The inspiring story of Warren Wilson College’s resilience in the wake of Hurricane Helene has been featured in The New York Times Magazine.

President Damián Fernández described the aftermath of the storm to Asheville writer Trevor Quirk as a “vacuum of information.” With roads impassable from floodwaters and fallen trees, more than 300 students and dozens of faculty and staff remained on campus, relying on verbal communication and daily morning councils to share updates and organize recovery efforts. In the absence of digital connectivity, the College remained a self-sustaining community — a place where humanity shone through hardship.

Students stepped up in remarkable ways. They cleared debris, tended to livestock, and even maintained sanitation systems — all while supporting one another emotionally and physically. As the writer noted, “You find, in some of these students, an unusual marriage of sensibilities: The ruggedness of agrarian labor and bushcraft is coupled with the indiscriminate sensitivities of the liberal-arts undergraduate.” This blend of practical skill and empathetic spirit is the essence of Warren Wilson.

When misinformation about a dam failure spread through emergency channels, panic briefly overtook the campus. But even in the darkness — both literal and figurative — students and staff rallied. Small groups broke off to warn others, including a dean who roused her neighbors, one of whom initially asked to be left behind out of fear she would slow the escape. In the chaos, what endured was care, courage, and the instinct to protect one another. Reflecting on the night, President Fernández noted, “While you’re operating in this distressed system of communication, interpersonal communication — the human, the direct — almost compensates for that.”

Warren Wilson didn’t merely endure the storm — we rose through it. In the absence of digital networks and dispatches, our community revealed its truest nature: one of resilience, compassion, and deep connectivity.