I love college football, and the new season has just begun. Normally, this time of the year, I will pick up my bright self and start my weekend ritual, a ritual I have been doing since my college years: having a big brunch, sitting in front of the TV with friends and soaking up game after game after game.
For the past few days, like many of us, I have also glued to the TV, crying and sobbing, feeling angry, rage and frustration to a boiling point like I have never felt before. My chest hurts, my eyes are swollen. I dreamt of strangling Mike Brown and drowning that horse Shitoff in the LA flood water. So this weekend, I decided I should carry on my tradition and watch some college football and pull myself away from the news for a while.
But as I was watching the young men playing in their brand new uniform, with high hope and spirit, bonded as a team representing their school, with thousands of their classmates cheering on, I thought about the poor kids from Tulane, LSU, Xavier and many many colleges of the Gulf Coast. There will be no season for kids, no classes, no parties, no homework...
Shit now I even cried watching a college football game.
That's it. I got off my ass and actually went back to my office and worked a bit on this labor day weekend. (I am a scientist working here in Cambridge, Mass. Academia is my world.) As I was walking pass the admission office I saw a notice saying that the university is ready to review and admit emergency displayed students affected by Katrina. And I thought, "Damn, I bet there must be plenty of schools offering similar kind of program." I read there will be up to as many as 10,000 college students from the Gulf Coast will not be able to return school this Fall, and there is an awful lot of minds to waste.
So I went home and did a basic search on college by state and sure enough there many colleges (some waive application fee, tuition fee, a few even provide free room and board) provide such help. I don't know if anyone already did a diary about collegiate assistance so here is a VERY preliminary list (This list is by no mean complete and I am counting on you guys to fill in the info and spread the words) of colleges that offer assistance to Katrina victims:
It is VERY crucial for college kids to immediately apply with the next two weeks as school year starts very soon. Time is money.
Katrina Aftermath College Resource Center
AK: U of AK
AZ: U of AZ
AL: U of AL
CA: Cal State
CA: Cal
CA: Pepperdine
CO: U of CO
CT: St. John CT
CT: Howard U
DC: George Washinton
DC: Trinity U
FL: U of Florida
GA: U of GA
GA: Emory U
IA: U of Iowa
IA: Clarke U
ID: U of Idaho
IL: DePaul
IL: U of Illinois
IL: U of Chicago
IL: U of Chicago Law
IL: Southern Illionis University Carbondale
IL: Roosevelt U
IN: Evansville U
IN: Indiana U
IN: Holy Cross College
IN: Evansville
KY: U of Kentucky
LV: UNLV
ME: U of Maine
MD: U of Maryland
MA: Assumption U
MA: Babson
MA: Berklee School of Music
MA: Brandeis
MA: Boston College
MA: Elms U
MA: Harvard
MA: Holy Cross
MA: U Mass
MA: MIT
MA: Simon’s Rock College of Bard
MA: Suffolk Law
MA: Wheaton College
MI: U of Mich
MI: Alma U
MN: U of Minn
MO: Webster
MO: Maryville U
NC: U of North Carolina
NC: Duke U
NE: U of Nebraska
NH: U of New Hampshire
NH: Dartmouth
NJ: Princeton
NJ: Rutgers
NJ: St John U
NY: Syracuse
NY: Columbia U
NY: Cornell U
NY: Cornell U
NY: NYU
NY: Hamilton
NY: New School U
NY: Clarkson
NY: Marist College
NY: St Francis College
NY: Fordham U
NY: Hofstra U
OH: OSU
OH: John Carroll U
OK: Oklahoma U
OR: Lewis & Clark
PA: Penn State
PA: Bucknell
PA: Fandm U
RI: Brown U
SC: Coker
TN: U of Tennessee
TN: Vanderbilt
TN: Sewanee
TN: Belmont
TN: Memphis U
TX: Baylor U
TX: Southern Methodist U
TX: Southern Methodist U
TX: Abilene Christian U
TX: TCU
TX: Texas A&M
TX: Texas Tech
TX: U of Texas
UT: U of Utah
VA: Richmond
VA: Hollins U
VA: Sweet Briar (all women)
VA: Virginia Tech
WA: PLU
Update [2005-9-6 3:55:53 by saichel]: A few tips before you call around:
1) Choose a place that is close to home, relatives or friends; or a place that the student is comfortable with. It is very important to have support and familiarity.
2) Don't be afraid to call around and ask questions. You will be surprised how much the adiminstrations and admission offices are willing to help out.
3) Students can ask their advisors, profs or administrators (assume there is communication)from their own school for advice and suggestion. I am sure it will be more focused in terms of picking a "intermediate" or "transfer" school that fits best to their specific fields.
4) Like I mentioned before, there are plenty ofschools offer free tuition, room and board. There is nothing to loose and plenty learning and new friends to gain.
5) Like Loyola U, which belongs to the Jesuit School network, has sister schools offer additional help to student. And Tulane University will accept credit for all courses with a passing grade from regionally accredited universities; such credit will be applied to a student's Tulane course of study. We encourage all Tulane students to enroll in courses that they might have enrolled in at Tulane, but equivalent or near equivalent courses will also count to degree progress.
I will update the list tomorrow. I know many of you are volunteers or have friends that can spread the words. So pass on the list to volunteers, evacuees or anyone who may know of a college kid in need of assistance. God Speed.