Kevin Eckert picks up documents in his architecture studio, located on First Avenue, Thursday morning in downtown Seattle. Eckert lost a number of sketches and a computer during the earthquake.
When there’s a group of students thinking about attending the University, there’s nothing, not even an earthquake, that can stop President Dave Frohnmayer from making them a sales pitch for coming to Eugene.
“We have enough pioneer spirit that a little natural disaster won’t stop us,” Frohnmayer said after returning from a quick trip to the Seattle area to speak to a group of more than 125 students interested in attending the University.
After the magnitude-6.8 earthquake that rocked the Seattle area on Wednesday, Frohnmayer had thought about canceling the trip. But when he learned there was space in a van driven by Director of Admissions Martha Pitts, who was also attending the meeting, there was a quick change of plans, and he headed for Seattle.
“We decided to jump in the van … to be quite honest, it was rather an uneventful trip,” said Janet Fratella, the director of outreach projects who also was on the trip to Seattle.
While the University representatives did not go into downtown Seattle and therefore did not see any earthquake damage, they did hear all about the quake.
Frohnmayer said every family came into the meeting at the Belleveue Club with its own “tale of excitement about the day,” but only a few families invited to the event could not attend because of the quake. He said he expected 80 to 90 percent of the students to attend the University.
Pitts said the University holds similar meetings in areas that generate large numbers of new students. One other meeting is scheduled for the Bend area, and two more will soon be held in Portland, she said.
Two seniors, Grant Bloom and Matt Glem, also attended the meeting to give the prospective students a better idea about what University life is like. Fratella said they provided valuable insights.
“They were characters and good sports, and I think the crowd really liked hearing from them,” she said.
Pitts also commented on the students’ good nature, but added that Frohnmayer was also a good sport with the day’s hectic traveling.
Frohnmayer admitted that not everything went smoothly. He said his hotel room didn’t have hot water, but he took it stride.
“It builds character to be in a cold-water suite,” he said.