January 6, 2005

On behalf of the University of Houston System and the UH System Board of Regents, Susie and I send our deepest sympathies to the victims of last month's deadly tsunamis in Southern Asia and Somalia and to the families of those who lost their lives.

More than 900 of our students, faculty and staff come from the nations suffering from this human catastrophe. We are lowering the UH flag to half-staff along with the nation's flag in memory of those who died. I also have asked the presidents of UH-Clear Lake, UH-Downtown and UH-Victoria to lower their flags.

As each day goes by and we learn more of the scope of this tragedy, many of us will want to reach out and contribute to the world-wide relief effort. The University of Houston home page has a link to a listing of some of the relief agencies, or you can go directly to the list at http://www.usaid.gov/locations/asia_near_east/tsunami/ngolist.html.

Please join me in keeping the survivors and their families in our thoughts and prayers.