Church-related colleges welcome Dillard students
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Marvalene Hughes |
Sept. 14, 2005 By Vicki Brown* NASHVILLE,
Tenn. (UMNS) — While Dillard University officials struggled to assess
damage from Hurricane Katrina, other colleges rolled out the welcome mat
for students from the historically black, United Methodist-related
school in New Orleans. “I have strongly encouraged students to
enroll in other universities for this semester, and I understand many of
them have,” said Marvalene Hughes, president of Dillard. Reports
of fire at the 55-acre campus have not been confirmed, Hughes said.
“Reports are mixed. Some said the fire destroyed three buildings on
campus, but others indicated the fire may have been across the street at
buildings owned by Parks and Recreation.” To her knowledge, all
Dillard faculty and students are safe, although Hughes said many are
scattered around the country. Some 250 Dillard students were given
shelter at United Methodist-related Centenary College in Shreveport, La. “Every
cell phone with a 504 area code (the New Orleans area code) was out of
commission after the hurricane,” said Hughes, who stayed with her sister
in Alabama before setting up shop temporarily in Washington. Other
staff are working out of an architect’s office in Atlanta. She is asking faculty, staff and students to make contact through e-mail addresses posted on the Web site www.dillard.edu.
Offers from other colleges willing to enroll Dillard students are being
posted there, along with e-mail addresses and telephone numbers for
those colleges, Hughes said. Wanda Bigham, assistant general
secretary for schools, colleges, and universities at the United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry in Nashville, said
generous offers began pouring into her office immediately after the
hurricane from colleges all over the country, including offers from 60
United Methodist-related institutions to assist students from schools
along the Gulf Coast. “The offers were amazing,” Bigham said. Some
colleges even offered to send a bus to pick students up, in addition to
making offers of free tuition or free room and board, she said. Agency
staff relayed those offers to the university for its Web site.
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A UMNS photo by Peggy Cooper Evacuated Dillard University students watch the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina at Centenary College in Shreveport, La.
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Dillard
University students watch the news coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Some
250 students were evacuated to Centenary College in Shreveport after
Dillard's campus was flooded in New Orleans. The president of the
historically black United Methodist-related college is asking the Board
of Higher Education and Ministry to collect donations to help with
Dillard's hurricane recovery. A UMNS photo by Peggy Cooper. Photo
#05-H026. Accompanies UMNS story #485. 9/2/05 |
Officials at Albion College, a United Methodist-related school in
Michigan, said faculty and staff would be willing to create a special
set of courses for Dillard students, since the semester is already under
way. The college had already accepted three students displaced by the
hurricane. Hughes said she understands many students have
enrolled at other historically black colleges or at schools close to
their homes. “Many want to be close to their homes,” she said. Dillard
has promised students they will not lose academic credit. Students who
enroll at other accredited colleges will get full credit for those
classes. In case classes can be resumed in January on the Dillard
campus, a plan is being developed by Bettye Parker-Smith, provost and
vice president for academic affairs, to offer the equivalent of two full
semesters between January and August. Hughes said faculty and
staff who have direct deposit will get paid, and officials are working
on a system to pay employees without direct deposit if they can be
found. Bigham said one of the problems has been letting students
know about the offers from other colleges. Classes are already under way
at many colleges, and information that would enable Dillard’s
beleaguered faculty to contact students is at the flooded campus in New
Orleans. Rust College, another of the 11 historically black United
Methodist-related colleges, offered help defraying tuition and other
assistance. But Clarence Smith, registrar of the Holly Springs, Miss.,
school, said no Dillard students had enrolled. However, he said, Rust
has two eight-week sessions that make up a semester. One is under way
and the other begins Oct. 17, and he said some Dillard students might
enroll then. Even though Dillard students do not have transcripts
or other information they would normally need to enroll, other colleges
have been accommodating, Hughes said. “I’m not aware that any student
has had problems enrolling at another college,” she said. Hughes said she is in Washington to lobby for federal assistance and to work on other fund-raising to help Dillard recover. “We will be back and better than ever,” she vowed. An online link to donate directly to Dillard is at www.gbhem.org/hurricaneresponse.html.
Donations can also be mailed to the Dillard Hurricane Relief Fund, c/o
The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, P.O. Box 340007,
Nashville, TN 37203-0007. *Brown is an associate editor and writer
in the Office of Interpretation at the United Methodist Board of Higher
Education and Ministry. News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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