ACCENT CALLED UPON TO ASSIST FAMILIES OF AMERICANS WOUNDED IN MUMBAI BOMBINGS
 
Bala Cynwyd, PA, December 30, 2008 – Last month The Accent Group was called to assist the Ragsdale and Lopez families of Nashville, TN, whose lives were forever changed. Traveling to India on a peaceful retreat, Mrs. Ragsdale & Mrs. Lopez were caught in the tragic shootings of November 27, 2008.
 
While Accent was not involved in the planning of their India trip, the company’s management team was called on to assist the endangered families over the Thanksgiving weekend. The Accent team was in constant communication with Mr. Ragsdale, his family, and the company’s India affiliates from 3:00 a.m. Thanksgiving Day through his and wife Linda’s safe return to the U.S.
 
Accent’s General Manager, Alice Ganier-Rolli, said of the event, “In emergency circumstances you learn the true strength of your organization and the life-changing impact it can have. We were honored to assist the Ragsdale and Lopez families in this difficult time.” 
 
Accent has a great deal of experience managing through unexpected world events. In 2001, the company had over 150 EMBA students traveling on September 11. Through round-the-clock operations of its airline and ground service teams, the company created itineraries that hinged together carriers all over the globe. Taking advantage of every operating air route, Accent safely returned all students to the U.S.
 
Due to the Mumbai bombings, Accent re-structured one January program to travel to an alternative city within India, and one program was re-structured to travel to China. Several of the company’s India programs continued as originally planned without modifications to their itineraries.
 
Ganier-Rolli adds, “The silver lining of it all is that my husband and I had the opportunity to meet Ben & Linda last week during our Christmas holiday in Nashville. We are so happy that she is recovering well.” 
 
About the Accent Group
For 32 years, Accent has specialized in coordinating travel programs for college business students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Since its inception in 1977, Accent has been the forerunner in providing international study programs for graduate and undergraduate business students and has grown to be the largest company in the industry. This year, Accent will coordinate over 100 travel programs from some of the most prestigious MBA programs in the world. Over 3,500 business students will travel with Accent this year to destinations around the globe. Accent is a division of WorldStrides, WorldStrides, the oldest and most trusted student travel organization in the country.
 
For more information about Accent or WorldStrides, visit www.accentgrp.com or www.worldstrides.org.