When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast in late August,
many residents of Louisiana and Mississippi were forced to relocate
to cities across the country while the region endures a lengthy
rebuilding process.
In addition to residents who lost their homes and businesses to
hurricane and flood damage, many colleges and universities in the
region were left in a state of disrepair, unable to accept students
for the approaching school year.
UCLA is one of several universities that agreed to accept
students who were displaced by the Category 5 storm. As the new
school year begins, 84 students who had planned to attend classes
in Louisiana have instead enrolled in UCLA. Fifty-five of them are
undergraduates and 29 are graduate or professional-school
students.
Julie Jaskol, a spokeswoman for UCLA Extension, said some of the
students had just arrived at school in Louisiana when they were
forced to turn around and leave.
Some, she said, “hadn’t even unpacked their cars yet
when they arrived at school.”
A majority of these honorary Bruins come from Tulane University,
Xavier University and the University of New Orleans.
In order to sign up for fall quarter classes, the students
enrolled through the Concurrent Enrollment Program, which is
administered by UCLA Extension. Enrollment was opened to all
classes and enrollment fees were waived.
Of the students, 30 accepted offers to live in on-campus
housing. These students signed nine-month contracts with the
understanding that they could be cancelled with no fees after fall
quarter ends, because many expect to return to their original
school after a quarter, said Robert Smith, UCLA Housing assignment
manager.
This arrangement is not exclusive to UCLA ““ every
University of California campus “offered accommodation”
to students impacted by the hurricane, and a total of 497 offers
were extended by the UC, said Ravi Poorsina, a spokeswoman for the
UC Office of the President.
She said the process has not been seamless, but the university
has been doing the best job possible to accommodate the
students.
“It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s just
one of those situations where the UC is just doing what it can to
help,” Poosina said.
Both at the individual-campus and system-wide level, UC
officials have maintained a common attitude: Hurricane-affected
students will be accommodated immediately, and details will be
worked out later.
After Katrina hit the Gulf Coast region, the UC became part of
an association of universities that reached out to affected
students and offered accommodation, Poorsina said.
At UCLA, as part of an initial gesture of support, the
Undergraduate Students Association Council presented
hurricane-affected students with $100 gift certificates to Ackerman
Union during a Student Affairs orientation event, said Eric
Rollerson, assistant director of the Office of Residential
Life.
Among the accommodations made by government agencies, the
Department of Education has extended the filing date for
hurricane-affected students to apply for federal student aid.
With reports from Derek Lipkin and Sara Taylor, Bruin senior
staff.