More details emerged today about the tornado that devastated Union University last night and the remarkable fact that no one was killed on the Tennessee campus. The storm system that swept across the South last night killed more than 50 people elsewhere.

According to the Associated Press, the Baptist university’s main complex of 13 dormitory buildings was damaged irreparably. Twenty-five students were stuck or even pinned in the rubble, but all were rescued — in some cases, by a backhoe that dug a path to them. About 50 students were hospitalized, but only nine suffered serious injuries.

The university’s president, David S. Dockery, told the AP that emergency planning and broadcast warnings in this tornado-prone region helped prevent fatalities. In a message posted on a UUEmergency Web site, Mr. Dockery said 80 percent of the dormitories suffered severe to devastating damage, and academic and administrative buildings were wrecked as well. He said classes would be canceled until February 18.

The Web site also announced the creation of a disaster-relief fund for the campus. It was not immediately clear where the displaced students would live while the campus rebuilds. About a third of the university’s 3,200 students live on the campus. —Andrew Mytelka