Thursday, September 1, 2005|
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University's homepage has been turned into a bloglike series of personal notes from Scott Cowen, president of the university. Here's one comment that my friend Ken pointed out: "It
is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those
involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the
end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness."
The university closed on Saturday as the storm approached, announcing that classes would resume today. When it became clear that wouldn't be possible, Cowen posted a note saying, "Over the next few days... we will be able to speak more confidently about a start date for the fall semester." Update: On Friday, Cowen announced
that Tulane would not be able to conduct a fall semester on its campus.
Posting his message from Houston, Cowen encouraged students to
enroll elsewhere, then transfer credits back to Tulane when it reopens.
Meanwhile in Knoxville, UT Chancellor Loren Crabtree and Faculty Senate President Desiriee Kennedy said the university has offered to bring in up to 500 undergraduate students from New Orleans area schools, as well as 50 law students and all graduate students who wish to come here. Governor Phil Bredesen offered the state's assistance to students displaced by the storm, and the entire UT system and Board of Regents are supporting the effort. "It is quite simply the right thing to do," Crabtree said. Colleges across the nation agree. The website of The Chronicle of Higher Education has followed daily developments at schools in the path of the storm. The permanent addresses of its stories are for subscribers only, but the paper makes non-subscription addresses available for a few days. Here are three that have headed the paper's "most e-mailed" list:
By Thursday evening a Google News search for stories mentioning Katrina and "university or college" produced more than 8,000 articles, many of which are about institutions outside the disaster area offering support to students. (The search also finds more general stories that mention university experts talking about issues other than the area's schools and students.) Narrowing the search to Katrina and "universities or colleges" retrieved 904 stories, including reports of support for displaced Louisiana students offered by schools from as far away as Connecticut, Florida, Texas and California. 4:50:31 PM 
|
© Copyright
2005
Bob Stepno
.
Last update: 10/10/05; 11:00:58 AM .
Last update: 10/10/05; 11:00:58 AM .
