Katrina Scholars: Students Adapt to Colleges in the North
Students at a historically black college may have been accustomed to being the majority at their school in New Orleans, but in a college in New Hampshire, they are the "minority" group.
Hundreds of schools around the United States are host to the Diaspora of Gulf Coast students and faculty members. Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire counts 14 "Katrina scholars"—the rest coming from Tulane and Loyola—among its 1,600 students. Some of its students include Whitney Wallace, a sophomore at Dillard University in New Orleans, who found out about the scholarship from Franklin Pierce to attend college for free for this semester and took the chance.
The comparisons of food, culture and weather may seem for some students as though they are traveling "abroad." With about 7 percent of the student body composed of students of color, Franklin Pierce is diverse … by New Hampshire's standards.
And students seem to be adjusting—picking classes, clubs and sports to fill in their days. And the Dillard students—even those who did not know each other before, reports the Christian Science Monitor—have bonded at their new school and say it's essential to their recovery.
Another support network: a women's group on campus called Sistuhs. Its members are from various racial backgrounds. The group president said she's enjoyed learning about the Dillard students' life down south. "They're used to Southern pleasantries … One girl said, 'I'm not used to holding my books' - because guys would always offer to carry them!"
Still, the Katrina scholars already are thinking about their next steps, since the free tuition, room and board at Franklin Pierce is a one-semester deal.
Several of the Dillard students say they're most likely to transfer to other schools rather than return to New Orleans. And Brandyi Phillips, a sophomore from Minnesota, hopes to pursue her mass-communications major at Pace University in New York starting in January. "Dillard's a great school," she said, "but it's financially and educationally unstable."
For now, Dillard's administration is working hard to ensure that students return, but most of the campus lies in ruins and classes will most likely resume at Tulane University when students return in the spring.
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Saturday, October 22nd 2005 at 7:17PM
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