless manual labor. During this time, we also provided shuttle service to and from the airport and around town to ensure our student volunteers moved about safely. Even today, a year later, I receive heartfelt thanks and congratulations on the quality and compassion of Carolina students who showed up to lend a hand during a time of great need.
I want to also salute and thank our SEC family. Vanderbilt, who sent an 18 wheeler to our campus loaded with supplies and water and LSU, whose marching band played our alma mater during the game to help make us feel like the “home” team. Let me pause here to also give a shoutout to our Carolina family who eagerly reciprocated LSU’s kindness during Louisiana’s recent storm — sending an 18 wheeler filled with food and supplies to LSU and also posting a video of the Mighty Sound of the Southeast playing LSU’s alma mater. This video, by the way, has been viewed on social media more than 5 million times.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu once said, “When you show compassion, when you show caring, when you show love to others, do things for others, in a wonderful way, you have a deep joy that you can get in no other way.” Throughout the past year, as I continue to see this great spirit of growth, resilience, inclusion and compassion on our campus, I am certain that this is exactly what gives our Carolina family such deep and abiding joy.
I am honored to be your president.