Letter from Dr. Sorensen

To The Carolina Family,

This is a profoundly sad time for the University of South Carolina family. As most of you know, seven young lives were lost in a house fire at Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., early Sunday.

Six of these promising young people were students at the University of South Carolina, and a seventh was from Clemson University.

As we await updates from officials in North Carolina, we are struggling to deal with ineffable sadness, and we are entering a grieving process through which there are no short cuts. Yet while we grieve, we must remember the families and communities where these students lived, and I ask to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

In the upcoming days and weeks we will grieve differently and turn to our families, our friends, our clergy, our colleagues and our larger communities for strength and support. Let us remember that, as members of the university family, we are all connected and feel the tragic loss of these young people. The words of the Anglican priest, John Donne, that “No man is an island,” resonate with a bittersweet truth today.

Essential to the grieving and the healing process is the creation of appropriate ways for expressing our feelings and for honoring our students. As we receive more information, university staff will work with the families and friends to plan services and memorials, and information will be posted on the university’s home page.

In the meantime, I remind all students that Rutledge Chapel is open for reflection and for prayer, and counselors are available at our counseling center in the Byrnes Building. Students also can talk with clergy and their residence hall advisers.

We are all diminished by this loss. Our sadness is profound. But I have faith that the strength of the University of South Carolina family will sustain us all in the days and weeks to come.

Sincerely Yours,

Andrew Sorensen