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AROUND THE QUADS

University Welcomes Students
Displaced by Hurricane Katrina

Following Hurricane Katrina’s widespread destruction in the Gulf Coast region, numerous University agencies and groups stepped up to help displaced residents. “All of us in New York were the recipients of the enormous generosity of people across the nation and the world after September 11, 2001, and I know that we will do our best to reciprocate by helping those affected by the disaster along the Gulf,” University Provost Alan Brinkley said just after the disaster.

On September 7, more than 200 students — from schools such as Tulane University, Loyola University and the University of New Orleans — arrived on the Morningside Heights campus and were welcomed with a special orientation. “It means a tremendous amount to all of us that you are here, and we would invite you in every way to participate in the life of Columbia,” said President Lee C. Bollinger.

A total of 139 undergraduates have entered the University, primarily through the School of Continuing Education, while other schools have accepted at least 66 students into graduate programs. Students pay as if they were attending their own schools.

The American Council on Education reported that up to 30 colleges and universities in the Gulf Coast region were damaged by Hurricane Katrina, displacing as many as 100,000 students.

Other ways the University has helped include offering academic and psychological counseling to visiting students; a clothing drive to collect socks, undershirts and underwear for victims organized by the Dodge Fitness Center; a benefit movie double feature on a giant screen facing Low steps; and an effort by CU Relief (short for Columbia University Students United to Provide Hurricane Relief), headed by a core team of students, faculty, administration and professionals, urging students to donate the money they would spend on a normal Friday night out in New York. In addition, CU Relief, along with the Office of the University Chaplain, the Music Performance Program and Columbia/Barnard Hillel, organized a benefit concert, “Come Let Us Gather Together,” on September 13 in St. Paul’s Chapel.

For the latest on the University’s ongoing Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, go to the University Public Affairs Web site.

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