By Mike Fales ’75, Director of Service Learning and Campus Ministries; Associate Professor Interdisciplinary Studies
Friday, August 29, marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina making landfall on the Gulf Coast. The storm left unimaginable devastation: 1,392 lives lost, over 80% of New Orleans flooded, and more than 1 million people displaced. The damage reached $125 billion, making it the costliest hurricane in U.S. history.
In 2005, I wasn’t yet the official director of service learning at The University of Olivet. Still, students who knew of my past leadership with spring break service trips approached me with a bold idea: could we go to New Orleans to help?
At first, it seemed nearly impossible. The city was over 1,000 miles away, and the logistics were daunting. But our students were persistent, and soon the United Church of Christ opened a disaster relief office and program. Olivet students became only the second work group to arrive and serve in that program, which continued for four or five years.
Answering the Call to Serve
The only way for our students to participate was by giving up 8–10 days of their Christmas Break. I wasn’t sure how many would be willing to make that sacrifice. The answer came quickly — the trip filled with 24 students in just 20 minutes, and another 24 were placed on a waiting list.
That first trip was unforgettable. We left campus in a blizzrd and arrived in a city under martial law, without electricity, gas, or water. Entire neighborhoods sat silent and destroyed, homes marked with water lines up to their rooftops. The city looked like a war zone. For the few residents who remained, shock was everywhere — they had lived through the hurricane itself, only to endure disaster again when the levees broke.
Hard Work, Hope, and Humanity
On that first trip, and on several that followed, our students did what’s called “mucking.” We cleared out homes, taking all the possessions to the curb in once-green boulevards, then tore out walls and ceilings until only the bare studs remained.
It was exhausting, emotional work. And yet, our students insisted on returning. Over the course of several years, Olivet sent eight service trips to New Orleans and one to Biloxi, Mississippi. More than 200 students in total gave a week or more of their lives to help strangers a thousand miles away.
The physical work made a difference, but what mattered most was something greater: hope. The residents couldn’t believe that college students from Michigan, who had no personal ties to them, would travel so far to help rebuild their lives. Our students gave them hope when little else did.
A Legacy of Service
Twenty years later, The University of Olivet is still deeply engaged in disaster relief. Just last year, students traveled to Spencer, Iowa, for flood recovery work and to North Carolina to serve communities near Asheville.
As I look back, I’m proud of all our students who continue to serve, but I am especially proud of the more than 200 former students who answered the call to New Orleans so many years ago. Their compassion, courage, and persistence are forever part of Olivet’s story.