3-2-99

STATEMENT FROM DR. MARTHA GARLAND, VICE PROVOST AND DEAN FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY

   I am tremendously relieved to have spoken to my daughter, Elizabeth; and to know that she is safe in Kampala. I recognize how fortunate I am to be responding as a mother of one who is alive today, and my heart goes out to the families of Elizabeth’s friends and colleagues who were murdered or have been abducted in this terrible attack.

   I am grateful to Nancy Powell, the U.S. Ambassador to Uganda, and to the government of Uganda President Yoweri Museveni for the rescue and evacuation of Elizabeth and the other survivors. And I thank the staff of the Fulbright Academic Exchange Program who let me know immediately that my daughter was all right.

   Ohio State has more than a 30-year relationship with Kampala’s Makerere University, which has been our university’s window into East Africa. Many of its faculty are Ohio State alumni, having brought skills and technologies learned here to bear on the Ugandan economy.

   While I am certain that this was an isolated incident, and that my daughter is safe, she has asked me not to release any further information about her at this time, and I am abiding by her wishes.

Contact: Malcolm Baroway, Executive Director, (614) 292-6895