Subscribe to NewsNews features
CECD E-News: Special Greensburg Edition
K-State Engagement E-News, Special Edition, May 2008 (PDF)
by David Procter, Director
On May 4, 2007, an F5 tornado struck Greensburg destroying ninety-five percent of all homes and buildings in town.
Welcome to this special issue of K-State’s Engagement E-News. In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the tornado that devastated Greensburg, Kansas, we wanted to share some of the work and thoughts of those K-Staters who have been helping rebuild Greensburg.
On May 4, 2007, an F5 tornado struck Greensburg destroying ninety-five percent of all homes and buildings in town. Almost immediately, K-State faculty, staff and students joined the recovery and rebuilding effort. Over the course of the 2007 summer, calls and e-mails came into the Center for Engagement and Community Development, asking CECD to help organize a more focused and concerted K-State effort to assist Greensburg. In early August 2007, CECD staff traveled to Greensburg to listen to citizens talk about their priorities and their greatest needs. In late August, we brought together nearly 50 K-State faculty and staff and community leaders from Greensburg to talk about ways that K-State could best assist Greensburg rebuilding efforts.
In the following pages, you will read about several on-going collaborative projects between Kiowa County, Greensburg, and K-State. CECD is happy to have played a role in facilitating these connections and collaborations. By understanding Greensburg’s priorities, linking those needs to K-State resources, providing some seed funding, and facilitating collaborative relationships, CECD has helped fulfill K-State’s mission to be a more engaged university and address a tremendous need in the process.