ANN ARBOR—Students, faculty, and staff at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry have raised more than $6,100 for the American Red Cross National Disaster Relief Fund following attacks in New York and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11.

Dental and dental hygiene students challenged faculty and staff to match student contributions. Students raised $2,111 in two days. Faculty and staff raised $4,006 for a total School contribution of $6,117. The funds, deposited at Comerica Bank, will be used to help families of the victims.

Dental senior class president Marsha Beattie said she wanted to provide students with a way to support disaster relief efforts. “After thinking about it some more, I thought it would be wonderful to expand a donation drive school-wide to include not only students, but faculty and staff as well. At this tragic time in American history, I felt it was important that students feel supported and united with faculty and staff,” she said.

Beattie said she is extremely pleased with the support and generosity of her peers and colleagues. “Even though many already made financial donations to the disaster efforts, our collective total was significant and something all of us are proud of,” she said. “I feel the donations raised by students, faculty, and staff represent the close community we take so much pride in.”

The U-M School of Dentistry is one of the nation’s leading dental schools engaged in oral health care education, research, patient care, and community service. General dental care clinics and specialty clinics providing advanced treatment enable the School to offer dental services and programs to patients throughout Michigan. Classroom and clinic instruction train future dentists, dental specialists, and dental hygienists for practice in private offices, hospitals, academia, and public agencies. Research seeks to discover and apply new knowledge that can help patients worldwide. More information is available on the Web at http://www.dent.umich.edu.