Dean of Undergraduates John Hutchinson sent this message to students Monday evening.

Dear Students:

As I write this, I am in the Recreation Center which is filled with people getting good exercise and having fun. It is so nice to see this huge group of people together. I continue to be amazed by how well the entire Rice community has responded to this emergency. This is not over, though. Although the worst of the storm is now east of Houston, we still have some rain, occasionally heavy, ahead of us, as Harvey travels north tomorrow and Wednesday.

Beyond the end of the storm, our city has a long road to recovery, and we have many, many Rice staff members, faculty and off-campus students, both undergraduate and graduate, who have damaged homes or who have had to evacuate. We have challenges yet to face, and "shared sacrifice" is going to be the theme around which our community will endure.

A few important reminders to help us face these challenges:

• Hygiene and hand washing are critical to keep you and everyone else healthy! Use hand sanitizer often!
• Until we can be resupplied, it is imperative that we conserve food supplies. Take only what you intend to eat, so that food does not wind up in the waste bin. Do not under any circumstances hoard food in your room. Do not invite others to join you for any meals. We are carefully allocating the food to make it last until we can be resupplied.
• Return all plates, cups and utensils to the servery. We have dishwashers, but your dishes do no one any good if they are sitting in your room.
• Avoid any activity which places you or your community at increased risk. All of you have done fantastically well at this. EMS has only been needed for a few students, and we have had only a single alarm in one college in the past four days. Way to go!
• Although the risk of tornadoes is now quite low, remain alert for tornado warnings and be prepared to locate and move to the closest shelter you can access without going outdoors.

Many of you have been asking what you can do to help those in the city who are in need. I am inspired by your civic responsibility! We need to get out of this storm before we can start moving about the city. As much as you want to help and as much as I appreciate your generosity and humanity, we do not want to make things more difficult for the emergency management teams and first responders by accidentally adding to their burden. The time will come soon when we at Rice will rally our efforts and our resources to help the city we love and the Houstonians who share it with us. But we are not there quite yet. President Leebron and Provost Miranda are discussing options with me and other members of the administration and faculty. In the meantime, there are some opportunities to help our wonderful staff members who have remained on campus to help and serve all of us. Speak to your college magisters and presidents to learn ways you can help.

Let me close with a couple of stories about Rice. Last night, National Guard helicopters began landing in the Greenbriar lot with patients destined for hospitals in the medical center. Due to the large amount of traffic, these helicopters could not all land at the heliports. Rice EMS, RUPD and local Rice community volunteers all worked to transport these patients the rest of the way to the hospital. And later last night, in the pitch darkness around midnight, RUPD officers waded in chest deep water to rescue two Rice community members who were stranded near campus.

I am proud to have these remarkable people as colleagues, and I am proud to have you as my students.

Best wishes,
Dean Hutch