Oct 10, 2005 - Claremont, Calif. -

By Whitney Buchanan '07

Six weeks after Katrina blasted the Gulf Coast there is still a long, hard road of recovery for its victims. It is a daunting task that cannot be taken on by one person, nor one agency alone. It is a task that must be tackled by our whole community, regardless of where we live or what we do, and Mudd is no exception.

Assistant professor of psychology Deborah Mashek stepped up to the challenge, sending her Introduction to Psychology students into the community to collect donations for the Red Cross’ Disaster Relief Fund while gathering data on the psychology of persuasion. The students worked in teams using different persuasion techniques and recording observations on their effectiveness.

"It was a wonderful way help the Katrina victims while still learning about people," commented one student in the class. "I'd never done a collection of that sort before, it really was a valuable experience." The brief one-hour activity raised over $600. The results of the research will be featured in a story in the next issue of the college magazine, Harvey Mudd College Bulletin.

Mudders Making a Difference (MMAD), an ASHMC-sponsored club, has also taken this challenge to heart in its own way. Coordinating efforts with the other Claremont Colleges, Mudders Making a Difference organized donation drives for clothing and other essentials, as well as for monetary donations. They raised over $1,400 at Mudd alone and filled three truckloads and a van with clothing and supplies for the victims.

In conjunction with MMAD, Allison Hutchings '07 initiated a program through which employees at the Linde Activity Center would designate a period for which they "worked for Katrina" and donated all their pay from that time period to the cause. Efforts across the five Claremont colleges raised over $10,000 for the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Furthering its hurricane relief efforts, MMAD is in the process of planning to take 10 to 20 people to Mobile, Alabama, over five days of spring break to help communities recovering from the hurricane. A cultural-diversity dinner is being planned to raise funds to cover the costs of the trip. The dinner will be a joint effort with Scripps College and will feature Cajun-style cuisine as well as music and art from the regions hit by the hurricanes. The event will be open to the greater Claremont community and will take place in late November.

A community service and volunteer club on campus, Mudders Making a Difference works a wide variety of events ranging from beach cleanups, to a Special Olympics that was held at the Claremont Colleges last weekend. "We know that it’s hard for Mudders to commit to weekly volunteer opportunities because of our heavy class load, so we try and organize a lot of one time events that give busy Mudd students a chance to give back," said volunteer coordinator Tom Donze '08.

They have recently adopted a hut in the Baldy Ranger District to sell wilderness passes, and are planning a camping trip and trail maintenance event over fall break. MMAD also organizes blood drives on campus, runs the Shoes that Fit program which provides shoes to underprivileged children and coordinates food drives through SOVA, a local social services organization. In conjunction with Pomona College they organize Mudd trips to work on Habitat for Humanity houses and send volunteers to the Prison Library Program, which works to send books to prisoners based on letters from them.

For more information of MMAD activities or upcoming events in the Claremont area, please contact Tom Donze at tdonze@hmc.edu.