Hurricane hits home for City College students

By Bethaney Lee

Hurricane Harvey, Irma and now Jose have inflicted fear upon people throughout the country; City College students are no exception. The need for student resources became clear after reviewing emails exchanged between Professor Abigail Jill Bornstein and Professor Leila Easa.

“I had a student in my class this evening who is having a very difficult time with the events in Texas due to Hurricane Harvey,” Bornstein’s email read. Bornstein explained the student had lost contact with family from the affected area.

She suggested her student stop by the Student Health Center (SHC), but when they did, they found the center had closed at 3:45 p.m. and during later attempts they were told an appointment was required.

Professor Bornstein asked City College faculty where her students could go for help, and Professor Easa replied with information from a previous flex day.

Easa’s email advised students in distress to contact Cecilia Nepomuceno, be walked over to the SHC and be given an assessment. After the assessment, the SHC “may be able to work with [the student] for six to eight sessions if it’s something [the center] can deal with,” or they will be referred to higher-care.

The official college statement, released by Chancellor Mark Rocha on Sept. 11, said City College “will continue to develop college-wide responses to assist our colleagues in Florida and other areas.”

Rocha also reported the Harvey Help Campaign, which ended Sept. 8, resulted in a total of five bins of new clothing and $200 dollars in donations. Rocha said the donations will be shipped to former Vice Chancellor Samuel Santos.