Soon after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan last month, California State University Chancellor Dr. Charles B. Reed declared an evacuation order for students studying abroad. Since then, the sixteen San Diego State students who were studying in and around Tokyo have returned home safely.

The order, which was put into effect on March 15, required all CSU schools to ask students to return home for their own safety. Fortunately, none of the students were hurt or living near the epicenter of the earthquake.

“Students were asked to come home as a precaution,” Director of the International Student Center Negar Davis said. “In this situation, there was no deadline imposed on the students.”

When any type of emergency happens, the ISC’s role is to ensure the safety of students by contacting them through the various host institutions the center works with directly.

“That night when the earthquake hit, we were already e-mailing, communicating with students, and making sure they were OK and accounted for,” Davis said. “That was the first call to order.”

At the time, Davis did not expect the evacuation order to be put into effect because the consequences of the destruction, such as radiation leaks, were not well known.

“No one really knew what was going to happen,” Davis said. “It wasn’t until a few days after we got the evacuation order that we immediately then followed.”

The ISC also reached out to students from Japan who are studying abroad at SDSU by providing counseling. In addition, international student advisers were made available to address the students’ concerns.

“We have a strong international presence here on campus and one of our first concerns was that of our students from Japan who are studying here, because their families are over there,” Davis said.

The ISC is not the only organization on campus that reached out to those who were affected by the earthquake. Various clubs have held events to fundraise for Japan.

For donation purposes, the SDSU Asian Pacific Student Alliance held “Breaking Through,” a benefit fashion / talent show last Friday. Although admission was free, donations were accepted for Japan relief. “American Idol” Top 10 contestant Andrew Garcia was the headlining act.

“Because the tsunami hit about a month before the show, the organization started to develop relief efforts,” APSA Executive Vice President Nathan Huey said.

In addition, they received monetary donations from throughout the community.

“We received an anonymous donor who would match our goal of $2,000 and then some,” Huey said. “We reached about $1,700 just with monetary donations.”

Fundraising didn’t stop there. The club also sold donated items at Kobey’s Swap Meet, which the club typically does every semester to raise money for the organization. This time however, the proceeds went to the tsunami relief.

APSA has decided to give all donations to the Japanese American Citizen’s League, where Huey says the money is focused on getting the money to affected citizens.