Students 'Donate a Friday' for Gulf Coast

Starting this week, Columbia students can put their Friday nights towards a good cause.

While Columbia administrators have agreed to provide class space to the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, some students have also come together to raise funds for the victims.

A little more than a week ago, students eager to help victims of the disaster founded CU Relief, an on-campus organization designed to raise funds for the affected area.

Ayinwi Muma, CC '06, founded the project and will head its efforts in the coming weeks. The premise behind her initiative is simple: convince students to take the money they would have spent going out on a Friday night, and persuade them to stay on campus and donate the savings to the relief fund.

"I know that there are a lot of people who have heard about what's going on in Mississippi, in Alabama, and Louisiana, and a lot of people on this campus really want to help," Muma said. "The only thing was getting people together."

The "Donate A Friday" campaign will begin this week and continue throughout the month. It will include programs to motivate students, ranging from presentations given by New York artists to filmmaker panels.

The culminating event, scheduled for October, will be a panel discussion led by University professors. Students will be encouraged to submit questions for the panel throughout the month, and students from other universities will be invited to attend. The panel will examine the reconstruction of New Orleans.

For the Atlanta-raised Muma, the relief effort is about giving back.

"It's really important to me," she said, "And I'm in a place where I can do something. ... It's not just fundraising, it's awareness raising."

CU Relief's suggested donation is $25-$50 dollars per student. At the end of the drive, they will donate the money they've collected to the American Red Cross.

CU Relief is working with several on campus organizations and administrators, including the chaplain's and provost's offices, student services, the Center for Career Education, the Intergreek Council, and dozens of others.

These efforts have particular resonance for Columbia students from the Gulf Coast area whose lives have been personally altered by the storm, as many see indifference amongst their peers.

"In New York City, most people aren't affected, so there's this weird feeling of people going through their lives in their normal way," said Lauren McCabe, CC '07, who is from Jefferson Parish, which is adjacent to New Orleans.

Before the storm hit, McCabe's family had to flee the city and has been staying in Holiday Inns and the homes of generous families whose houses still remain.

Other Columbia students from the Gulf Coast echoed her comments about indifference. "My biggest fear is that people at Columbia are oblivious," said Frances Howorth, BC '07, of Oxford, Miss.

Frances Wei Hsing, CC '08, comes from a suburb north of Lake Pontchartrain. Her mother is a doctor at North Oaks Hospital, so she and her family stayed behind after the primary evacuation to assist those in need, sleeping on the floor of the hospital at night.

"I want people to stop complaining about the gas prices being too high, because that's not what's important," Hsing said. "Right now we need to get aid to the people who really need it."