Coping in the aftermath of Fiona

The following message was also distributed by email to students, faculty, and students.

Dear Members of the UPEI Community,

As we hear about the devastation in Cuba and Florida after hurricane Ian, I know that many in our campus community are very much still dealing with the aftermath of tropical storm Fiona.

The University campus weathered the storm very well; and, while it’s heartbreaking to see so many trees lost, we suffered very little structural damage as compared to many. We were lucky to have full power restored on Sunday, but I recognize that many students, faculty, and staff are still without electricity and facing uncertainty as we near the one-week mark of Fiona’s impact.

As of today, we still expect to open and return to classes on Monday, October 3, but in the meantime, I wanted to share some coping advice and resources from members of our UPEI Department of Psychology.

Dr. Philip Smith, Professor of Psychology, shared this helpful resource from the Canadian Psychological Association about coping with emergencies and disasters: https://cpa.ca/psychology-works-fact-sheet-coping-with-emergencies-disasters-and-violent-events/

Dr. Stacey MacKinnon, Associate Professor of Psychology, spoke with CBC Radio’s Matt Rainnie on Mainstreet on Wednesday. Read the online story She reminded us to:

• Allow yourself to feel
• Come together as a community
• Help others
• Be kind and patient—to others and yourself

One way we can come together as a community is to support the UPEI women’s and men’s soccer teams as they resume AUS regular schedule play on Sunday, October 2, at 1:00 pm and 3:15 pm respectively, on the UPEI Artificial Turf Field. The UPEI Soccer Panthers will face the UNB Varsity Reds, who are travelling over in the morning and returning back to Fredericton after the games.  

We recognize how this situation is stressful. Please remember that UPEI has a number of supports for students through UPEI Student Affairs, including personal counselling (studentserv@upei.ca), Accessibility Services (studentserv@upei.ca), and the International Student Office (irostu@upei.ca). Eligible employees can access the Employee Assistance Program at 1-800-387-4765. We encourage you to reach out for support.

We will get through this together.

Regards,

Greg

GREG KEEFE, DVM, MSc, MBA (he/him)
President and Vice-Chancellor (Interim)
University of Prince Edward Island