Harvard's Helping Hand

As the extent of Hurricane Katrina’s human and economic toll became increasingly apparent last week, University administrators acted to address the storm’s effects on the Gulf Coast and students at universities in the region.

Harvard announced Friday that a limited number of students enrolled at universities and colleges shut down in the wake of Hurricane Katrina would be admitted to study in Cambridge this fall.

The University collectively plans to take in at least 125 displaced students, although that number is likely to grow in the coming days, as several of Harvard’s schools have not yet determined the precise number of students they will accommodate.

Harvard will provide some on-campus housing and will waive tuition costs for students who have already paid tuition to colleges and universities in affected regions. The University will also match donations of up to $100 made by students, staff, and faculty to any of eight specific charitable relief organizations such as the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and the Bush-Clinton Relief Fund.

Harvard’s announcement came a day after many Boston-area schools—among them Tufts University and Boston University—promised educational sanctuary for students from affected schools, including Tulane University in New Orleans.

Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby said that Harvard began to plan its relief efforts at the same time as its peer institutions.

“By the middle of last week we were already in discussions as to how we might help,” Kirby wrote in an e-mail.

University spokesman John Longbrake said that students taken in by the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences would most likely not be housed in occupied student housing, but in vacancies across campus.

“On-campus housing will be provided on a space-available basis and priority will be given to students rendered homeless by the storm,” Kirby wrote in a letter to students and staff Sept. 2.

Kirby told The Crimson Saturday that students are being admitted on a “rolling” basis and that some have already been notified of Harvard’s decisions. In addition, the admissions office has stated that it will grant high school students from Katrina-affected areas additional time to complete early applications if necessary.

During his remarks at yesterday’s Opening Exercises, Kirby said that some students had already arrived on campus and that more were on the way.

“It is our very strong hope that all will be here for the first day of classes,” Kirby said, adding that the displaced students are also under pressure to respond to offers from other schools, many of which have already started classes.

Kirby said that FAS is applying the criteria used in its Visiting Undergraduate Program but noted that some information will have to be verified at a later date.

“We have had over 250 inquiries...and the Admissions Office is responding to every one of them,” he wrote in an e-mail Saturday. “We are of course acting now with great speed to do all we can to help these students whose lives and programs have been so severely affected by the storm and its aftermath.”

Kirby also commended the faculty, staff, and students who have offered housing to displaced students.

“The offers we have received should allow us to take in more undergraduates than we had originally thought possible,” he said.

A NEW HAVEN?

Harvard’s Law School (HLS), College, Graduate School of Education (GSE), Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS), School of Public Health (SPH), Divinity School (HDS), Design School (GSD), Kennedy School of Government (KSG), and Extension School have all announced their intentions to accept displaced students as “visiting students” for the semester.

The College, GSAS, HLS, SPH, and GSE will each accept up to 25 students. HDS, GSD, and KSG have not yet determined how many students they will each take. The Extension School will allow all students from affected schools staying within a commuting distance to enroll in courses tuition-free.

Additionally, the Extension School will offer spots in its 36 online courses to students affected by the storm who are not living within a commuting distance to Harvard. The Extension School will waive tuition fees for these online courses but will still charge these students, as well as its on-campus students, a $50 registration fee.

HLS and KSG said they would restrict entry to students at Tulane and Loyola Universities, while the College will process applications “on an expedited basis,” according to Kirby’s letter. SPH will accept displaced students from Tulane only.

Harvard Medical School (HMS) has not yet stated its policy on displaced medical students, although the school is preparing to offer clinical rotation spots to students if necessary and is assisting with student relocations, according to HMS spokesman John Lacey. HMS has only extended that offer to Tulane and Louisiana State University-New Orleans, Lacey said.

Harvard Business School had not yet announced its policy toward displaced business students as of Friday.

High school students from the flooded areas who temporarily relocate to Boston will be allowed to enroll in introductory math, science, and language Extension School classes that satisfy the Advanced Placement requirements set forth by the College Board.

In a letter to the Harvard community, University President Lawrence H. Summers outlined the University’s aid efforts.

“Our schools continue to seek out Harvard students and alumni who have been affected directly by this disaster.”

According to the American Council of Education, 175,000 students are enrolled in colleges in the storm-ravaged areas of Southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.

“The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina have stunned us all,” Kirby wrote in his letter. “The loss of life, destruction of property, and unimaginably severe conditions that remain in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, are profoundly saddening. Our thoughts, prayers, and sympathies are with all those who have suffered from the storm and its aftermath, and naturally we want to do what we can as a university to help.”

Staff at several of Harvard schools, including the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the GSE, HDS, and HBS, are attempting to contact Harvard students, faculty, and staff who live in the affected areas in order to offer aid and assistance in returning to Cambridge for the fall term.

—Lauren A. E. Schuker contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Daniel J. T. Schuker can be reached at dschuker@fas.harvard.edu.