Media Contact:
Dave Green, College of Veterinary Medicine, 919/513-6662
Greg Thomas, News Services, 919/515-3470

Sept. 30, 2004

Vet Med Aids Students Displaced by Hurricane Ivan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

One of the far-reaching effects of Hurricane Ivan will result in the North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine hosting up to 134 first-year veterinary students from the storm-ravaged St. George’s University on the Caribbean island of Grenada.

The students, and seven St. George’s veterinary school faculty members, will attend a special term at NC State from Oct. 4 to Dec. 22 while repairs are completed on their own educational facilities, which were heavily damaged when Hurricane Ivan swept over Grenada. The powerful hurricane destroyed up to 90 percent of the homes on the island and extensively damaged the St. George’s University campus.

“We are pleased to be able to help these students continue their important studies,” said Dr. Warwick Arden, dean of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine. “The storm was devastating to our colleagues and it will take some time for St. George’s to fully recover.

“Many of their students had severe personal losses – losing cars, textbooks, and other belongings as their homes were destroyed,” Arden continued. “North Carolinians are no strangers to hurricane disruptions, and our faculty and staff are pleased to be able to provide this humanitarian offer.”

Dr. David Bristol, associate dean and director of academic affairs in the College of Veterinary Medicine, says college faculty and staff were queried about the situation and the “overwhelming response” was to help. “Given this response,” said Bristol, “we are planning for the many details that must be attended to in relocating a teaching program. It is worth noting that there will be no expense to the North Carolina taxpayer nor will the temporary arrangement require the use of any additional state funds.”

The logistical details include living arrangements, time and space for classroom lectures and laboratory sessions, office space for St. George’s faculty, administrative and facilities support, security, and transportation, among other considerations.

St. George’s University will rent College of Veterinary Medicine classroom and laboratory facilities, which will cover additional operating expenses. Students will stay in campus housing at E.S. King Village, which was not fully rented this fall because of upcoming remodeling. The St. George’s faculty will stay at local extended-stay lodging. Inconvenience to College of Veterinary Medicine faculty and students will be minimal.

Faculty members from St. George’s will instruct their students as intact classes, holding lectures in the evenings and on weekends and conducting laboratory sessions when the labs are not in use by College of Veterinary Medicine students.

In addition to the 134 first-year students attending NC State, some 200 second-year students will attend the veterinary program at Purdue University and 60 third-year students will attend Kansas State University’s program. St. George’s, which does not have a veterinary teaching hospital, does not offer a fourth year of instruction and students routinely complete their final year of study at other veterinary programs.

The NC State College of Veterinary Medicine is one of the veterinary programs that offers the final year of training for St. George’s students. Four St. George’s students are currently in their fourth year at NC State.

In addition to the formal considerations involved in the arrangements, College of Veterinary Medicine students are assisting their St. George’s colleagues in other ways. Since pets are not permitted in campus housing, students here are helping to find off-campus living arrangements for those visitors coming with pets. There is also an effort to provide kitchen supplies, bedding, towels and numerous other household goods for the students who will arrive with little but a suitcase.

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