Written by Michelle Cascio
UPDATE: The HULA group now plans to leave Tuesday, March 9, due to continued airport closures.
Students and faculty members who are scheduled to leave Tuesday to study a semester in Chile will continue with their plans despite the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 300 people Saturday morning, according to university officials.
Harding University in Latin America(HULA) exists on a campus in Viña del Mar, Chile, a seaside resort city located about 100 miles north of the epicenter of Saturday’s earthquake. Viña del Mar is about 70 miles northwest of Santiago, the capital of Chile.
Jeffrey Hopper, dean of International Programs, said HULA director Tom Hook was at the campus at the time of the quake. Although the phone circuits were continuously busy, Hopper reached Hook via text message. Hook replied that he was fine, and so was the campus.
The earthquake caused little damage on the HULA campus, and many of the buildings were unaffected, Hopper said.
“I can’t ever say that a place is safe,” Hopper said, referring to the hundreds of Harding students who study abroad every semester. “If you are in the world, you have to face the chance of disaster.”
However, Hopper said precautions can be made to try to minimize disaster, like building strong infrastructures. Hopper said the buildings on the HULA campus are perhaps the most structurally sound buildings in the country.
Furthermore, Hopper said aftershocks near campus are not a concern, since they are moving away from the epicenter.
The HULA group, which includes 33 students, expects to move forward as soon as possible, Hopper said. And moving forward also includes building up.
“I can already envision some amazing service opportunities for our students,” Hopper said.
Spencer May, a sophomore accounting major who is scheduled to study in Chile this semester, sees those opportunities, too. May said he will probably get a group together to help with clean-up efforts.
“I’ll be able to connect and get to know people easier [that way],” May said of his relief plans. “[But] it is definitely a blessing we weren’t there yet.”
(Sarah Kylecontributed to this report.)
