Dillard University is a school in New Orleans affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. Students from the university have been evacuated. The evacuation was not without problems. The web site Inside Higher Ed reports:

Centenary College, in Shreveport, welcomed 200 students from Dillard University to the fitness center and the Gold Dome basketball arena. “This is the third time in a year,” said Lynn Stewart, a Centenary spokeswoman, who said about 40 Dillard students came during Hurricane Ivan. Stewart said the students are mostly those who do not have family in Louisiana, or the United States. The Dillard students boarded six buses at 7 p.m. Sunday night for what should have been a six-hour drive to Centenary. The drive, however, took 10 hours. One of the buses started smoking, and then burst into flames as it crossed the Mississippi River around midnight.

“All their belongings burned up, laptops and books,” Stewart said of the 37 students who were on the bus. The college asked the local community to bring supplies for the students. Stewart said hundreds of people showed up with pillows, blankets, Monopoly sets and cards. “They might not be comfortable, but they’re watching TV and listening to iPods, like normal students,” she said.

You can see more pictures of the students by clicking here.  Dillard’s web site is down. The United Church of Christ web site, however, has basic information on the university:

Dillard University, 2601 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans LA 70122, 504-283-8822, www.dillard.edu

Dillard University opened the doors of its spacious campus in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans in 1935, the product of a merger between two post-Civil War institutions, New Orleans University and Straight College.

The university offers degrees in multiple areas in its six divisions: Humanities, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, Business,Education, and Nursing. It maintains church affiliations with both the United Church of Christ and the United Methodist Church. The philosophy and religion department is located in the department of humanities, and the university has a deeply engaged resident chaplain who teaches in the department.

Now in the fourth year of the presidency of Dr.Michael L. Lomax, Dillard's seventh president, Dillard is at the midpoint of an ambitious period of growth and development. In addition to a forty million dollar rebuilding campaign, Dillard has increased its enrollment to 1,950, with a goal of 2,200 by 2002. Both entering freshman ACT scores and overall retention rates have been above national averages the past two years.

Scholarships are available to the children of UCC clergy and to students who have demonstrated leadership in the church. Approximate full-time enrollment: 1,950.

It is unknown when the university will re-open. I’m sure the students, faculty and staff would appreciate our prayers and donations.