Alumni Hall served as the headquarters for Dartmouth's tsunami relief efforts Thursday, as students, staff and community members gathered to mourn the loss of life in Asia and kick off a campuswide fundraising effort.
College President James Wright urged students to act to help survivors of the disaster, invoking the words of former President John Sloan Dickey: "The world's troubles are your troubles."
The highlight of the gathering came when graduate student Rukman De Silva and Achint Ahuja '05 relayed their personal experiences with the tsunami.
Ahuja was on the beaches of Goa, India when the tsunami reached land on the other side of his native country. Flooding the audience with images of dying children and burning human pyres, he managed to personalize the distant disaster.
De Silva hails from Sri Lanka, where 50,000 people died in the catastrophe.
"There is a generation of children in Sri Lanka without parents," De Silva told the audience.
While his immediate family was safe, some of De Silva's relatives are still missing.
College Chaplain Richard Crocker implored the audience to support the victims of the natural disaster.
"[The disaster] compels us to express our solidarity and support," said Crocker, who also read from the Bible.
Biology professor Lee Witters spoke about exposure to the images of the tsunami's destruction and how those images should affect students.
"The happenings of the last eleven days should be a transformative experience -- a loss of innocence," Witters said.
Tucker Foundation Dean Stuart Lord led a moment of silence before Student Body President Julia Hildreth '05 closed the event by urging students to act.
"We must demonstrate the character of our community and the abundance of our compassion," Hildreth said.
In a flyer handed out to attendees, Lord announced the placement of contribution boxes for cash and checks around campus. Students can also use DASH funds to donate money to an organization of their choice at the Collis information desk.
Ben Jastrzembski '08 was glad he attended the event.
"I went because I wanted to hear what professors and Dartmouth leaders had to say about the disaster and what sort of response we should have," Jastrzembski said.
Leaders of student groups met Tuesday in a crowded room at the Tucker Foundation to determine and organize student response. Students proposed ideas varying from a Sri Lankan potluck dinner to a silent auction of student art.
The Programming Board is organizing a tsunami relief skate night Saturday and UNICEF, which is spearheading a change donation drive throughout Hanover, is holding a faculty panel discussion Monday.
