Four Tulane students return to New Orleans after semester at Vassar

Hayley Tsukayama Staff Writer

On Aug. 29, 2005, just as students in New Orleans were starting to settle into their first days at Tulane University, Hurricane Katrina devastated the area. During the following weeks, colleges and universities all over the country opened their doors to the approximately 13,000 displaced students from Tulane, as well as other New Orleans area institutions.

Five students from Tulane University—all freshmen or sophomores—attended classes at Vassar for the fall semester. Now, four of the five Tulane students who attended Vassar are back in New Orleans. One student has decided to remain at Vassar, and has officially transferred as of the beginning of this semester.

While Dean of Students DB Brown could not release the names of the students for privacy reasons, he said that each student had told him that the “Vassar community made them feel very welcome.”

Brown said that most of the students Vassar hosted from Tulane were natives of the northern or northeastern United States, despite the fact that Tulane—like most institutions—draws most of its students from its surrounding region.

According to Brown, the students were mostly freshmen and “were just checking in [to Tulane] when the hurricane happened.”

Most of the Tulane students lived in Cushing House and, according to Brown, found friends and support at every turn.

“I’d like to thank Vassar for being welcoming and for being there for its own students,” said Brown. Brown also noted that the collections organized by numerous Vassar organizations—specifically the Black Students Union and the ALANA Katrina efforts—“reaffirmed my sense of this campus’ willingness to help.”

Tulane University reopened its doors this January with, according to the school’s website, a message of rebirth and renewal. In his freshmen convocation speech, entitled “Orientation Déjà Vu,” Tulane President Scott S. Cowen said, “You have experienced more in the last five months than most students experience throughout all their years in college…From what I have heard from my presidential colleagues around the country whose institutions you attended this fall, you are an extraordinarily talented group that made your mark everywhere you went.”

Cowen continued and talked about the bright times ahead for Tulane University and its students. He closed his speech by simply saying, “Welcome home.”