East Tennessee State University trustees on Thursday heard detailed accounts of the university's response to Hurricane Helene and praise for student volunteers who led relief and outreach efforts.

President K. (Trent) Noland and Dr. Sherlund opened the discussion by describing rapid campus mobilization after the storm, which included the largest two-day blood drive in the region, distribution of more than 800 hot meals, activation of student and employee crisis funds, free temporary housing and direct outreach to thousands of students. "They waited to donate for hours, up to 6 hours," Dr. Sherlund said, describing the strain and commitment at the donor site.

Student leaders who participated in response operations briefed the board. Morgan Glaser, a senior in the Rhodes Scholars Leadership Program and an SGA officer, described a weeklong supply drive that filled a campus room (roughly 366 people’s worth of donations) and culminated in a full bus of supplies sent to Bristol Motor Speedway. "We had students coming to us not only wanting to volunteer... even staying up to 10:00 at night in the cold to get everything done," Glaser said.

Skyler Brackett, SGA secretary of state, said students shifted Homecoming activities to relief work, expanding the blood drive with Marsh Regional Blood Center and coordinating donations from across Tennessee. The board also learned about a student-written initiative, Letters of Love; its president, Shana Thompson, reported about 1,800 letters collected and delivered to flood survivors and first responders.

President Noland provided numbers that directly tied student needs and university support: 10 students lost family members, 37 students were displaced by the flood, 41 lost jobs, 56 received campus crisis-fund support and 18 received tuition-assistance aid. "Out of university resources, we've pushed more than $100,000 out to flood victims," Noland said, and he noted a $10,000 donation from Donard Construction to the student crisis fund.

Trustees praised the response and the experiential learning opportunities it produced. Chair Latimer invited the university community to continue supporting recovery efforts, noting the university has provided staff with additional volunteer leave to sustain long-term assistance.

The board did not take additional formal action on relief funding at the meeting. The trustees recognized student volunteers for their roles in coordinating logistics, donations and outreach.