Black Colleges Struggle After Hurricanes
 

Tuition loss a peril for black colleges

By Lolly Bowean Tribune staff reporter
Mon Oct 3, 9:40 AM ET

Just as Southern University at New Orleans was about to begin classes for 3,800 students, its largest enrollment at this campus, Hurricane Katrina swept in, flooding all of the college's buildings and sending the entire student body packing.

Then Hurricane Rita followed.

Standing in front of the wind-beaten, water-soaked, mold-infested administration building recently, Robert Cannon, Southern's assistant vice chancellor for administration, said he didn't know where to begin cleaning up.

Floors that used to gleam are covered in a thick, black slime. Desks and computers are scattered. Trees that once shaded students lounging on the yard have been knocked down. Most of the grass and greenery are dead.

All of the classroom resources--paperwork, books, research materials--have been immersed in water for weeks.

"The smell is unbelievable," Cannon said. "It was a beautiful campus. Now it's a mess. It's going to be a massive undertaking to get this campus up and running again."

For years, New Orleans has been a hub of historically black colleges devoted to producing doctors, scientists, teachers and social workers. Southern, Dillard University and Xavier University are within 10 miles of each other.

But now, all three campuses have been devastated. Unlike their city counterparts Loyola and Tulane Universities, which have large endowments, Xavier, Dillard and Southern rely heavily on tuitions to function. With no students, the schools' futures are in jeopardy.

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I was just reading this.

I wonder if the government is going to provide money to these schools. Or if the UNCF has plans to do some fundraising?

You can find out how to donate to Xavier University of Louisiana by clicking here

http://www.xula.edu/giving/

I was in grad school in the Texas Medical Center in Houston when Tropical Storm Allison dumped several feet of water back in the summer of 2001. My school buildings (UT-Houston) sustained about five feet of water. It took about 3 years to get those buildings back to its original state, with some modifications.

In terms of research, many projects were lost. The animal care facility of Baylor College of Medicine was in the basement and all of the animals that were used for research were lost. It took time and the generosity of funding institutions and other schools for UT, Baylor and other schools in the TMC to bounce back.

About 10 years ago there was a major flood in Albany, GA and Albany State University suffered major damage. Most of the buildings on campus were lost. The campus is now bigger and better than it was before the storm and some people say the flood was the best thing that happened to ASU. Their slogan for many years (and maybe still) was "Unsinkable".

I think much of their funding was state related, however, so I don't know what this will mean to the private schools. I hope the schools in the NOLA and the region are able to bounce back like ASU.