wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 510-Church-related colleges welcome Dillard

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Church-related colleges welcome Dillard students

Sep. 14, 2005

NOTE: Photographs and related coverage are available at
http://umns.umc.org.

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.

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.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org

----------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this group, go to UMCom.org, log in to your account,
click on the My Resources link and select the Leave option on the list(s)
from which you wish to unsubscribe. If you have problems or questions, please
write to websupport@umcom.org.

Powered by United Methodist Communications http://www.UMCom.org