Students and staff spread messages of hope and encouraged donations at Thursday’s Tsunami Forum in the Memorial Chapel.
“This Forum will hopefully help us reflect and commemorate upon the tragic events that bring us here and to talk about the next steps we can take,” said Judith Brown, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost.
While President Bennet sent out the formal email announcing the event, he did not attend the forum. Bennet was out of town, according to Brown.
The forum began with University Jewish Chaplain Rabbi David Leipziger reading a list of countries that had been severely hurt by the tsunami. He asked students and staff with ties to the affected countries to rise. He listed several nations including Sri Lanka, Somalia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh, and a number of students and faculty in the crowd stood. The Rabbi offered a reflection on the tragedy as well as a call to action.
“To make sure that today’s forum is more than empty words falling on deaf ears, do something tonight that celebrates life,” Leipziger said. “Let’s create our own wave—a wave of compassion and justice.”
The forum also included a Hindu reading by Venkatesh Murthy of the Connecticut Valley Hindu Temple. He recited prayers honoring the tsunami victims and stressed the importance of peace throughout the world. The prayers were translated by Anand Venkatachalam T. Satchidanandan ’08, a Wesleyan student from India.
Several presentations were given, starting with Professor Phillip Resor, Assistant Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences. He discussed the science behind the tsunami with slides including an animated map showing the global impact of the waves. According to Resor, it justified the need for a global response including preventative measures taken for the future.
“Since about 1960 we have been able to recognize faults and that they move in regard to plate tectonics. It is typically a problem of applying what we know to developing nations. While the goal is to put in place a warning system like the already-existent one in the Pacific, we face some problems,” Resor said.
These problems include the cost and long-term reality of maintenance, and also how the warning would be distributed to people.
“I think the most important thing we can take from this event is education,” he said.
Professor Sumarsam of the music department recounted his visit to South Asia only days after the tsunami struck.
“In my subsequent days of visiting Indonesia, I visited several other countries and witnessed all sorts of responses to the disaster.”
He talked of dancers, singers, and musicians performing in public spaces. He also spoke of the art displayed portraying the devastation.
“Many Indian Muslims held special prayers for victims,” said Sumarsam. “Some in [the] form of mass prayers performed in the streets.”
Students from the affected areas also spoke.
Gitanjali Prasad ’08, who is from New Delhi, talked about several of the affected islands, many partially or completely inhabited by indigenous tribes. She also mentioned the devastation of the aftershocks on many of these small communities.
“These islanders have always co-existed with the ocean, but many now returning say they are afraid of it,” said Prasad.
Aldo Tedjomoeljono ’07 spoke against apathy and called on students and faculty to view the tsunami aid as a collaborative human effort.
“Let’s make this effort not just another fundraising act, but let’s connect with one another,” said Tedjomoeljono.
The forum was preceded by a student meeting held in the campus center on Tuesday night, which served as a gathering of ideas for fundraising, raising awareness, and targeting organizations to receive aid.
“I basically organized [the] meeting because a lot of people emailed me with questions about what we could to for tsunami victims,” said Aparna Iyer ’08, who facilitated the Tuesday meeting. “There are a lot of different groups on campus, but the effort is not concentrated. We organized [the] meeting to bring a lot of those groups together to try and form something cohesive.”
The group decided to focus on the four most affected regions: Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and southern India. The meeting led to the formation of four task groups focusing on awareness, local fundraising and long-term plans for aid. Iyer gave an overview of the meeting minutes at the Tsunami forum on Thursday.
“We already have several fundraising ideas, but we are also hoping the administration could use their already existing relationships with businesses in addition to alumni and trustee list serves and parent contacts to help [us] raise awareness and funds,” Iyer said. “We want to work with the administration to provide the most help possible.”
The forum ended with further information on how to receive updates and contribute to the effort. Rick Culliton, University Center Director and Dean of Campus Programs, said a webpage would soon be available off of the Wesleyan homepage at “tsunami relief” with updates and further information on the relief efforts.
“We expect this forum is only the first in a series of events,” said Culliton, who thanked all the members of the Wesleyan community who shared their personal experiences and insight.
To post information, ideas, or concerns, students can send an email to tsunamirelief@wesleyan.edu, and the information from the emails will also be posted on the webpage.