Schools Open Doors to Students Displaced by Hurricane Katrina
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, schools around the nation are opening up their doors to take in the thousands of students whose lives have been impacted.
From neighboring states such as Texas to states as far as Washington, colleges and universities have responded quickly to the disaster along the Gulf Coast. Not only are they serving as shelters; many schools are offering to accommodate students who have been displaced by the hurricane.
Texas schools have offered to take in thousands of students. Baylor University has arranged for upperclassmen to temporarily enroll while the cities and universities recover from the damage caused by the storms. Although the school cannot accommodate any freshmen, Baylor’s George W. Truett Seminary will accept students from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for a semester. Law students from Tulane and Loyola University may also attend Baylor’s School of Law as visiting students.
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Texas A&M University’s system of nine universities has offered to accept several thousand students, some for as long as a year. Students would be allowed to pay the minimum tuition.
Christian schools throughout the nation are responding with generosity toward those affected by the hurricane. Trinity Lutheran College, located in Issaquah, Wash., has offered to accommodate up to 25 students. The school will pay tuition for one year, in the form of a special-needs scholarship.
According to Trinity President John Stamm, “Trinity trains students to serve as leaders in church and society, and we feel this is a way to demonstrate our commitment to that mission.”
The school has also launched a campaign to collect supplies for the hurricane victims. The campaign will last through Sept. 23, after which all items will be sent to Jackson, Miss., to be distributed by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Disaster Response group.
“We want to give our students the opportunity to embrace others affected by this disaster,” said Stamm.
