Hurricane-Affected Universities Reopen

Two of the universities hit by Hurricane Rita will resume classes in the next two weeks, while universities hit by Hurricane Katrina, including Tulane and Loyola, will stay closed until next semester.

At Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, fallen trees have been cleared away but restoration teams are still working across campus to dry out waterlogged carpets and floors, fix Internet servers and phone systems, and repair buildings before students return to campus next Monday, according to the school’s website and an administrator there.

Many Lamar students were scheduled to graduate in December, and thus the school had to create a revised fall term schedule that will allow them to do so. According to a press release on the Lamar website, the fall term will be extended until Dec. 22, and all class periods will be lengthened by five minutes.

“We can’t skimp on classroom time and instructional time,” said Paula A. Nichols, an administrator at the Lamar Center for Distance Education.

The university also has a student body of approximately 10,000, of which the majority live off-campus; some commute a significant distance.

When classes begin on Oct. 19, many students and faculty will be living in damaged houses, or trying to find temporary accommodation while their houses are repaired or rebuilt.

“Lamar has a large number of older, non-traditional students who work half to full-time and also have serious family responsibilities,” Professor of Marketing Soumava Bandyopadhyay wrote in an e-mail. “These students will find it particularly difficult to balance their studies with their household restoration work after school reopens.”

The importance of students graduating on time this December outweighs the housing and other difficulties, Nichols added.

“Many students already have jobs lined up,” said Michael Jordan, a professor in the Sociology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice department.

Students at McNeese State University, in Lake Charles, La., are also tentatively scheduled to resume classes in the next few weeks, according to Assistant Director of Media Services Renee LeLeux.

University officials are still trying to determine the exact schedule, but McNeese will also definitely have a fall term and a fall commencement, LeLeux said.

But students from Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans will remain off-campus until their schools reopen for spring semester.

Many of these students have opted to attend other institutions in the interim, including 36 undergraduates who are now enrolled at Harvard.

Tulane freshman William Ke, now at Harvard, said that he thought Tulane’s decision to remain closed was the right one.

“I don’t think it’s as disruptive as having a condensed fall semester,” Ke said.

His main concern, he added, is that Tulane’s winter semester begins on Jan. 17, before Harvard’s fall term exams are complete.

The delay in reopening Tulane and Loyola is mainly a result of the condition of the city of New Orleans, not the damage sustained by the universities themselves, officials at both schools said.

“The city just wasn’t ready,” Tulane Director of Public Relations Mike Strecker said, adding that there are still concerns about basic infrastructure, including water, sewage, and power.

Waiting until January to reopen also gives Tulane time to repair on-campus housing and find housing for faculty, staff and students who live off-campus, Strecker said, adding that the school has considered numerous options including possibly housing students on cruise ships.

“We have a new definition for normal,” Strecker said.

Loyola is using the time before its reopening in January to start a fundraising campaign to cover the financial losses that resulted from Hurricane Katrina. According to the Loyola website, President Kevin Wildes has already visited alumni clubs in Chicago, Miami and St. Louis.