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DeVos Students Help New Orleans Rebuild

Even as Hurricane Isaac threatens New Orleans, the city is still cleaning up from Katrina. But thanks to students from the DeVos Sport Business Management Program, the recovery continues.

Sixty-five students and administrators from the program traveled to the Crescent City this summer to help rebuild the Lower Ninth Ward through the non-profit organization Hope For Stanley Alliance (created by alumni of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program) and in partnership with the St. Bernard Project. During the trip, the group toured the city, including where the levees broke, and worked throughout their orientation week on three different homes.

View students’ tweets, posts and photos from their trip to New Orleans.

“Even though years have passed and the city of New Orleans has been somewhat improved, there’s still a lot of work to do. This community is very strong and full of faith. Having the opportunity to be part of a program that brings hope to other people and being able to help them rebuild their homes is an amazing thing. There are not many feelings that compare to the one you get by being an essential piece of someone else’s future and I’m very grateful I got to experience it with my DeVos family,” said Stephanie Rivera Casiano, DeVos Class of 2014.

Students from the program have volunteered to help the city rebuild since 2006. The New Orleans City Council passed a proclamation commending the work done by the Hope For Stanley Alliance, which it previously cited as the most active external group helping New Orleans in the recovery. As director of the DeVos Sport Business Management Program, Richard Lapchick was named an honorary citizen of New Orleans in 2007. A group from the program plans to go back to continue their efforts in December. For more information on the Hope For Stanley Alliance [1], please visit their website.