Republished from United Church News
Students at New Orleans' Dillard University are being offered support and placement at UCC-related colleges across the nation, according to Kimberly Whitney, the UCC's minister for higher and theological education.
Supportive schools are offering to house and educate students, while rebating tuition back to Dillard in a comprehensive effort to retain the college's student body and sustain its economic viability.
A conference call was scheduled for today (Sept. 2), when leaders of UCC-related colleges and universities will coordinate their offers of support to the United Negro College Fund on behalf of Dillard's students.
Dillard is one of the UCC's historically black colleges and was severely impacted by Hurricane Katrina, although the extent of damage to its urban campus remains unclear. Dillard's website (dillard.edu) is not presently operating.
"The colleges and universities of the [UCC's] Council for Higher Education, as they are able, are reaching out to offer students a place to stay and to study, while rebating tuition to Dillard," Whitney said. "This educational and fiscal continuity is important for the ongoing life and prophetic
witness of Dillard."
Already, UCC-related Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, Texas, "is at work at this time to accommodate between 50-75 students," according to an email from the executive committee of the UCC's Council for Higher Education.
Also, UCC-related Olivet College in Michigan has agreed to take 25 students immediately, including van transportation to its campus located about 30 miles south of Detroit. In addition, it plans to make room for 50 students from Dillard, starting in January, according to Mike Fales, Olivet's director of church relations and campus ministries.
"This is an extraordinary effort by our [UCC] affiliated college and universities to save a college that is an important part of our history," Fales told United Church News.
Founded in 1869, Dillard has nearly 2,200 students. U.S. News & World Report has consistently listed Dillard University as among the best comprehensive colleges in the south.
UCC-related Tougaloo College near Jackson, Miss., and Talladega College in Alabama also were damaged by Hurricane Katrina. However, at present, "there does not appear to be a need to host students from Tougaloo or Talladega colleges," Whitney said.
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