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Southern, FAMU Brace for Hurricane Ivan

By Rachael Shackleford
Black College Wire

Photo credit: The Famuan LeNedra Carroll, guest speaker at FAMU Senate meeting, outlines Ivan´s projected path.

Southern University canceled classes on the Baton Rouge campus until Sept. 17 and Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fla., postponed a number of activities -- but not yet classes -- as both campuses prepared for Hurricane Ivan.

The two campuses both postponed planned career fairs.

[The decision to close the FAMU campus came on Wednesday night, Sept. 15, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

["At 7 p.m., administrators at FSU (Florida State University), Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College came to same conclusion: School will close today," the story said.

["'When the . . . state, city and county shut down, we don't have much choice,' said FSU President T.K. Wetherell. 'The paranoia about a storm that really doesn't exist is really rampant,' he said, noting that Hurricane Ivan's anticipated landfall was 250 miles away."]

In addition, Xavier University of Louisiana announced that the New Orleans school would remain closed on Thursday, Sept. 16, except for essential personnel, because of the continued potential threat from the hurricane. The university hopes to be able to reopen the campus on Sept. 17, an announcement said.

At FAMU, a board of trustees meeting at which some were expected to ask for the resignation of President Fred Gainous was moved from Sept. 14 to Sept. 28, according to the president's office.

Virgil Miller, president of the FAMU Student Government Association and member of the Board of Trustees, said students could call 1-877-FAM-NEWS for more information on the possibility of classes being canceled.

Ivan was expected to hit the Florida Panhandle later in the week.

At Southern, "We are encouraging all students who can safely go home to go home as soon as possible, but pay close attention to highway conditions," Chancellor Edward R. Jackson said. "For those students who remain on campus, the university will provide for their safety."

Jackson and members of Southern University's Emergency Management Team gathered to make necessary safety plans for the nearly 3,000 students who live on campus. Residence housing officials were in the process of informing those students of the university's safety precautions, according to a university news release.

"We will continue to monitor weather developments and will advise students of our safety plans and necessary actions. Students who are leaving campus are required to contact their head resident about their destination. For those students who will remain on campus, we ask that they stay in or near their residence,"Jackson said in the release.

The Friday, Sept. 17, issue of the Southern Digest was postponed until Tuesday, Sept. 21. The Southern University Career Fair scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 15, has been rescheduled to Wednesday, Sept. 29.

At FAMU, the Fall Career Expo at the Leon County Civic Center has been postponed from Sept. 15 until Monday, Sept. 27.

Delores Dean, director of the FAMU Career Center, said the same companies are expected to come, and more companies may be added. She said 160 companies had been scheduled to attend on Sept. 15.

Among the other postponed activities are the groundbreaking of the FAMU campus recreation center, which has been tentatively rescheduled for Sept. 28 or Sept. 29.

Miller said that FAMU's decision to cancel classes would be made based on information Gainous received from the state emergency system, the county emergency system and the university operations management team.

"(Gainous) will confer with the presidents of TCC and Florida State University (when making the decision)," he said. "An update on that decision can be found online."

Rachael Shackelford is a student at Florida A&M University who writes for The Famuan. She may be reached at [email protected].

Posted Sept. 15, 2004