This January, students returning to New Orleans universities
after spending the fall semester at other schools will not find the
same campuses they left when Hurricane Katrina hit the city in late
August.
Some students at Tulane University will be living in cruise
ships on the Mississippi River because housing around the
university has been damaged.
At Xavier University, students will take some classes at other
universities until the campus can open at full capacity.
And students at the University of New Orleans will find more
activities on campus to replace the shops and restaurants that are
still closed near the school.
Many New Orleans universities sustained extensive damage when
Hurricane Katrina hit the region Aug. 28, devastating the city and
becoming the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.
The changes to their home universities, as well as the current
situation in the city of New Orleans, have given some students
reason to pause in making the decision to go back.
“I think it’s disturbing for some people. They feel
that New Orleans is in a very precarious situation, many services
haven’t been restored,” said Timothy Holliday, a Tulane
law student who spent fall quarter at UCLA and plans to return to
New Orleans next semester.
But students have been strongly encouraged to return to their
schools in New Orleans ““ and discouraged from staying
elsewhere.
At Tulane, for example, students have to fill out a special
petition and receive approval in order to stay away for another
semester, Holliday said.
UCLA will be encouraging students to return to their
universities in New Orleans by requiring them to begin paying
regular fees, which they were exempt from this fall.
“If they decide that they would rather stay here, they
have the option of continuing. They will have, however, to cover
the cost,” said Janina Montero, UCLA vice chancellor of
student affairs.
If students want to stay at the University of California past
the 2005-2006 academic year, they will also need to apply for
transfer admission like any other student, she said.
Groups of visiting students at UC Berkeley, Harvard and the
University of Virginia wanted to continue to study at their new
schools so much that they and their fellow students started
petition drives to encourage the universities to let them stay.
Students at Virginia gathered 600 signatures on a petition
asking the university to allow students to remain at Virginia for
the remainder of the year, and Berkeley students teamed up with
visiting students in a similar campaign.
Though the students do not want to be required to return to New
Orleans as early as this winter, the recovering schools will need
student tuition money as well as the simple presence of a full
student body to continue as educational institutes, officials
said.
Not all students are so reluctant to return to New Orleans, and
some schools are expecting to see most of their students return to
New Orleans for the spring semester.
“All indications are that the vast majority of our
students will be returning from the universities they were visiting
this semester,” said Mike Strecker, a spokesman for Tulane.
University officials estimate about 80 percent of students have
already enrolled in classes.
Tulane may be in a better position than other schools, as it
sustained little physical damage from Hurricane Katrina and the
subsequent flooding.
Loyola University in New Orleans has said a little over half of
its students will be returning in January, and Dillard and Xavier,
who have fewer financial resources and more physical damage, may
see even larger drops in their student populations.
But for Kristen Okpara, an undergraduate at Xavier University
who spent fall quarter at UCLA, the decision was easy ““ she
plans to return to Xavier when it opens to students in January.
The difficulties Okpara and other students may face when
returning to Xavier, such as damaged buildings and reduced class
offerings, did not faze the Los Angeles native.
“I’m planning to return to school in New
Orleans,” she said.
“I like my school. I miss my school.”
Holliday was similarly ready to return to the recovering
city.
“I feel very eager to go back,” he said. “As
part of the university, I think we have a duty to contribute and
the only way to do that is by being there.”
With reports from Bruin wire services.