Coast Guard Reserve calls up college president
St. Catharine College President William D. Hurston, who also serves as a U.S. Coast Guard captain, was one of among 35,000 U.S. military reservists called to active duty following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Because he is a specialist in river safety and security, he will probably remain in the United States, said David Arnold, the college's vice president for academic affairs, in a Chronicle of Higher Education article.
But Arnold said he thought there was a chance he could end up in the Persian Gulf.
Even Hurston is uncertain about the situation.
"I know I will be in charge of 70 men from many different states, but we haven't been told where we are going," he said in a statement before he left campus.
In 1997, Hurston became the first male president of St. Catharine, a two-year college in Kentucky that was founded by Dominican nuns.
Before the terrorist attacks, the idea of a Coast Guard reservist being called up to duty was "way beyond the realm of possibility," Arnold said.
St. Catharine did not have any formal plan for responding if Hurston was called to duty.
While he is away, Arnold and Donna Major, vice president for finance and operations, are running the college.
Hurston has telephoned St. Catharine every four or five days from his station in Paducah, Ky., on the Mississippi River.
Hurston's career in the armed forces began 28 years ago, when he started four tours of duty with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. After five years in the Navy, he joined the Coast Guard Reserve, and was promoted to captain just two days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
-Sara Jeanblanc
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