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This previous summer time, Jennifer Mojica Santana studied the works of Nuyorican poet Tato Laviera at a course at Brown University, then returned dwelling to San Germán, a metropolis on the southwestern aspect of Puerto Rico. By Aug.14, she had began her fourth yr on the University of Puerto Rico (UPR).
At the time, she by no means would have imagined that solely two months later, a hurricane would pressure her to go away her pals, household and residential behind and return to Brown.
Mojica Santana is certainly one of 50 college students from the University of Puerto Rico that the Ivy League college is enrolling this fall, in an effort to badist college students affected by Hurricane Maria to proceed their research.
“As a school scholar, for me, I knew it could be a problem to maintain up not solely with college however with issues occurring,” Mojica Santana told NBC News. “The situation has been so bad, to the point that the necessities like water, electricity and also food have been really difficult to get.”
Marisa Quinn, chief of employees for the Office of the Provost at Brown, stated that as of final Friday, 30 of the 40 college students admitted up to now have arrived to campus.
“The president and the provost of the university are supporting this initiative,” Quinn advised NBC News. “We aren’t charging tuition or fees, but we are providing health insurance and meal plans, and in some cases supporting travel and books, which are being covered by the president and the provost.”
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Quinn defined that Brown is selecting the 50 college students based mostly on their grade level common, course necessities and course examine.
The college created this program by way of its membership within the Leadership Alliance, a corporation comprising 35 instructional establishments and one personal business that enables college students from member establishments to review or do badysis at different member establishments, based on this system’s web site. The University of Puerto Rico can also be a part of the Leadership Alliance.
“Institutions of higher education come together during these difficult periods to ensure that students and faculty displaced during the disaster are able to continue their studies and continue on the path of graduation, and faculty can continue contributing to their field of study,” Quinn stated.
She famous that Brown and the UPR haven’t but decided if the scholars will proceed at Brown for the spring semester.
But for nevertheless lengthy they continue to be at Brown, the college employees will do what they’ll to badist the scholars and make their keep comfy.
“We’re grateful to have these students, who are remarkable, talented, driven individuals who simply want to continue their education with as little interruption a possible,” Quinn stated.
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To that finish, some college members have even provided to host visiting college students of their properties to compensate for the shortage of obtainable dorm rooms.
Professor of Africana Studies and American Studies Matthew Guterl — whom Mojica Santana studied with over the summer time — had stored in contact along with her by e mail after she left Brown. Whenever information of a growing hurricane broke, he would inspect her.
“After [Hurricane] Maria she just stopped responding, for obvious reasons,” Guterl advised NBC News.
So when he realized of the settlement between Brown and the University of Puerto Rico, he provided to host his former scholar.
“My wife and I have opened up our family to her,” Guterl stated. “We’ve given her rides to places. We’ve made sure she has the right kind of clothing for winter, which is very near upon us. I’ve helped her choose clbades, helped her get her books, helped her think about what the spring semester might look like for her.”
Guterl described himself as “a combination house dad/ faculty adviser” to Mojica Santana.
“I feel extremely fortunate to be able to do this, to be able to help Jennifer and other students here,” Guterl stated. “But this is not the ideal response to a hurricane in a U.S. territory. And I feel very very strongly that Brown’s position here is the best that we can do but not the best that this country can do.”
RELATED: In Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, Shopkeepers Forge Ahead Despite Hurricane’s Aftermath
Although Guterl believes the U.S. authorities’s support response to the scenario within the Caribbean island leaves a lot to be desired, Mojica Santana appreciates the little issues Brown has achieved to badist her and different Puerto Rican college students.
Mojica Santana stated she is absolutely blissful to have the ability to proceed her research in a spot the place “everybody has been very nice and truly welcoming.”
She doesn’t know if she’s going to stay at Brown University or if she’s going to return dwelling subsequent semester, however she stated she’s not taking without any consideration the recollections and relationships she’s forging now.
Though she stated it was laborious to go away her household behind in Puerto Rico, “I know that I made the right decision.”
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