Admissions accepts students affected by Hurricane Katrina

09/15/05 - For the past two weeks, the University of Rhode Island has been conducting an ongoing emergency admission process enrolling students who have been affected by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. "Our great hope is for those institutions affected by the hurricane to recover and reopen soon," Dean of Undergraduate Admissions James Lynch said. "Until that time, we are working to help each student move forward as expeditiously as possible not knowing when and how life will return to normal in those impacted areas."

The applications were accepted from students attending Loyola University, Tulane University, Xavier University and the University of New Orleans.

"The university is making every possible financial accommodation for the students on a case-by-case basis," Director of Communications Linda Acciardo said. "We dropped the application fee, waived the housing deposit for displaced students seeking on-campus housing and are allowing students to defer payment in effect advising these students that they can pay when they are able. We are also providing transfer scholarships when appropriate and within the financial capacity of the university."

Out-of-state students are being charged in-state tuition, Admissions Officer Nancy Stricklin said. In-state students will still be charged the regular in-state tuition and fees but payment may be deferred for a period of one year.

The emergency enrollment process consisted of reviewing available transcripts and SAT scores for college freshmen and upperclassmen. However, some students were admitted by phone.

"We've never done emergency admissions before," Transfer Admissions Officer Joe Walsh said.

Most of the students were accepted immediately. "We made an immediate decision which normally takes weeks by the time we get all the information and official documents," Stricklin said. "We managed a decision that was an on-the-spot acceptance."

Currently there are 23 displaced students enrolled at URI. Out of the 23 students, 11 of the students are freshmen and 12 of the students are upperclassmen. Most of the displaced students are Rhode Island residents from Barrington, Cranston, Foster, Glocester, Narragansett, Newport, Portsmouth, Smithfield, Tiverton, Wakefield and Warwick. There are also several students who are from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Karena Martin, originally from Providence, attended Xavier University in New Orleans as a freshman before transferring to URI.

At first, Martin was excited about the idea of getting a three-day weekend before she realized how serious the hurricane was.

"I was like yeah, we're getting a three-day weekend ... that's great," Martin said.

She explained how she gathered only three days worth of clothing and personal belongings because she did not think the storm was going to be as serious as it was.

Martin recalls the chaos she experienced.

"This three-day vacation seemed great ... and then when there was [an] increase in hurricane to [category] 5, the people started scattering to get out," she said. "That was when I was starting to get scared ... Just to think of everyone's things ... it became a reality. But to really be down there to see and be a part of what was happening ... It was crazy."

Julie Hall, a freshman from Portsmouth, had only moved into Tulane University about an hour before she was told to evacuate.

"We thought we were going to return to school the following Wednesday," Hall said. "We didn't think anything of it."

The transition process was not difficult for the displaced students.

"It wasn't a difficult process at all," Hall said. "The only difficult process was finding the classes that I enjoyed because there was limited [space] availability."

Neither student had a hard time in getting a dorm room provided for them. "It wasn't hard to find a place to stay, she said."

After Hall was admitted into Harvard University yesterday, she decided to leave URI.

Most of the students from Tulane University are planning to return to their school next semester. "They made it clear to us that they intended to be here for one semester and they were going to leave to go back to Tulane," Walsh said.

"Some may stay longer," Stricklin said. "It is going to depend on them, on what the situation is... some of them may choose to stay here because they're having a good experience and they've changed their mind."

Bryant University, the Community College of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College are also accepting displaced students.

URI is undergoing the process of emergency admissions up until Sept. 20.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the wrath of Hurricane Katrina. The strength of the URI family is caring for students as persons and working with each individually to enable them to continue their education here either on a visiting or permanent basis," Lynch said.