In August, the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis. In October, wildfires ravaged Southern California. In both instances, Walden’s student services teams—as well as other Walden University and Laureate Education staff—reached out to students and faculty in the affected areas.

In both disasters, the first order of business was to ensure that everyone was physically safe—thankfully the case as members of the Walden community were spared from harm, and no one lost a home in the fires.

Then, during the wildfires, academic advisors worked with students in the Southern California area and their faculty members to ensure that academic deadlines were not an added stressor while the fires continued to damage their communities and impact traffic, services and air quality.

At the same time, these students responded with concern for the losses their neighbors and friends were facing, and with appreciation for Walden’s support and for its understanding of the complex lives of working professionals.

This kind of personal concern for our community is important to everyone across the Walden organization. 

“We understand the importance of helping our students balance their education with the many other aspects of their lives,” says Walden President Jonathan A. Kaplan, J.D. “Therefore, our staff is constantly working to anticipate, accommodate, and help our students adjust to the impact of crises beyond their control—whether those events are personal or communitywide in scale.”

“In addition,” Kaplan says, “our student services teams, along with the rest of the Walden community, knows that our mission is to make a difference not only in the lives of our students, but also in the community at large.”

To that end, once assured that students and employees were safe, Walden and Laureate responded to both disasters with efforts to assist the victims. In Minneapolis, student services coordinated employee contributions, through the United Way, to the Minnesota Helps-Bridge Disaster Fund. Including a matching donation from The Sylvan/Laureate Foundation, the total contribution made by Laureate and Walden employees was close to $5,000, which went to medical treatment, counseling and other needs related to the bridge collapse. And in California, Walden’s Los Angeles office held a blood drive to support the needs of the American Red Cross.

December Ponder front page