For many Pepperdine parents, seeing the Franklin Fire ignite near the Pepperdine campus Dec. 9 from their television and cell phones took them by surprise.
For out-of-state and international parents, the fear of knowing their children were on campus that night while, they were so far away, made it one of the most frightening experiences.
Arizona parent Gina Salazar-Hook said her first-year daughter called her when the fire broke out, looking to her mother for guidance.
“She’s calling me and saying, there’s a fire on campus. ‘What do I do?’” Salazar-Hook said. “I said,’do what they’re telling you to do, because I have no idea.'”
Washington parent Heather Anderson said receiving a call from her daughter was alarming for both her and her husband, Eric Anderson.
“She called and we don’t get phone calls at midnight, and it was my phone, and so I answered the phone, and she’s like, ‘Don’t worry, don’t panic,’” Heather Anderson said.
Salazar-Hook said when she heard the news from her daughter she rushed to find all the information she could.
“I immediately got out of bed, turned on all of the live feeds that I could ABC, KCAL, CBS, watched those online, and kept kind of switching back and forth,” she said.
Mexico City parent Victorina Nucci said when her senior daughter, Francesca Nucci, first contacted her, she was not entirely worried due to her faith in the Pepperdine staff.
“I thought it was something not important cause I trust a lot the Pepperdine so I thought they will fix it or they will help all the students to be safe,” Victorina Nucci said.
Francesca said she was on crutches at the time which caused her and her mom a significant amount of uncertainty as to how she would get down to her designated shelter-in-place location, Payson Library.
“Pepperdine itself did not have the resources to take me down to the library where I’m supposed to be safe,” Francesca Nucci said. “That part was weird to me.”
Once she got service, Francesca said she sent her mother articles to let her know what was happening as she was living through it.
Sheltering-in-Place
Pepperdine encouraged residential students and staff to shelter-in-place on main campus locations such as the library or cafeteria. Many evacuated but some stayed behind following the protocols.
For some parents, Pepperdine’s shelter-in-place protocols were something they were unaware of or did not understand.
The Andersons said being from Vancouver, Wash, has made them accustomed to evacuating during a wildfire so they questioned Pepperdine’s decision of sheltering-in-place.
“We were like, ‘why aren’t the students leaving? Why aren’t they given an access route to leave?’” Heather Anderson said.
Despite knowing the risks of telling their daughter to drive through the fire, Eric Anderson said they were skeptical of Pepperdine’s protocols and thought of all possible options for his daughter’s safety.
“I had asked her at one point…I was like, ‘Hollyn, seriously, if you had to race to your car, run, how long would it take you to get there?‘” Eric Anderson said.
Salazar-Hook said many parents are unaware of the protocols and should be better informed when emergencies happen.
“I feel like if parents had known that sheltering in place was typical, that sheltering in place had been done for numerous years, and the reasons that they do the sheltering place as well,” Salazar-Hook said. “I think that would have eased a lot of nerves.”
For Victorina Nucci, she felt the university did the best it could given the situation.
“I think they try to do the right thing and I’m not mad at all,” Victorina Nucci said.
However, Victorina Nucci said since her daughter faced hardship being on crutches, she advises Pepperdine to accommodate students who are handicapped during these kinds of emergencies.
Communication
For several parents, the limited communication from the school was a major issue during the fire because they had to rely on news outlets and communication with their children.
Eric Anderson said they were only able to communicate with their daughter through iMessage once she sheltered-in-place in the library but still lacked consistent communication.
“We couldn’t call her and as a mom, all I want to do is hear her voice,” Heather Anderson said.
Eric Anderson said they did not feel informed by the university and wished they had been given more information.
“Our biggest concern at the time was we needed up to the second information, and we were really struggling with, ‘where do we get that,’’’ Eric Anderson said.
Brooke O’Donnell, in an email, executive director of International Admission and Student Services, said she was in communication with parents during the fire.
“I can tell you that I was on WhatsApp with countless parents throughout the fires,” O’Donnell wrote. “I worked at two U.S. universities prior to Pepperdine, and that is one thing that is unique about Pepperdine that other schools would not do.”
O’Donell shared the importance of Pepperdine staff supporting families during emergencies.
“Of course our parents were concerned, wherever they live,” she wrote. “But Pepperdine staff go out of their way to help not only students, but also their families.”
Christine Galvin, director of parent and family engagement for Pepperdine’s Parent Program said she shared emergency messages from the Emergency Operations Committee (EOC) to parents through email and the parent’s program social media.
“In my role, I look at those updates and decide, is that something that parents need to know? Do they have to be part of this conversation?” Galvin said.
Galvin said when she shared the emergency messages, she made sure to add a calmer tone to calm the tension for parents.
“It’s the same information, but I usually open and close with it, making it a little bit more personal, that it’s coming from us,” she said.
Galvin said she received positive feedback from many parents thanking her for the program’s communication.
Appreciating Pepperdine
For several parents, the communication from the school was a substantial issue due to the limited information being shared. However, many recognize that the fire was an unexpected situation and the university did its best to keep their children safe.
Salazar-Hook said despite her fear during the fire, she had faith in the university to keep her daughter safe.
“I think it comes back to fate. We trust Pepperdine fully,” Salazar-Hook said. “We have given them our students, and we trust them to have their best safety and intentions in mind.”
Regardless of him and his wife’s difficult experience witnessing the fire unfold, Eric Anderson said he is grateful to the Pepperdine staff.
“I’m very very very thankful with President Gash,” Eric Anderson said. “I’m sure there were so many people working quickly in the midnight hours just trying to control chaos. And I can’t even imagine how difficult that was.”
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Contact Viviana Diaz via email: viviana.diaz@pepperdine.edu
