Syracuse University is reaching out to and providing resources for Japanese students on campus after an 8.9-magnitude earthquake struck northern Japan Friday morning.

SU has 58 international students from Japan on campus, said Patricia Burak, director of the Lillian and Emanuel Slutzker Center for International Services. Forty-eight students are in programs on main campus, and ten students are taking classes through the English Language Institute run by University College.

Just before 8 a.m., Burak e-mailed the 48 students on main campus with an alert that the center opened for counseling and can help students contact their families in Japan if need be. University College is working with its 10 students, Burak said.

‘Our prayers and hopes for the safety of your family and friends join with your prayers and hopes throughout the day and the days to come,’ the e-mail stated.

The center is open Friday as usual, and advisers will be available via e-mail and phone throughout the weekend. Students are asked to share any news regarding the safety of their family and friends, according to the e-mail. The center offered to work with contacts in the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Japan to help students learn the status of family and friends if need be, according to the e-mail.

Many students responded to the e-mail, thanking the center for its quick response and availability, Burak said. At least three students said they had reached friends and family, and they are all safe.

A small group of Korean students was scheduled to fly home through Japan for Spring Break. They are now waiting in Detroit to see how they will get home, she said.

The Slutzker Center officials monitor the news constantly to stay up on international events, Burak said. When major international events occur, the center responds by contacting all students from that part of the world, she said.

Students’ first instinct is sometimes to want to go home to their loved ones, such as when a tsunami hit Indonesia five years ago, Burak said. The center officials try to discourage that, but in extreme cases they can help students make arrangements to return home.

The center officials truly seek to provide comfort to affected students, Burak said.

‘A lot of times it’s just talking to students,’ Burak said. ‘You get very sentimental, and you get very emotional when bad things are happening in your home.’

In the past, members of the center have also helped facilitate fundraising efforts after tragedies such as the tsunami in Indonesia.

The center will be open during Spring Break and continue to provide resources for Japanese students, as many will remain on campus.

‘In some ways it’s just letting people know that we care, that they’re not alone’ Burak said.

kronayne@syr.edu

Published on March 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm