Phi Theta Kappa Announces Plans for Hurricane Relief Funds
Phi Theta Kappa will use the Society's Hurricane Relief Fund to help community
college students stay in school.
Just as the American Red Cross
provides food, water and shelter for victims in the immediate aftermath
of the storm, and Habitat for Humanity is building permanent homes for storm
survivors, Phi Theta Kappa is building futures - by making it possible for
students to continue their education.
Phi Theta Kappa will
work with affected colleges' Financial Aid offices to determine students'
needs. The Society hopes to continue the relief effort through 2006 to ensure
that students who entered these five community colleges this past fall
will have the resources to stay in school and complete their degrees by spring
of 2007.
"We cannot afford to see these students 'stop out,"'
said Phi Theta Kappa Executive Director Rod Risley, "because statistics
show - if they do 'stop out' they most likely will not earn a degree."
After
a tour of storm-ravaged south Mississippi, and discussions with education
leaders in Louisiana, where colleges remained closed, Risley announced
that funds being collected by members - "students helping students" - would
be available for tuition assistance, book fees and even to offset high gasoline
prices, a concern to commuting students.
Risley recently led
a team of Phi Theta Kappa staff members and International President Arthur
Vargas on visits to three Mississippi two-year college campuses severely
affected by Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College,
Pearl River Community College and Jones County Junior College.
Delgado
Community College and Nunez Community College in Louisiana remain closed.
Since
the hurricane 1,150 students have dropped out of Jones Junior College according
to college president Dr. Ronald Whitehead, who said that a 100 percent refund
for the semester was extended to students in spite of the college's normal
withdrawal policies.
"The impact of Katrina, the mental stress
of it all, is cumulative -- you can't drive out of it. The destruction is everywhere
and it impacted student's homes, their workplaces, and their relatives'
homes," Dr. Whitehead said of the reasons why students have left the community
college. "Parents lost jobs that enabled them to send their children to
college. Students with part-time jobs helping to pay for their tuition
and expenses lost those jobs. Forestry and poultry, the two largest industries
in our area, were greatly impacted."
Risley said the purpose
of the visit was to listen to students - Phi Theta Kappa members and non-members
alike - whose lives have been turned upside down as a result of Hurricane
Katrina.
"For most students, their lives are in a state of flux.
Many are being forced to sell their property and move," Risley said. "Some
students, however, are determined to stay and complete their degrees."
Now
Phi Theta Kappa has a message for these students: "Stay in school and earn
your degree."
"We are asking colleges and Phi Theta Kappa chapters
to hold a fundraising activity to provide funds to help these students -
both Phi Theta Kappa members and non-members who are one semester from graduating
- stay in school and earn that degree," Risley said. "Funds will be used to
buy books and computers, pay for tuition and housing - whatever resources
are needed by the student to stay in school this next spring."
More
than $15,000 has already been raised, Risley said, from chapters across
the Society.
"When the hurricane struck I still felt devastated
despite the fact that I live in New Jersey," said Phi Theta Kappa member Kaitlyn
Mulligan from Middlesex County College. "I wanted to help but was unsure
how - then I learned Phi Theta Kappa had created a relief fund."
Mulligan
and other members raised $500 for hurricane relief by holding a bake sale.
"It is nice to know this will go to a two-year college student just like me,
and that Phi Theta Kappa is there for all of us," she said.
To support
Phi Theta Kappa's "Students Helping Students" initiative, send contributions
to:
Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society
c/o Hurricane Relief
Fund
1625 Eastover Drive
Jackson, MS 39211
Learn
more about Phi Theta Kappa Hurricane
Relief efforts.
