Colleges & Universities

A collection of articles depicting how Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have affected Gulf Coast campuses and those affiliated with them.

The Other Diaspora: New Orleans Student Evacuation Impacts and Responses Surrounding Hurricane Katrina (4/11/06)
In a survey of 7,100 students from three gulf coast institutions (Loyola University New Orleans, University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana) researchers examined the impact of the storm on factors such as students’ health, finances, and educational performance.

 

Share and Share Alike (1/31/06)
The Dept. of Education was granted $10 million to allocate to colleges and universities that took in displaced students. 159 institutions applied by for grants to offset their costs, and 99 were deemed eligible. Schools needed to have at least 10 displaced students who had applied for student aid and not yet received it. Institutions were asked how much money would they like, how many students did they take in, and how many of those were eligible for financial aid. Those that requested only modest sums were given just that, while those that aimed high received much more. Some schools did not apply for the available funds or declined to accept any, hoping to help those who needed it most, but in fact the distribution was not based on need at all.

Supporters of Women's College at Tulane U. Rally Against Plans to Merge It Out of Existence (1/30/06)
About 150 women rallied at Tulane University to save Newcomb College, a 120-year old women's college on Tulane's campus. As part of President Cowen's Renewal Plan, Newcomb College is to be merged with the School of Liberal Arts, and its $36-million endowment would be absorbed into these coeducational courses. Tulane officials explained that the Plan will combine the administrative functions which will save money, but the main reason was strategic. The panel will be issuing its recommendations for the future of Newcomb College in mid-February, with the Board's decision coming out mid-March.

N.O. Hospital Given a New Lease on Life (1/26/06)
After members of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce toured the three downtown hospitals, they announced that tens of millions of federal money will be given to reopen a portion of University Hospital in New Orleans to provide residents a temporary general care and trauma facility by the fall. This hospital is part of the LSU statewide Charity system, headed up by Donald Smithburg. In the interim, LSU is attemping to lease a portion of the Elmwood Medical Center for a trauma center and St. Charles Speciality Hospital as a general care facility for this year. Additionally, Tulane University Hospital expects to reopen their emergency room by Mardi Gras and some of the general care beds shortly after, but currently there is only one adult-care hospital open in the city. The permanent solution is to build a new hospital to replace the two state hospitals, but FEMA must declare Charity Hospital a total loss for LSU to receive at least 70% of the money to replace it. Smithburg is negotiating with FEMA, but expects that it will take years before a final decision will be made. 

New Orleans Campuses Coming Back to Life (1/23/06)
Many displaced students, faculty, and staff wound up in Texas. Now the choice to stay or go back to New Orleans must faced. A look into the lives of several students and professors who are making these decisions.

Education Dept. Adds $30-Million to Hurricane-Relief Funds (1/19/06)
Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education, met with the presidents and student leaders of eight New Orleans colleges and universities. Following that meeting, she announced that an additional $30 million would be given to the affected campuses and the host instituions that took in the displaced students.  The federal funds are coming from unspent student aid.

Lucky Lady (1/18/06)
All over New Orleans enrollment has decreased since Hurricane Katrina hit, except at Our Lady of Holy Cross College. The president of the school told the faculty and staff to find their students, so they advertised everywhere the students might be. The result  of this media blitz was an increase in enrollment of 62 percent.

At Tulane, Living on a Cruise Ship Is No Luxury Vacation (1/18/06)
This article looks at what life is like for about 200 Tulane students, staff, and faculty who are now living aboard the Princess Dream that is docked in the Port of New Orleans. With housing shortages all over the region, Tulane has rented this ship to ensure that everyone at Tulane has a place to live.

At Dillard, Signs of Hope (1/18/06)
Dillard University as seen through the eyes of a senior returning home. As surprised at all of the damage she sees, she still finds hope in seeing the buildings still standing.

An Education in Disaster (1/18/06)
Two dozen University of Virginia students enrolled in an interdisciplinary two-week course that examined the impact of Hurricane Katrina through such diverse lenses as engineering, architecture, the media, and politics. The first week was spent on campus learning from architects, engineers, scientists, and historians about went went wrong when Hurricane Katrina hit to cause so much destruction. The second week was spent in New Orleans helping out the community by gutting houses and talking to high schoolers. This is just one of a handful of programs bringing college students from around the country to help New Orleans rebuild.

How Many Came Back (1/18/06)
This is article maps out the location of many of the campuses that were affected the most in New Orleans, and presents pre- and post-Katrina estimates of student enrollment, number of faculty members, and number of staff members at each of those institutions.

New Orleans Colleges Reopen (1/17/06)
This is a NewsHour with Jim Lehrer Transcript  of interviews with individuals affliated with the colleges and universities  in New Orleans. Spencer Michels, the interviewer, spoke to both presidents and students from Dillard, Tulane, and Xaviar. This report is also available in video and audio formats, linked from the transcript page.

SUNO Students Adapt to Hotel; Trailers on Way (1/17/06)
Although SUNO was expecting FEMA to have their trailers set-up and wired before classes began, alternative plans needed to be made when FEMA announced they expect the trailers to be ready by Feb. 26th, with landscaping to follow. Students are now living at the Marriot on Canal Street, and are being shuttled to the Sophie B. Wright-Uno Charter School for classes.

Tulane U. Completes Its Hurricane-Interrupted Welcome to the Freshman Class, as Layoffs Continue (1/16/06)
Tulane celebrated the return of about 88% of their students with an "Orientation Déjà Vu," welcoming the students and their parents. Simultaniously, the third and final round of layoffs were announced leaving 200 more nonteaching staff members unemployed.

New Orleans Colleges Face Huge Obstacles (1/15/06)
This article looks at the financial struggles affected campuses in New Orleans will have to overcome to survive, and what they are doing to get back on their feet.

Homecoming: New Orleans Welcomes Students Back to Campuses That Are Forever Changed (1/13/06)
This article reveals how the institutions in New Orleans are adapting to their ever-changing situations and attempting to ensure that all of their students' needs are met.

Many Happy Returns, and Some Sad Ones, as Students Once More Walk New Orleans's Campuses (1/12/06)
A collection of three personal impressions from students, faculty, and staff as they return to their home institutions in New Orleans; including how Our Lady of Holy Cross College managed to increase their enrollment 62%.

Colleges Begin to Reopen in New Orleans as Higher Education Reveals a Face Much Changed by Katrina (1/11/06)
Classes at campuses in New Orleans are re-opening for the first time since Hurricane Katrina hit. This article looks at how the hurricanes have affected the programs schools are now offering their students.

New Orleans Universities Seeing Real Homecoming (1/10/06)
A look at students returning to New Orleans after the hurricanes. The article examines how many are choosing to return, what life is like, and if the city is really ready for them.

Long Road Home (12/25/05)
This article focuses on how Dillard University is working to find unique solutions to overcome great challenges caused by the destruction of their campus.

Painful Weekend in Congress (12/19/05)
Congress worked long into the weekend to finish up their session before adjourning for the year. This article summarizes the issues that were agreed upon that affect higher education and the Gulf Coast institutions, including a response to higher education associations' request for Katrina Relief.

Moody's Bond-Rating Reports (12/16/05)
After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, Moody's Investors Service put the area on their Watch List. Moody's has been reviewing the conditions of the affected institutions, adjusting their status accordingly, and taking them off of the Watch List. Tulane University has been down-graded from A-1 to A-2; Loyola University New Orleans and Southern University System were removed without any adjustments; and the University of New Orleans had two separate bond issues downgraded from A3 to Baa1 and Baa2.

Tech Revival: Program Helps Dillard U. Professors Rebuild Course Materials and Raise Spirits (12/16/05)
Southwestern University in Texas, with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, hosted a 2-week program to help Dillard professors resurrect their old course materials and create new ones using today's technology.

ACE Speaks Out to Congress for Katrina Relief (12/13/05)
David Ward, the President of the American Council on Education (ACE), with the support of many other higher education associations, requests that Congress takes immediate action to help the Gulf Coast institutions that still remain closed by allocating $500 million to aid in their recovery efforts.

Southern U. Will Shut Down 19 Academic Programs on New Orleans Campus as Part of Hurricane Recovery (12/12/05)
Southern University (SUNO) will eliminate programs in 19 academic disciplines, including mathematics, physics, and English, and instead emphasize community development and worker training. This new academic plan is designed to focus on the immediate needs of New Orleans and supply a trained workforce to fulfill that need. SUNO faculty have spoken out against this plan as cutting too deep into the core academics, and leaving their African-American students no where to go.

Tulane U. to Lay Off 233 Professors and Eliminate 14 Doctoral Programs (12/09/05)
Tulane University's President Scott Cowen, faced with economic hardships from the damage caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the budgetary cuts, chose to redefine Tulane. Given the opportunity to start fresh, he and his team reworked the entire system to focus on the institution's strengths and eliminate its weaknesses. The Chronicle's article provides an overview of the new plan for the undergraduate programs. Changes were also made to the Medical School, refocusing it on research, and scaling back intercollegiate sports.

Retooling After the Storm:
Delgado Community College will focus more on job training as New Orleans rebuilds (12/09/05)
Walter G. Bumphus, President of the Louisiana Community & Technical College System, oversees both colleges that serve students who plan to transfer into four-year institutions, and two-year technical schools with more career-oriented approaches, including Delgado Community College. In light of all of the financial difficulties and the new needs of New Orleans to rebuild and have skilled workers to fill these positions, Bumphus has re-evaluated the role that Delgado can play in the rebirth of New Orleans and has completely changed the school's focus and mission. It will become a technical school with a firm foundation on basic education, something most of the other technical schools tend to lack.

A Look Back at a Disaster Plan: What Went Wrong and Right (12/09/05)
John Lawson, vice president for information technology and chief information officer at Tulane University, reflects on his personal experience dealing with the affects of Hurricane Katrina and what he would do differently in the future. John Lawson also wrote a timeline of the events to supplement the article.

More Than Visiting (11/30/05)
The article tells the story of the students who  were displaced by Hurricane Katrina. As the Fall 2005 term comes to an end most students are looking forward to returning to their home institutions, but some students do not want to leave their host schools for a variety of reasons. This article examines the issues institutions and students are facing under these unique circumstances.

Where Did They Come From? Where Did They Go? (11/16/05)
The National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse) reported that over 1,000 colleges accepted more than 18,000 Katrina-displaced students from six closed Louisiana colleges. Traditionally the Clearinghouse provides academic reporting and verification services to its 2,800 members, but under these unprecidented circumstances, they were able to help track where these displaced students went, and provide enrollment verification to the host institutions.

Our Two-Year Colleges Need Assistance (12/11/05)
This editorial looks at the disparity between the demands of higher enrollments without adequate funding in the 2-year instituitions. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, admissions were up 26% and funding was down 17% in Mississippi. With the added financial impact from the hurricanes, these colleges are in real trouble unless they receive additional government funding.

Storm Shelter Expenses Burden La. Universities; Reimbursement Sought (12/02/05)
Emergency shelters were set up at many universities as Hurricane Katrina came through. These shelters ran up bills from $100,000- $3 million, further adding to the affected campuses financial burden. FEMA is expected to reimburse them for their services, but will not commit to any time frame. This story appeared in The Advocate, and has been moved to their fee-based archive.

Colleges Say Hurricanes Dealt Them $1.4 Billion in Physical Damage (11/15/05)
27 colleges and universities that were hardest hit by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita estimate that it will take $1.4 billion to repair and rebuild their facilities, plus millions more were lost in tuition revenue and salaries. This article provides a complete break-down of how much each institution needs, and in which state that school resides.

Adding Up the Damage (11/14/05)
This article addresses the estimated losses of Gulf Coast colleges and universities, siting figures for the physical damage, losses in tuition revenues, and faculty and staff costs for 27 institutions, totaling over $2.3 billion. As an addendum, Margie P. Jepson, the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Southern Mississippi, added in her school's financial losses which total $298 million more.

Katrina's Toll on Mississippi Colleges Will Approach $700 Million (9/23/05)
Public and private colleges in Mississippi make preliminary estimates that it will cost $673.5 million to repair and rebuild the affected facilities.