Xavier Students, Faculty Found Refuge at Louisiana Tech

Xavier freshmen Erin Bailey, left, Derrick Wilbourne, Farran Manuel and Bryan Osborne waited out Ivan 300 miles away.

While many of those fleeing Hurricane Ivan found refuge with family members or at Red Cross shelters far from the storm, a number of HBCU students in New Orleans were just too far away to go home on such short notice.

The situation prompted Norman Francis, president of Xavier University of New Orleans, to start placing calls to other schools early on Monday, Sept. 13, when the evacuation warning was issued. Xavier students seemed content with the arrangement.

"They've placed us in some nice dorm rooms and we have our own meal cards and access to the school's intramural and student centers," said Brandon Williams, a freshman psychology major from Atlanta.

Williams pointed out that most of the students making the 13-hour trek by charter bus were freshman from out of town who did not plan on going home until Thanksgiving vacation.

More than 200 students and faculty from Xavier waited out the storm at Louisiana Tech University, a state school in Ruston, La., 300 miles north of New Orleans.

"I'm grateful for the accommodations because we could be sleeping in our charter bus on the side of the road somewhere," said Farran Manuel, a Xavier freshman mass communications major from Port Arthur, Texas.

Manuel's classmate, Erin Bailey, a freshman biology/pre-med major from Chicago, was also thankful the arrangements were made. Her family was concerned about what would happen if the storm hit New Orleans.

"My parents called and were worried, but they were so far away, there ís very little they could do other than wait and trust that the school would take care of me," said Bailey.

The students were accompanied by the school's dean of student affairs and were to remain at Louisiana Tech until the hurricane threat was lowered.

That came soon enough.

The university announced late on Sept. 16 that the campus would reopen on Friday, Sept. 17, but that all classes would remain canceled until Monday, Sept. 20.

"Resident students who evacuated campus due to Hurricane Ivan may begin returning to their Residence Halls as of Thursday evening, September 16, 2004," it said.

And they did.

Shawn Chollette is a student at Louisiana Tech University.

Photo credit: Michael Grant, The Gramblinite

Posted Sept. 17, 2004