from foxnews.com:
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Officials at a Florida college continue to pursue "all options and avenues" to locate 12 students and two faculty members who had been staying at a 4-star hotel in Haiti that toppled following Tuesday's devastating earthquake.
Lynn University President Kevin Ross said the group was registered at Hotel Montana in Port-au-Prince, a popular tourist destination that collapsed after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake in the impoverished nation.
Among the group studying in Haiti were Dr. Patrick Hartwick, dean of the university's College of Education, and Dr. Richard Bruno, an assistant professor with the university's College of Liberal Education.
The students who accompanied Hartwick and Bruno were identified as: Thomas Schloemer, of Fox Point, Wis.; Nikki Fantauzzi, of Simsbury, Conn.; Daniela Montealegre, of Managua, Nicaragua; Julie Prudhomme, of East Greenwich, R.I.; Michael DeMatteo, of Southlake, Texas; Melissa Elliott, of Hartland, Wisc.; Lindsay Doran, of Clearwater, Fla.; Paul Tyska, of Wilmette, Ill.; Stephanie Crispinelli, of Katonah, N.Y.; Christine Gianacaci, of Hopewell, N.J.; Courtney Hayes, of Boca Raton, Fla.; and Britney Gengel, of Rutland, Mass.
"Despite some early second-hand information regarding the group's conditions and whereabouts, the university's Crisis Management Team continues to try all channels to establish reliable contact, and reliable data regarding the condition and location of our community members in Haiti," a statement on the university's Web site read.
Classes at Lynn University, a liberal arts institution with roughly 2,000 undergraduates, were to be suspended as of 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to its Web site.
Lisa Elliott said she last spoke to her 20-year-old daughter, Melissa, on Sunday and received a text message from her just prior to Tuesday's earthquake, citing the "horrible" conditions in the poor nation.
"She said, 'Mom, you wouldn't believe it, it's just horrible,'" Elliott told FoxNews.com.
Elliott said Lynn University Vice President Greg Malfitano informed her that rescue teams — complete with two helicopters — has been hired by the school to fly to Haiti in an effort to locate her daughter and her fellow students and faculty.
Elliott said her daughter, who is majoring in fashion merchandizing, had been volunteering at a hospital for disabled children.
"She's a very loving, caring person," Elliott said of her only child. "And she's done this before — she went to Panama to work in an orphanage."
Elliott said she intends to fly to Florida to meet her daughter as soon as she is found.
"We're doing the best we can," she said. "We're just sitting by the phone and sitting by the TV, hoping to see her. There's nothing more we can do."
Calls to Jason Hughes, a Lynn University spokesman, were not immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Henry Hartwick said he has been told by university officials that his brother is safe but has yet to speak with him directly.
"I heard everybody's OK," Henry Hartwick told FoxNews.com. 'Everybody in their party was accounted for."
Hartwick, of Varysburg, N.Y., said his younger brother had visited relatives in upstate New York last month.
Meanwhile, administrators at Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia are reportedly awaiting word from a team of students who arrived in Haiti on Monday and visited a rural area believed to be near the area where the magnitude-7.0 earthquake hit.
The Students in Free Enterprise Team traveled to the Riviera Froide, about 20 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, to work with tradespeople in setting up businesses, NewsLeader.com reports.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and for their families here who I'm sure are very worried," Bridget Baylor, coordinator of public relations for BRCC, told the Web site.
School officials at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind., say four faculty and staff members currently studying on the island nation are safe.
Dennis Brown, a Notre Dame spokesman, told FoxNews.com that an unidentified faculty member was able to contact university officials immediately after the earthquake, before phone service was interrupted. School officials have been unable to reach the team by phone as of early Wednesday, Brown said.
Notre Dame's Haiti program is based in Leogane, roughly 20 miles west of Port-au-Prince. The quake's epicenter was 10 miles southwest of the capital.
"We are thankful that these dedicated members of the Notre Dame family are safe," Notre Dame University President Rev. John Jenkins said in a statement. "Our prayers are with them and all of those in Haiti in the wake of the disaster."
No information was immediately available regarding damage to the university's facilities in Haiti, Brown said.
Officials at Connecticut's Fairfield University are also trying to confirm the whereabouts of two students who returned to Haiti late last month to visit relatives during the college's winter break. Professor Gisela Gil-Egui told FoxNews.com the two undergraduate students were expected to return to the university this upcoming weekend.
"We don't know yet if they are fine," Gil-Egui said. "We are really worried, obviously."
One of the students was identified by Gil-Egui as Francesca LeGros, a sociology major originally from Port-au-Prince.
Administrators at Alvernia University in Pennsylvania said about a dozen students and faculty at a mission in the neighboring Dominican Republic were not injured.
"Our students and faculty are safe," Alverinia President Thomas Flynn told ReadingEagle.com.
Flynn said the Alvernia delegation was on an annual trip to Santo Domingo, which is about 300 miles east of the quake's epicenter. The students are enrolled in a community-service course at Alvernia, Flynn said."
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