wfn.org | [UCC NEWS] UCC-related colleges rally with support,

[guessb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
United Church News
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess, news director
216/736-2177, newsroom@ucc.org

UCC-RELATED COLLEGES RALLY WITH SUPPORT, PLACEMENT FOR DILLARD UNIVERSITY
STUDENTS

Students at New Orleans' Dillard University are being offered support and
placement at UCC-related colleges across the nation, according to Kimberly
Whitney, the UCC's minister for higher and theological education.

Supportive schools are offering to house and educate students, while
rebating tuition back to Dillard in a comprehensive effort to retain the
college's student body and sustain its economic viability.

A conference call was scheduled for today (Sept. 2), when leaders of
UCC-related colleges and universities will coordinate their offers of
support to the United Negro College Fund on behalf of Dillard's students.

Dillard is one of the UCC's historically black colleges and was severely
impacted by Hurricane Katrina, although the extent of damage to its urban
campus remains unclear. Dillard's website (dillard.edu) is not presently
operating.

"The colleges and universities of the [UCC's] Council for Higher Education,
as they are able, are reaching out to offer students a place to stay and to
study, while rebating tuition to Dillard," Whitney said. "This educational
and fiscal continuity is important for the ongoing life and prophetic
witness of Dillard."

Already, UCC-related Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, Texas, "is at
work
at this time to accommodate between 50-75 students," according to an email
from the executive committee of the UCC's Council for Higher Education.
Also, UCC-related Olivet College in Michigan has agreed to take 25 students
immediately, including van transportation to its campus located about 30
miles south of Detroit. In addition, it plans to make room for 50 students
from Dillard, starting in January, according to Mike Fales, Olivet's
director of church relations and campus ministries.

"This is an extraordinary effort by our [UCC] affiliated college and
universities to save a college that is an important part of our history,"
Fales told United Church News.

Founded in 1869, Dillard has nearly 2,200 students. U.S. News & World
Report has consistently listed Dillard University as among the best
comprehensive colleges in the south.

UCC-related Tougaloo College near Jackson, Miss., and Talladega College in
Alabama also were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. However, at present, "there
does not appear to be a need to host students from Tougaloo or Talladega
colleges," Whitney said.