(Posted September 12, 2005)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- In response to the devastating damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, Juniata College will offer up to 20 weeks of paid absence (two weeks maximum per person) for staff members seeking to join the rebuilding effort with Habitat for Humanity. The college also will contribute to the travel and living expenses of students, faculty or staff involved with the rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast.

Juniata also has offered its assistance to Tulane University Medical School, one of Juniata's partners in a cooperative medical degree program, as their needs become known. Juniata also offered enrollment to a displaced Tulane University student.

"We are very proud of our alumni response to the crisis," says Juniata College President Thomas Kepple. "One of our recent graduates, Eliot Fagley, a fourth-year medical student at Tulane has spent the past week working with Katrina victims at Charity Hospital in New Orleans."

Kepple added that Juniata's mission to ease the burden of those in New Orleans and Gulf Coast communities can best be served by making personal donations to the relief effort and by honoring Juniata's commitment to service.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.