Services including art therapy and candlelight vigils are being offered by the University community following Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., New York City and Pennsylvania.
UNM President Bill Gordon released a statement today that said the University's sense of community provides a source of strength that can help people cope with the attacks.
"Yesterday, the UNM community was bound together in shock and sadness as the horrible events of the day unfolded," he said. "As we all begin a new day, I would hope that this sense of community endures and that we come together in support of each other as each of us tries to understand and cope with these tragic events."
UNM student groups are sponsoring a candlelight vigil tonight at 7 p.m. at the UNM Duck Pond.
"Our goal is to form a human chain with candles around the Duck Pond to show our support for those suffering in New York City and Washington, D.C.," said Steve Aguilar, vice president of the Associated Students of UNM.
The College of Education Art Therapy Program in the Art Education Building has opened its studios to the community.
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Linney Wix, associate professor of Art Education, organized the activity called "Creative Response to the Tragedy." It runs today from 2-5 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Monday through Thursday from 2-5 p.m. in Rooms 207 and 208 of Masley Hall, which is north of the Kiva Lecture Hall.
The activity is free and supplies will be provided by the Art Education Department.
"I'm an artist, art therapist and art educator," she said. "I truly trust and believe in the arts as a response. I encourage that with my students, and I encourage it because it gives us a different way to set what's going on than to verbally process it. We're an incredibly verbal culture and tend to intellectualize it. Art gives us another picture."
Linney said she helped a 12 year-old boy and his mother deal with the emotions associated with watching the news coverage Tuesday.
"He was traumatized from watching it all day on TV in school and wasn't allowed to leave and not watch the images he wasn't ready for," she said. "He sculpted for two and a half hours and really began to deal with everything that was thrown his way. This really does make a difference."
For information about the art studios, call 277-4112.
The Agora Crisis Center, a UNM student-run hotline that can be reached at 277-3013, will remain open 24 hours a day through the end of the week. Salsa Fresca and La Posada donated meals for Agora staff members who received about 50 calls Tuesday.
The staff was excited that President Bush referred to the program, which is the nation's oldest crisis hotline, during one of his national addresses following the terrorist attacks.
"We added a couple of lines so that we can take more calls and a lot of us have been working 18 hour shifts," said Jeremy Jaramillo, a UNM student who volunteers for the hotline. "It's been pretty crazy."
Jaramillo added that Agora's services are not limited to those in dire need of crisis intervention.
"People can call for any reason and a lot of people say, `I thought I could deal with us, but I just needed to vent a little bit,'" Jaramillo said. "We get a lot of calls - especially at night - from people you would consider stable, but who just want to call and talk about feelings. That's definitely in the range of what we deal with and we encourage that."
The UNM Counseling Assistance and Referral Service and the Student Health Center are also providing emergency counseling services. For information, 272-6868 or 277-3136.
The UNM Women's Resource Center has made its group room, Room 1160 in Mesa Vista Hall, available for the next two weeks. The room provides art supplies to allow people an alternative way to express their feelings. The center also has two therapists that can provide crisis intervention. For more information, call 277-3716.
The UNM Alumni Relations Office has announced that the UNM Alumni Memorial Chapel will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday for all members of the University community who want a place for private prayer or reflection.
Many UNM campus ministries and organizations held special services Tuesday. The Aquinas Newman Center, the Catholic Church on campus, will hold services, as normally scheduled, at 5:15 p.m. today and 12:10 p.m. Friday.
