Displaced students to return to New Orleans
Most schools in the New Orleans area will reopen in January.
Published Nov. 29, 2005
Three months after Hurricane Katrina devastated their city, universities in New Orleans are preparing to reopen for classes next semester. Students displaced by the disaster are getting ready to head back.
According to their Web sites, Loyola University, Tulane University, Xavier University and the University of New Orleans all plan to have their campus ready for students to return in January.
Missouri resident Heather Woller, a Tulane student who has attended classes at MU since evacuating New Orleans, said she would return to Tulane in January and graduate from the university in May. She stated in an e-mail that when she goes back, she will miss having a "good" football team, seeing friends from high school and going to MU's Student Recreation Complex.
"All in all, I've enjoyed making the best out of a bad situation here at MU, thanks to the generosity of the administration and the compassion of the faculty and students," she stated.
Sophomore Bob Murrell, who was majoring in Computer Science at Tulane and is now attending MU, said he would return to Tulane when classes begin next semester.
"I've met a lot of people here and will miss them — and will come back to visit — but I've lived in New Orleans my entire life, so I can't stay away from home for too long," he stated in an e-mail.
The Web site for Loyola University, whose campus borders that of Tulane, states that its campus sustained only "minor physical damage" from the hurricane. A news release on Dillard University's Web site, whose property sustained heavy damage from the storm, said that though their campus would not reopen next semester, an agreement had been reached for spring semester classes to start using facilities at Tulane.
MU spokesman Christian Basi said the credit that evacuees earned at MU would be accepted by other universities as determined by the policies and procedures of each institution.
He said MU officials are concerned about making the transition easier for students temporarily attending the university.
"MU officials are in the process of contacting students who are temporarily at MU due to the hurricane to ensure that they experience a smooth transfer back to their home university," Basi stated in an e-mail.