Dear Parents:

We had another night of rain, wind, and tornado watches in Jackson last evening.  Our city has been hit extremely hard.  There is not a building in downtown Jackson untouched by the storm.  It will take months to restore.

On the Union campus we have lost over 180 windows to the hail damage.  Also about 130 cars were damaged by the storm.  We have experienced water damage and flooding on some parts of the campus.  But overall, things are returning to a regular schedule on campus as we return to classes today.

I want to assure you that our faculty and staff will be very attentive to the needs of our students during this time.  We want to try to help them focus once again on the tasks at the end of the semester while providing some flexibility for them realizing that all of us are distracted by the events of the past 36 hours.

The character of your students is an amazing thing to observe.  Almost without exception they are thinking of ways they can serve others during this time.  Union is a special place with a very special student body.

Thank you for your prayers, support, and encouragement during this time.  Let me encourage you to stay in touch with your student during these days with phone calls or e-mail.  Traditional mail will likely to take longer than usual because of the huge damage to the downtown post office in Jackson.  Thanks again for your prayers for our campus and our city during these days.