By Dale M. King
More than a week after a massive earthquake laid waste to much of Haiti, the president of Boca Raton’s Lynn University has urged the federal government to continue its “search and rescue” effort in hopes of finding all missing Americans, including the four Lynn students and two professors who remain unaccounted for.
“Tonight I have a letter already signed by Senator George S. LeMieux urging Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the U.S. Agency for International Development to continue ‘search and rescue efforts until the possibility of survival no longer exists,’ and to do ‘everything within (their) power to ensure that every American known to be missing in Haiti is located and returned home,” Kevin Ross said in a late afternoon news conference Thursday.
He said Senator LeMieux, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton) and their staffs have “helped however they could to aid us in our search efforts.”
Families of the missing students and faculty continue to hold onto the hope that their loved ones will be found. Ross touched on that during his address Thursday, saying, “We still have hope – hope that a miracle is in the making. Hope that our six are found safe and sound. And hope that many others too will be freed and reunited with loved ones around the world. That remains our most ardent wish here at Lynn University.”
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake centered just outside Port-au-Prince struck just after 12 Lynn students and two professors arrived for a mission trip to the poverty-stricken county. All 14 were on site at the Hotel Montana when the quake hit. Ross said he has “reason to believe that our four missing students and two faculty may be there still.”
The missing are Courtney Hayes, 23, of Boca Raton; Britney Gengel, 19, of Rutland, Mass.; Stephanie Crispinelli, 19, of Katonah, N.Y.; Christine Gianacaci, 22, of Hopewell, N.J.; Patrick Hartwick, 53, dean of the Ross College of Education; and Richard Bruno, 59, assistant professor in the College of Liberal Education.
He said the university community is buoyed by stories of heroism and triumph in Haiti, of people being pulled alive from wrecked buildings days after the quake. At Lynn, “we have celebrated them almost as if they were our own good news.”
But the university, he said, wants the U.S. government’s assurance that “every person lost in this tragedy will be returned to their loved ones.”
“I want this personally. I want this for the families of our missing students and faculty and our more than three dozen employees and eight students with family missing in the country,” said Ross. “And I want it for the campus community. I serve- a community that will need to grieve as well.”
“We have been saying from the beginning how thankful we are for the prayers and support we have received here at Lynn University. The outpouring of support has been incredible. Please continue to offer those prayers and cross those fingers. We still believe in miracles. And we wish those same miracles upon all of you who are still uncertain at this hour.”