Hurricane Katrina: Colleges Helping Colleges

Colleges and universities around the country volunteered in unprecedented numbers and ways to help Gulf Coast institutions 10 years ago in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Below is a brief reading list highlighting these efforts. If you’d like to add anything, please leave a link in the comments.

Arkansas Universities Offer to Take in Louisiana Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina
“We believe the most immediate help we can give is to see that these students not lose a semester,” University System president B. Alan Sugg said.
The Associated Press (Diverse: Issues In Higher Education) (Sept. 2, 2005)

Loyola University New Orleans Students Welcomed by Sister Jesuit Institutions as Part of Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts
The Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) coordinated housing for displaced students from Loyola University New Orleans at its 27 sister Jesuit colleges and universities for the Fall 2005 semester after Hurricane Katrina.
AJCU News Release (Sept. 7, 2005)

Bates, Bowdoin, UMaine System to Help Katrina’s Victims
Some Maine colleges are offering free or tuition or in-state rates to students whose plans to study this fall have been interrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
The Associated Press (Diverse: Issues In Higher Education) (Sept. 7, 2005)

Other US Schools Accommodating the Swamped-Out
Colleges and universities across the country, including many in Greater Boston, are opening doors to students whose schools have been left uninhabitable by Hurricane Katrina. Some are offering the opportunity to enroll in classes, while others are providing housing and laptops.
The Boston Globe (Sept. 9, 2005)

Helping Out
Colleges around the nation have welcomed in students and professors dropped on their doorsteps by Hurricane Katrina. As the recovery moves beyond evacuation, colleges are finding their own special ways to lend a hand.
Inside Higher Ed (Sept. 14, 2005)

Elite Colleges Opening Doors for Displaced Katrina Students
In the hurricane’s aftermath, the nation’s most prestigious and selective colleges and universities are opening their doors to many students who otherwise wouldn’t have qualified for admission.
The Associated Press (Diverse: Issues In Higher Education) (Sept. 15, 2005)

After the Storm, Admissions Offers Came From All Directions
In the days after Hurricane Katrina slammed the Gulf Coast, hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the nation announced that they would open their doors to an estimated 100,000 students whose campuses had closed for the semester. But with the enrollment offers came tight deadlines, logistical challenges, and tough questions.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Sept. 16, 2005)

Colleges Come to Dillard U.’s Aid
Oberlin College and Brown and Princeton Universities are taking steps to help Dillard University, a historically black institution that was severely damaged by the hurricane.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Sept. 16, 2005)

$5-Million Goes to Brown U.
Sidney E. Frank, a liquor importer, gave $5-million to the university to assist in its efforts to help students and faculty members displaced by Hurricane Katrina. With the money, Brown plans to help students with financial need pay for housing, meals, and books.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Sept. 23, 2005)

Germany Will Pay for Some College Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina to Attend German Universities
A few of the tens of thousands of students whose campuses were washed out by Hurricane Katrina have ended up with an unscheduled study abroad in Germany.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Oct. 21, 2005)

George Mason University Team to Offer Counseling Services to Katrina Victims
GMU Counseling and Development Program faculty and graduate students in the Counselors Without Borders Project will serve as the nation’s first counseling student assistance program for victims of Hurricane Katrina during their one-week assignment.
Diverse: Issues In Higher Education (Nov. 21, 2005)

More Than Visiting
Hurricane Katrina scattered Tulane University students across the nation like spores cast aloft by a gust. The vast majority of students will return, either by choice or by order of the college they’re visiting. Where some of the spores have touched down, however, root systems have developed, and the students will not be returning.
Inside Higher Ed (Nov. 30, 2005)

College Community Gives Time, Money to Worthy Causes
Guilford College (NC) welcomed 10 displaced students, raised funds and sent groups of volunteers to Bogalusa, LA to help with recovery efforts.
Guilford College Magazine (Winter 2006) (see p. 11)

Displaced Katrina College Students Finish Classes Online
The Sloan Semester was created three days after the Aug. 29 rupture of the levees in New Orleans. Its organizers, a consortium of 200 colleges that have been experimenting with online learning since 1993, called on members to make more than 1,500 Internet-based classes free to hurricane victims in response to widespread university closings.
Black College Wire (Diverse: Issues In Higher Education) (April 19, 2006)

More information on the Sloan Semester from Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning for the University of Illinois-Springfield and director of the UPCEA Center for Online Leadership:

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ837474.pdf

http://www.uis.edu/colrs/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2013/04/SloanSemester.pdf

Tennessee University to Help Southern U. at New Orleans to Recover From Katrina
Middle Tennessee State University and Southern University at New Orleans signed an agreement on Tuesday in which the Tennessee institution pledged to help the New Orleans campus as it recovers from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
The Chronicle of Higher Education (Feb. 7, 2007)