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Xavier U. Prepares for January Reopening

Photo credit: Xavier University Xavier says it has completed the first steps toward reopening the campus, including repairing or removing damaged materials.

By Bridgette Outten
Black College Wire

Although still recovering from the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina, Xavier University of Louisiana is preparing to reopen to students Jan. 17.

New Orleans-based Xavier plans to resume classes for the spring semester through a partnership with Dillard, Tulane and Loyola universities, but Xavier plans to hold the majority of its classes on its own campus.

"We are prepared to have about 50 percent of the students come back," said Elizabeth A. Barron, vice president for academic affairs. "If we have more than that [who] want to come back, we will do our best to accommodate as many of our students that want to return."

Xavier had about 4,000 students. The university will have housing for about 1,700 in dormitories that have been rebuilt or repaired, Barron said.

The returning students will not start a new semester. They will essentially pick up where they left off in the fall and continue that term until April 24. After a weeklong break, a second term is to start on May 4 and continue to Aug. 12.

"We will be able to complete two semesters of classes," said Barron.

These accelerated terms are designed so students can recover lost class time for the fall, and seniors will still be able to graduate, she said.

Participation in intercollegiate athletic programs is suspended until next fall. Online registration for the coming semester will be available until Dec. 2, according to the university's Web site, www.xula.edu.

Still recovering financially, Xavier made several personnel and program reductions. Seventy-eight faculty members were not rehired or their positions terminated, according to an October news release, while 154 positions were retained. Twenty-three staff positions were removed and nearly 300 staff members placed on unpaid leave.

"It's a waiting game . . . it's a process," said Bambi Hall, formerly the sports information director and a Houston native. "I knew that I was going to return to Houston, but not under such non-traditional circumstances . . . something that I had no control over."

Hall said she will not return to Xavier in the spring, and did not know if she ever would. For now, she is at Texas Southern University and is interviewing for permanent positions at several others.

Hall said she did not think New Orleans was ready for Xavier or any other university to reopen, citing the shortage of hospital, police and other emergency services and other resources.

"The city lacks so many elements necessary for survival," she said. "I've been back to New Orleans. . . . I've seen the city, I've smelled the city. . . . I just don't think that it's ready."

But Barron was confident that Xavier students would have what they needed to go forward.

"We'd never do anything to jeopardize our students in any way," said Barron. "If we didn't believe we could serve their interests well, we would not be opening in January."

University officials have asked Congress to consider providing $90 million in assistance to Xavier, and submitted requests to major corporations and foundations that have supported the university. Xavier also has appealed to alumni.

In an effort to help Xavier's recovery, a Xavier University Hurricane Relief Fund was established in September. President Norman C. Francis indicated he would welcome Roman Catholic support in conjunction with a fund-raising initiative for a new chapel already underway.

"On CNN, I replied that we would welcome and seek Catholic support, and the specific reference was continuing efforts to build a new chapel on the campus," to be named in honor of Xavier's founder, Mother Katharine Drexel. "Hurricane Katrina made this appeal completely urgent," Francis said.

But Francis also made it clear in a CNN appearance that the Catholic church does not support Xavier financially. The private university is self-supporting, and must get financial help where it can.

"I'm calling on my Catholic friends. I'm calling on the religious," he said. "I'm calling on all who have the wherewithal to put something together. Come to our aid. We need it. We're getting it from our sources, and we would like to have their help."

Officials were optimistic about restoring the institution to its pre-Katrina status, and mailed 34,000 admissions recruitment solicitations to prospective Xavier freshmen for the 2006-07 school year.

Meanwhile, Barron said, officials are confident that the campus is ready to resume classes.

"As far as academic life, the faculty that [students] knew, the faculty that made the difference for them, are still going to be there," said Barron. "They're still going to have the very strong faculty and those one-on-one relationships. Xavier's reputation has always been built on beating the odds and we will continue to do that so they will be assured of a sound, academic experience in the classroom."

Some Xavier students were not so sure they would be able to keep up with Xavier's accelerated semesters.

Speaking of Texas Southern University, 20-year-old Crysell Pendleton, a biology pre-med major, said, "I'm going to stay at TSU next semester for financial reasons, and because the university is trying to complete two semesters in five months, I think that that is just going to be too much."

Pendleton, a Houston native, transferred to Texas Southern after the hurricane and floods closed Xavier. Her roommate from the Living Learning Center dormitory at Xavier, Brittany Thornton, also transferred to Texas Southern: They are still roommates.

Thornton, 20, a chemistry pre-med major from Ohio, said she also did not plan to return to Xavier in January.

Both said they want to go back in the fall of 2006.

Pendleton was concerned that her classes were too difficult to condense in such a short amount of time and that she could not afford the cost of tuition — which she pays primarily out of pocket — after losing everything in the storm.

Both Xavierites also were concerned about housing, the condition of the campus and the faculty who would be available.

"Not only are there students that may not have places to stay, but faculty as well whose homes have been destroyed," said Thornton. "If I don't know where I am going to live — being so far away from home — I'll probably just stay at TSU or go home."

Students planning to return next fall, like Pendleton and Thornton, will have to apply for readmission.

Xavier students returning in January will be able to transfer their course credits from other universities back to Xavier. The same financial aid that was available for the students in the fall will be available again.

"If they don't come back to Xavier in January, they will — in effect — be withdrawing from the university," said Barron. "And then they would have to apply for readmission, just as they would at any time. So if they don't come back in January, they are limited to our usual rules."

Speaking to concerns about the number of faculty and staff available in January, Barron said the number of faculty has always been based on the number of students, and will be increased as needed.

For now, the university is focused on rebuilding the Katrina-ravaged campus.

Xavier has already completed the first steps, including repair and/or removal of damaged materials, dehumidification and mildew treatments and removal of campus debris, according to the university media department. In the next phase, the university plans to order materials to repair damaged buildings, and new supplies for student housing and refurbishing student life areas.

Despite the university's troubles, students Pendleton and Thornton were sure the campus would be restored to its former glory.

"It's obvious" that the university wants the students back in school, said Thornton. "They're doing everything in their power to make that happen."

Pendleton added, "It is such a small school, and the people there make up a lot of what the school means. So, as long as the people are there, and they have a positive attitude, then Xavier will be Xavier soon enough."

Bridgette Outten is a senior print journalism major at Texas Southern University.

Posted Nov. 25, 2005