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This is the second blog in a series by ICTG intern Eva Pauley. Read her first blog here. In my previous blog post, I shared a little of my own experiences as a student at Westmont College last year during the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow. During the fall semester, I conducted a series of interviews at Westmont on the ranging experiences of these events among representatives from Residence Life (including Resident Assistants and Residence Directors), Campus Life, Situational Response Team members, and the Campus Pastor’s Office. I chose these representatives to interview because I was interested in the interactive, or intersecting, perspectives of students and the adults directly involved with the non-academic aspects of college during times of emergency or disaster. While conducting interviews, the basic question I posed was: Based on where you are particularly situated at Westmont, what was your experience of the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow? Foundationally, I hoped to gain more insight toward eventually answering the following subsequent questions:
I interviewed 22 people across various departments at Westmont. I was grateful for the willingness of people within the community to have these conversations as well as their honesty through their experiences during these conversations. I was surprised by the difference in understanding of events by students and staff. After the debris flow, the distress of the students was mostly related to the evacuations and disruptions to the semester, while for many of the faculty it was related to personal loss. In general students experienced the events secondarily. Many of the professors and other faculty were more closely connected to these events. For example, according to a counseling center staff member, the most common concern cited by students who sought counseling services following the Thomas Fire and 1/9 Debris Flow was: how can I sit here studying while people down the road are looking for their loved ones? One student said that: “Homework kind of felt pointless.” One RA said, “For residents it was hardest on their focus for school. How am I supposed to study for a test with evacuations? The importance of school seemed to go down with the devastation.” Throughout the course of the research, I narrowed my focus to student care rather than institutional resilience. I discovered a lack of resources for higher education institutional responses to collective trauma. Due to recent fires in Southern California, we see increasing importance of institutional awareness and preparedness for trauma. Further research is important for developing best practices when caring for students and providing resources for self care and communal care in the midst of increasing disasters. I believe that additional study on this topic at different college campuses who have recently experienced different traumatic events would be meaningful. Those within the Westmont community experienced a wide range of responses related to the events, as is to be expected with an event of this nature. Different members of the community gave various insights into how they coped and encouraged others throughout the course of the difficulties. The following are a list of tips I compiled for college students to practice care before, during, and after emergencies, evacuations, or disasters based on my initial investigation.  Calm: Practicing healthy routines will help sustain you and counter any excessive reactions to threat. Considering creating a transitional barrier between work and sleep by reading, watching a show, doing yoga, or journaling. Based on this investigation and other studies, survivors often report how faithful routines helped them to orient themselves and feel peace amid the chaos of disaster. Consider continuing devotional practices, including studying Scripture, prayer, and worship. Ordinary self-care practices especially prove vital in times of emergency or disaster. Consider continuing in healthful routines including eating balanced meals, exercising, and creating intentional times to rest.  Connect : Survivors often vacillate between feeling desires to isolate, and that no one else really can understand what they are going through, or desires to connect with others. While connection should never be forced, it is important to keep seeking out and offer opportunities for connection with others throughout the immediate and long-term trajectory of disaster response. Consider ways you can practice being with people without having to have answers. Survivors often report that the caring presence of another person meant more to them than information they shared. Consider ways you can continue to check in on those around you, listen to their experiences, and point them toward helpful next steps based on what they report they need.  Communicate : Communicating what has happened helps individuals and groups heal, and involves both communicating what has been lost as well as what goodness has gone on amid the chaos. Consider ways to express gratitude to those who are working hard. If you find you are experiencing reactions to stress that feel disturbing or worrisome for any reason, consider talking with a professional through counseling. Consider ways to write or create a work of art about what you are experiencing - for example, keep a journal, create a prayer of lament and/or thanksgiving, or make a musical response. Interested in learning more trauma-informed best practices? Visit the ICTG training menu to purchase ICTG’s most popular resource guides, assessments, modules, seminars, and more. You can support ICTG internships and educational opportunities for students like Eva by making a financial contribution today. Your support helps prepare emerging leaders for tomorrow's demands. Thank you for your generosity! 
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I was in my friend’s dorm room when the power went out on December 4th, 2017, the day the Thomas Fire started. At the time we did not think that this far-away fire could possibly affect our community. The smoke started to settle over our campus in the next few days, and by December 7th, classes had been cancelled because of air quality. I grabbed a few of my things and went home for the weekend. I assumed that I would by back after the weekend for finals. But while I was home, finals were cancelled, and the campus was fully evacuated. There were a few scary days over Christmas break when no one knew whether or not campus was going to burn. Thanks to the hard work of many dedicated people, the Westmont College campus as well as all faculty and staff were safe.
PHOTO: ELLIE JOLLY
Classes resumed as scheduled in January. We invited several community members to campus to thank them for all they did to keep our campus safe. The very next day on January 9th, there was a devastating debris flow. We evacuated campus for a week because of a water shortage. Throughout the semester we were under county mandatory evacuation orders three more times, and Westmont instituted a Shelter Activated for Flood Emergencies Plan where students were allowed to remain on campus with classes cancelled.
The tumult of the semester as well as the pain felt by our community took their toll on all of us in different ways. This was the weight that I brought with me to my internship at ICTG. I had a lot of questions that I started asking. How do we take care of ourselves? How does a college take care of their students in the midst of such pain and unknown? How can a specifically Christian college appropriately engage in the local community after such a trauma? How do we talk about what we have experienced? This semester I am researching trauma-informed higher education practices, specifically at Westmont. I am interviewing faculty, staff, and students to learn more about different experiences and practices within the past year. I also am conducting research on best practices within trauma informed higher education. I hope to create a tip sheet for college students that provides a few strategies for Calming, Care, and Community in the midst of trauma. Please continue to check back in for updates on my semester.
You can support ICTG internships and educational opportunities for students like Eva by making a financial contribution today. Your support helps prepare emerging leaders for tomorrow's demands. Thank you for your generosity!
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ICTG BLOGFrom 2012-2020, this blog space explored the changing landscape of long-term care. This website serves as a historical mark of work the Institute conducted prior to 2022. This website is no longer updated.
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