Colleges, Hurricanes and Trauma

Colleges, like people, have personalities. Some are welcoming, others reserved. Some are straight-laced, others informal. Some are prone to drama, others unflappable.
So it should come as no surprise that colleges can experience trauma. Last week, in fact, the presidents of other area colleges and I concluded that our institutions were suffering from some form of post-traumatic stress disorder.
The cause? Hurricane Irma.
At New College, the symptoms manifest themselves as a sense of dislocation. Due to the school closure, we just had our first regular faculty meeting this past Wednesday, and we had to postpone our opening annual trustee meeting. It seems as if classes have just started. Yet we are in the midst of midterm exams, and our mid-semester break begins Monday. Faculty members and students are working long hours to make up lost class time.