WSU Alum’s Language Skills Aid Hurricane Katrina Victims

PULLMAN, Wash. – In the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, a Washington State University alumnus, now residing in Texas, sent a thank you note to his former French professor at the university’s campus in Pullman, Washington.

 “I just wanted to take a moment to let you know how my French skills are assisting in the relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina,” former WSU student Jim Leary wrote to Professor Joan Grenier-Winther.

Leary wrote that he and a number of his fellow employees at a Houston-based travel company were allowed time off to do volunteer work assisting the thousands of evacuees arriving in Texas from Southern Louisiana. When relief workers asked the volunteers if any of them spoke French, Leary said he found he was the only one who had raised his hand.

“I got whisked away to the Red Cross where I served as an interpreter for four elderly people who spoke only French and no English,” wrote the 1995 graduate of the WSU Department of Foreign Languages and Cultures. “They said they didn’t have their medication and they were looking for their children and grandchildren who normally serve as their interpreters. They had general questions about the recovery of New Orleans because they can’t read the papers or understand what’s being said on TV.”

“Faculty in the department of foreign languages and cultures frequently tell students that their language skills will come in handy in everyday life,” said Grenier-Winther. “But this is certainly a dramatic example.”

Leary wrote of the hurricane victims he assisted, “I didn’t save the world for them, but each one did say to me that they appreciated me helping them and updating them on the situation. Hurray for language skills! We never know when we may need them.”