Cornellians Garner Support for Earthquake Victims

By CHRISTINA MacCORKLE Sun Staff Writer

Following a series of earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria a month ago — leading to a total death toll of more than 50,000 as of March 8 — students and faculty on campus have come together to raise awareness and funds for those affected in the region.

“To put the span of the disaster into perspective, think about it as if everywhere from Paris and Amsterdam were completely destroyed. Or New York City to Washington, D.C.,” said Selina Balcı ’26 in her speech at a Turkish Student Association fundraiser on Feb. 18.

For some members of the Cornell community, the earthquake has impacted friends and family abroad.

“I say my family has been affected because they lived in the area that got destroyed. But the reality is the family of everyone in this room who is Turkish and Syrian got affected,” Balcı said at the fundraiser. “We Turkish people see the entire country as [our] family — one that has been struck by an immense tragedy.”

The Office of the Vice Provost sent out a message of support to Turkish and Syrian students on Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Signed by Vice Provost for Graduate Education Kathryn J. Boor, Dean of Students Marla Love and Vice Provost for International Affairs Wendy Wolford, the email was sent to students who are from Turkey and Syria. Some Turkish and Syrian students felt that the response should have been sent to the entire Cornell community to reflect the urgency and scope of the sit- uation.

“We had to write to the administration to send out a support message to students that maybe we cannot reach,” said Faculty Advisor of the TSA Prof. Banu Ozer-Griffin, near eastern studies. “It’s terrible to feel alone at these moments.”

Wolford sent out a campus-wide email regarding the tragedy on Feb. 14, more than a week after the earthquakes.

“We were expecting a public message from Cornell to every single student,” said Taylan Ercan ’25, president of the TSA. “We had also been in contact with friends from other colleges, and we learned that other colleges were raising all this money, but Cornell hadn’t done anything yet.”

Ozer-Griffin similarly felt frustrated with the University’s response time.

“I’m thinking they just didn’t understand how devastating it was that we just lost 10 cities. And there was nothing from anyone for a week,” Ozer-Griffin said. “And then, after a week, we started gathering together because we were all in shock.”

The first event that brought Turkish and Syrian community members together was a support group on Wednesday, Feb. 15 in Mann Library.

On Saturday, Feb. 18, the Arab Student Association, Muslim Educational and Cultural Association, TSA and International Students Union joined forces to organize an Earthquake Disaster Relief Fundraiser.

According to Ercan, the fundraiser raised over $8,000 for the Ahbap Foundation, a Turkish mutual aid group.

Ercan also noted that the TSA reached out to con-