Dean Bigger talks about Wofford’s efforts during the hurricane
A few weeks ago, Hurricane Florence struck the Carolinas with a force great enough to cause extensive damage and displace many families. Spartanburg may not have received as much damage as originally anticipated, but how did Wofford plan for such a storm?
Sitting down with Dean of Students, Roberta Bigger, shared a new perspective on Wofford’s preparation for any type of emergency, whether it be a hurricane, active shooter or theft on campus. Though it is not always visible to students, Campus Safety works hard to consistently keep the college safe and prepared for any possible situation.
Bigger described some of the specifics in our meeting: “we have an emergency preparedness committee…with representatives from all of the major administrative areas. The committee’s job is to make sure that the college is always able to respond to any kind of emergency.” This committee is chaired by Campus Safety Director, Randy Hall, who focuses on preparing the campus by communicating with different departments and developing emergency plans for students to know how to stay safe in dangerous situations.
In the case of Florence, Bigger noted, “when we get news that a hurricane is approaching…we call together a meeting of representatives of that committee. Since the national weather service is so good now, we know days ahead of time, unlike decades ago, and we are able to better prepare. What we did is access multiple sources on the weather so that we aren’t just getting our information from one source and then we are able to make sure that we have the latest on everything.”
After gathering the proper information, Wofford immediately began preparations by taking down banners, gathering all outdoor furniture to prevent injuries and cleaning out the drains on campus. “We knew, if nothing else, we were going to get a tremendous amount of rain. Physically, we wanted the campus to be prepared,” said Bigger.
Over the summer, Wofford invested in a generator for the Olin building. Sometimes known as the heart of the campus, the Olin Building holds the IT Department, which is an essential component of keeping students and faculty safe during emergency situations. If the college loses power, this generator will keep the website going, sending notices to students and parents.
With regards to the lack of communication surrounding the tree that fell in the Dupre Hall courtyard, Dean Bigger responds that “since it was in an isolated area and people come and go out of that building out of other locations, it wasn’t deemed a huge emergency.” She notes that Wofford tries to remind students and faculty of hazards that could exist on campus during situations like these.
“Laura Corbin wrote one email to students, one email to parents and then one email to the general community,” Bigger said. The idea was to offer reassurances to parents, especially those from out-of-state, to let them know that Wofford had a plan for these situations.
Dean Bigger laughed when commenting, “everybody kept stopping me and saying “Dean Bigger, when are we going to close?’ and I kept saying, ‘We’re not going to close.’” In this instance, the college decided that it was safer for students to stay on campus and continue as normal than to attempt to travel to other locations.
Despite Spartanburg’s relative lack of damage, other counties in the Carolinas are still suffering from storm repercussions. Efforts on behalf of Campus Union and the Reverend, Dr. Ron Robinson, are being undergone to help those affected by the hurricane.
Photo Caption: The ‘tree that rocked Dupre’ was a result of intense rain and wind following hurricane Florence.
