<p>I am glad to see the posts regarding Tulane but can anyone ease the anxiety of out-of-state parents whose kids were about to start classes at Dillard University, Xavier University and Loyola University. Unsurprisingly, the websites are down. I understand XU is downtown so the campus may be decimated. Dillard is adjacent to that large public park in north New Orleans I think.</p>
<p>The Chronicle of Higher Ed has been reporting what they can, but it's been hard to get in touch with anyone who has firm news.</p>
<p>University of South Alabama in Mobile is okay, pretty much. Fixable damage, lots of trees down.</p>
<p>I don't know about Dillard's status. 225 Dillard students went to Centenary in Shreveport by bus, their sister college. One of the buses caught fire on the way--no one injured, but those students lost everything they'd packed to take with them. Boy.</p>
<p>Nothing about Xavier or Loyola thus far.</p>
<p>They also mentioned a nice story where Mississippi University for Women opened up some unused dorm space to feeling families, announcing it on public radio. According to the story, 75 students worked until 2 a.m to get the space ready on short notice, and now 250 families are camped out there.</p>
<p>Loyola students were to be evacuated to Baton Rouge</p>
<p>from "Inside Higher Ed News" online Aug 29th</p>
<p>With Hurricane Katrina headed toward New Orleans Sunday, colleges in the city closed campuses and evacuated students. Several colleges Web sites were down, but of those operating, Loyola Universitys said that all students were being evacuated to Baton Rouge. Louisiana State Universitys Health Science Center in New Orleans announced that there would be no academic courses on Monday. The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that Tulane University will be closed until Thursday, and that Dillard University had evacuated students to Centenary College, in Shreveport. Many Louisiana colleges ouside of New Orleans also planned to close today.</p>
<p>Apparently, Xavier U staff told their students to evacuate prior to Katrina reaching New Orleans...</p>
<p>Mid-City: Water everywhere
Monday, 4:30 p.m. </p>
<p>There is some roof damage to several Xavier University Buildings along Howard Avenue and on South Jefferson Davis Parkway. Aluminum panels peeled off the roof lay on the parking lots and in the street. A couple of pieces floated in high water on Jefferson Davis Parkway, where a few palms are completely uprooted and the median is almost invisible.
<a href="http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Times-Picayune/archives/2005_08.html</a></p>
<p>Watching a helicopter rescue from a house in the Xavier area. Xavier is in a location that is deeply under water, near the top of doorways on single story homes.</p>
<p>Loyola is next to Tulane, right? Probably not devastating flooding at Loyola.</p>
<p>There was a brief mention of Dillard on our local Houston news. </p>
<p>There was a program discussing the needs of the many displaced persons who've already come to our city or the additional 25,000 who'll be arriving by tomorrow. (I live about two minutes from the Dome.) The Houston mayor stressed the need not only for temporary donations of such things as food and water but long term help with job placement since people would be staying many months. In the course of this discussion, one of the church leaders referenced a spokesman from Dillard who had initially suggested the students stay away for about a month. That timeline was later amended by a statement that Dillard would remain closed for "two to three or even six months." It's clearly impossible for them to be more precise.</p>
<p>I do know this having lived through Tropical Storm Allison where about 80% of the houses in our neighborhood flooded. It took an incredibly long time to repair all the buildings. Even when contractors had enough workers, there was such a demand for housing materials that repairs often had to be postponed. It took about a year for all the domestic repairs to take place. For those who opted to relocate their house on higher ground, or tear down and rebuild, the process sometimes took up to two years. Institutional buildings had a higher priority, and most repairs were made in about 9 months. Yet what happened in Houston pails in front of this tragedy. </p>
<p>The "experts" on the radio were saying that it will take 2-3 months for the floodwaters to recede fully from the city. (I don't know if this is accurate.) So the administrators of these various colleges will certainly have their hands full. I do know that the Houston Independent School District has launched an effort to sign up the new children at the local schools. I have not heard anything about similar offers at the community colleges yet.</p>
<p>Loyola New Orleans has some updates through the association of jesuit colleges and Universities. <a href="http://www.ajcunet.edu%5B/url%5D">www.ajcunet.edu</a></p>
<p>Other Jesuit universities across the US will allow Loyola students to take classes for the fall semester with the expectation that they will return to Loyola NO in the spring, if possible. Details are on the ajcu website.</p>
<p>photos of Dillard evacuees at Centenary College</p>
<p>My family member returned to Georgia from Dillard safe and sound. She was quickly enrolled at Georgia State University last week at minimal cost. Don't know about next year yet. Thanks for all your comforting replies.</p>
<p>BTW Brown University is offering one semester free tuition to Xavier, Dillard, & Tulane students who have been displaced. They will take faculty/grad students too, if possible. Evidently about half of the ~100 spots have been filled.</p>
<p>Brown pres Ruth Simmons is a Dillard alum.</p>
<p>A friend has just read that Bill Gates made an offer to help rebuild Dillard, Xavier a(and any HBCU with a modest endowment) that suffered damage from Katrina. Perhaps the money will come from the millenium fund. Keep upgrading your windows software!!!</p>