Ian's extremely high-speed winds and heavy rains have caused severe property damage in Florida. Photo courtesy of user PCHS-NJROTC via WikiMedia Commons.
By Cydney Socias ’25
Staff Writer
On Sept. 24, Florida declared a state of emergency, alerting communities of the approach of Hurricane Ian. A few days later, Hurricane Ian devastated parts of Cuba, triggering a power grid collapse, USA Today reported. On Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida, entering a three-way tie for the state’s fourth-strongest hurricane, according to The Washington Post. The hurricane’s 155 mph winds battered the Florida coast and caused massive flooding in southwest and central Florida cities, according to the BBC.
Mount Holyoke College reached out to students on Sept. 29 — five days after Florida declared the state of emergency. Although South Hadley’s reach may not seem to stretch so far south, the MHC Facebook says that as of 2022 Florida was the sixth-most represented state at MHC, meaning many students on campus may have been affected by the storm.
Roommates Olivia Van Vroenhoven ’25 and Maria Garcia ’26 both call Florida their home. Despite being from Tallahassee and Miami, respectively, two cities not directly hit by Hurricane Ian, they both have loved ones who were seriously affected. Van Vroenhoven’s brother had to evacuate across the state from Daytona Beach to Tallahassee, a dangerous journey that deeply affected her during the last week of September. Garcia’s boyfriend in Orlando and uncle in Fort Myers also both experienced their cities being ravaged by the storm. “I had no contact at one point, especially [with] my uncle in Fort Myers. No power, nothing,” Garcia explained. “Fort Myers was hit terribly. I don’t know if you’ve seen the pictures — where it’s just completely gone. So we’re still waiting to receive contact with him. [With] my boyfriend, I’ve managed contact, but he has no power. So [communication is] very limited. … It’s worrisome.”
On Thursday, Sept. 29, the College contacted students impacted by Hurricane Ian. The correspondence came in the form of an email titled, “Reaching out to you,” and was sent by Dean of the College and Vice President for Student Success Amber Douglas and Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students Marcella Runell Hall.
The letter read, “We are writing to you because we believe (based on our records) that your family may have been impacted by Hurricane Ian. We hope that everyone is safe. We realize that it is hard to be far from home at times like this. If you should need anything in the coming days or week, please be in touch — there is support available to you.”
Both Van Vroenhoven and Garcia were troubled by the email’s brevity. Van Vroenhoven said, “I really did not like that the email was sent after the storm. I think that more support should have been shown [in the] weeks prior when the storm was developing. … We have students that are from different regions in the Caribbean. Why was there not support for them? … We have a big Latinx [and] Hispanic community here on campus. Why was there no support or awareness for that or just talk about that in general?” The deans’ email did not provide specifics in regards to funding or resources for receiving emotional support, despite expressing concern. With such a significant number of students in close proximity to Hurricane Ian, Van Vroenhoven and Garcia felt that the email could have at a minimum linked specific resources. Garcia stated, “There wasn't any information given besides ‘Oh, we wish you the best. We hope your family’s okay. We have the support you need,’ yet they didn’t specify what support is there, or if they’re holding drives to [support] residents in Florida or the Caribbean islands as well. … As for the school, I feel like there’s not much help or much support. It’s crazy. It’s frustrating.”
When contacted further regarding the specifics of the email, Hall provided a link to President Beverly Daniel Tatum’s letter to the MHC community regarding the hurricane. “Extending support to those impacted by Hurricane Ian” was published Sept. 29 under ‘News & Stories’ on the Mount Holyoke website.
President Tatum wrote, “My heart goes out to our students from Florida, as well as our alums who live there and also to anyone whose loved ones may be directly impacted.” The following three paragraphs included many references to unrelated College topics and activities — reminding students of the fact that Tatum has addressed climate change and natural disaster before, the availability of opportunities at the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and a reference to Mountain Day as “one of the College’s most beloved traditions.” Finally, the letter ended with two short bullet points directing students and faculty to resources. The link, named “resources for care and support,” is the Division of Student Life resource page. There is nothing explicitly relating to natural disaster relief on this page.
Upon learning of the letter and its silent Sept. 29 publication, Van Vroenhoven said it felt like “a last minute thing. Like, ‘I guess we should address this.’”
Students were not formally alerted of Tatum’s letter. It was not linked in the original message from the deans. There was no email sent stating that this letter had been published.
Van Vroenhoven was disappointed with Tatum’s message. “I think that the president should have [directly] emailed … those who were affected, because that also shows sympathy and concern from the president who just came to this campus. If you really want to engage with the community, and really connect with your community, you need to address these topics directly,” she said. She also was angered at the fact that Cuba was not mentioned in the president’s letter. Van Vroenhoven said, “I think that there is a lack of inclusivity. … How can you just exclude Cuba?”
On Hurricane Ian, Deans Amber Douglas and Marcella Runell Hall wrote, “We hope that everyone is safe.” In her letter, Tatum stated, “My heart aches … for our students’ families, our alums and all of our loved ones affected by this storm.” Yet without concrete support or geographic inclusivity, Van Vroenhoven felt that the College treated the hurricane as “a minor inconvenience.”