UPDATED: March 5, 2018 at 12:03 p.m.

Syracuse University’s Student Association has decided to no longer organize a hurricane relief trip to Houston after choosing to consider a long-term advocacy initiative that would focus on supporting areas affected by natural disasters around the world.

Last semester, SA members said the organization would send two groups of students to assist aid efforts in Puerto Rico, which was devastated by Hurricane Maria in September, and Houston, which was hit by Hurricane Harvey in August. Students traveled to Puerto Rico during winter break.

SA originally planned to send students to Texas during spring break. But Angie Pati, the organization’s vice president, said on Sunday that students who flew to Puerto Rico said they would rather return to the island to continue assisting Maria aid operations, rather than traveling to Houston.

“What they wanted was to go back to Puerto Rico,” Pati said. “Which is really a reflection of them wanting to do some long-term work … creating a sustainable initiative, rather than them doing disaster relief tourism.”

SA Historian John Jankovic originally approached Pati with the idea of traveling to Houston to assist with Harvey relief efforts. Jankovic was the lead student coordinator for the possible trip.

No details had been finalized on the Houston relief trip before SA members ultimately decided to not travel to Texas, shortly after students returned from Puerto Rico.

“We definitely could have figured out a way to get to Houston, but that’s not the point of it,” Pati said. “We’re creating more of a holistic and well-rooted and really fundamentally stable initiative that is culturally competent, focusing on international advocacy instead of just going places for a week,” Pati said.

Pati said some of the volunteers and members of SA have been having conversations about creating a permanent initiative for SA to adopt, essentially promoting international advocacy rather than traveling to Houston.

Pati said SA has been communicating with representatives from Hendricks Chapel, including Dean Brian Konkol and Baptist Campus Ministry Associate Chaplain Devon Bartholomew. Bartholomew was an adult leader on the Puerto Rico trip.

Pati said meetings have been planned to discuss what the initiative could focus on. Jankovic added that the initiative would primarily be focused on aid efforts for sites of natural disasters.

“I see it focusing on three things,” Jankovic said. “That’s relief, advocacy and development.”

Pati and Jankovic both said the initiative is trying to create a strong foundation to continue work such as relief trips, education and advocacy for areas with various needs.

Both SA officials said they hope the initiative will be a long-term project. Pati said the idea will probably be voted on by the assembly sometime before the end of the semester, but Jankovic said a committee could also be formed off the idea.

“While we couldn’t do a trip this semester, it’s gonna pay off in the long run,” Jankovic said.

CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this post, the extent to which Student Association organized the trip to Houston was unclear.

Published on March 4, 2018 at 11:50 pm

Contact Catherine: ccleffer@syr.edu | @ccleffert