Black colleges struggle to reopen
By
Monica Moorehead
Published Sep 29, 2005 9:21 PM
The grossly negligent manner in which the
Bush administration along with local and state agencies handled the Hurricane
Katrina disaster has helped to lay bare just how deeply racism and poverty are
rooted in the U.S. capitalist system.
As the entire U.S. population and
much of the world witnessed, those who were left to fend for themselves without
food, water, adequate shelter and health care for days and even weeks after
Katrina hit New Orleans and other areas of the Gulf Coast were mostly poor and
working-class African Americans.
There are other areas of society where
this disaster exposed the racist inequality that exists in society. Take, for
instance, the area of higher education. In New Orleans, the area hardest hit by
the hurricane, the two most notable universities are Tulane and Loyola, both
Division One members of the NCAA.
These two colleges are predominantly
white with large endowments. Tulane, the most prestigious of the two, has an
endowment of $745 million. It is also the largest private employer in Orleans
Parish.
When the hurricane hit, while tens of thousands of students at
both colleges were forced to evacuate, there was minimum damage to the
structures of these schools. The school administrations for both of these
colleges expect to receive insurance reimbursements for any revenue lost when
the schools were forced to close down, as well as for any storm damage.
It
is a different story altogether for Dillard and Xavier, two historically
African-American universities also located in New Orleans. Like most
predominantly Black private colleges elsewhere, Dillard and Xavier have much
smaller enrollments, with a combined student body of 6,000, and have much
smaller endowments—$50 million each—and a more moderate, vulnerable
infrastructure.
So when a natural disaster like Katrina hits, these
colleges feel the pain much more intensely. Severe damage was done to the
buildings and grounds at Xavier and Dillard. At Xavier, there was six feet of
water in the library and a waterlogged chapel. At Dillard, a post-hurricane fire
destroyed dormitories and ruined the student book store. The entire campus was
covered with poisonous waters for two whole weeks before the water was pumped
out. While both colleges had insurance for wind damage, there was no insurance
for flood damage.
Xavier’s president, Dr. Norman C. Francis,
remarked, “I don’t have an endowment I can take money from. If I
can’t recover the money we expected for the first semester to pay faculty
and staff and pay our bills, we’re standing here naked. We have nothing.
And what we’re looking for now is the help we need so we won’t be
severely crippled in our ability to come back.” (New York Times, Sept.
25)
The U.S. Department of Education announ ced that it was going to
provide $90 million in student aid to 31 institutions impacted by the hurricane.
This is a pittance compared to what is really required to get these colleges up
and running as soon as possible. Xavier alone is requesting upwards of $90
million for recon struction of its campus. As it stands now, Xavier and Dillard
plan to reopen their doors by early January, but this depends on whether they
get help from public and private monies. A large portion of students at both
colleges depend on financial aid.
Xavier is known for graduating more
Black doctors, scientists and pharmacists than any other undergraduate
institution. This is a remarkable achievement considering that in the U.S. more
young Black men are incarcerated than are in college.
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