Parents write letters of appreciation for Rice response

Parents write letters of appreciation for Rice response

E-mails continue to come in from parents of Rice students — as well as from students, faculty, staff and alumni — thanking Rice and its people for their planning, execution and communication in the face of Hurricane Rita. As a way of saying thank you to all the Rice people who earned this praise, Rice News reprints excerpts from the parents’ messages. Since it was not practical to obtain permission to print the notes, we have removed the names of the writers.

As a Rice parent living in New York City, I was very upset to wake up this morning to hear that Hurricane Rita was being upgraded to a [Category] 4. Here I am 2,000 miles away from my son. So I have to thank you for the Web site update. I am very reassured that the administrators at Rice (as usual) are completely on top of the situation.

—New York

As a parent of a senior attending Rice, I cannot thank the university enough for all of the updates on Hurricane Rita you had on your Web page. Living in Seattle and seeing what we have been seeing on television was pretty daunting. Knowing she was safe at Sid Rich was a great relief. We have family in Dallas, but felt she was safer staying put and not getting into a car on the highway with thousands of other people. That decision was made based on your updated information. Thanks for allowing us to make a good decision.

—Washington State

We are the parents of a Rice graduate student that took shelter in McNair Hall during Hurricane Rita and, now that everything has turned to normality, in our name and in the name of all our family, we want to express a deep gratitude for the protection given to our son and other students during this crisis.

We felt a notable state of readiness and a rigorous care concerning safety, comfort and stability of the entire community.

In the worst moments, when Rita became a Category 5 and all the news stations anticipated the most catastrophic scenario we could ever imagine, we were driven to despair and felt completely powerless to help our son, who is for the first year studying in U.S. and has no relatives in the country.

The only relief we could feel in those painful moments was through our prayers and the words of confidence and serenity expressed by Rice President in the several announcements made by Rice Emergency Management System, which we could follow in Rice Web site and kept us informed about what really was happening and objectively was expected. The measures adopted along the progress of the situation seemed clear, effective and appropriate to each moment, giving us a great confidence.

We also celebrate the fact that Rice, Houston area and the states around were, as far as we know, relatively spared from the most serious damage that seemed imminent. We cannot help expressing how deeply grateful to Rice we will be forever for the protection and comfort received by our son and his fellow students in those difficult moments.

—Portugal

Please accept my gratitude for the way everyone at Rice University has responded to the danger of Hurricane Rita. Our son is an undergraduate student housed at Baker College. Of course we have been concerned with his welfare. As we have read your message and the updates on the Rice University Web site, our concern has been replaced with calm. Your concern for the welfare and safety of the students is just what we needed to read and understand. It gives us great confidence in our son’s well-being. It will be a memorable but safe experience — one for the personal journal. Thank you again and to all at Rice who are taking care of our son and all the other students on campus.

—Utah

I write on behalf of a parent of a son in Martel. My husband and I wanted to thank those who took care of him and all the students during Hurricane Rita. We greatly appreciated the frequent updates. You have given us another reason, again, to believe that our son made the right college choice.

—Oklahoma

Your preparations and the communication of them are absolutely outstanding. Everything about this experience has served to reinforce my feeling that my son made an excellent decision to attend Rice University. You guys are the greatest. Thank you. Our thoughts and our hearts are with you guys. I know from the three hurricanes we had last year that as long as you remain safe, it will be a bonding experience that you will never forget.

—Florida

I wanted to thank you for the thorough planning in the wake of the hurricane and also for keeping us updated on the Web site. As parents who are terribly concerned, this has gone a long way to ease our mind.

—Canada

We are parents of an undergrad who stayed on campus during Hurricane Rita. We were so grateful for your Web site and frequent information — it made us feel more reassured that our son was in good hands. We are impressed by the preparedness, thoughtfulness, advance planning and caring that was so evident from all of the information you continued to post. Thank you so much.

—California

Thank you all so much for the updates on your Rice Web site and informing your students, as well as all of us worried parents out of state, about your hurricane preparations. After my son informed us that he and his roommates would not be traveling north, we were a little concerned, even after he tried to reassure us that everything would be fine. (Ah, to be young again and not worry about such things) But after perusing your site and finding the link about the hurricane, we were so much more relieved to find your well-organized staff had things in check.

—Virginia