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Sunday, September 25, 2005
Xavier and Dillard
I never bought into the overt racism accusations by some people in the immediate aftermath of Katrina, but I do believe that race will unfortunately play a role in the rebuilding of the New Orleans area, which is predominantly black. There is a story in today’s New York Times about Xavier and Dillard Universities, two historically black institutions that were each demolished during Katrina. As the article alludes, they are being overshadowed by the larger rebuilding process especially at Tulane and Loyola, two other much larger (and richer) New Orleans universities:
When most people think of higher education in New Orleans, they are more likely to think of Tulane or perhaps Loyola than Xavier and Dillard, two small historically black universities scrambling to get back on their feet. But in the parable of race and inequality left behind by the floodwaters, one chapter still to be written will be the fate of places like Dillard and Xavier, which suffered far worse damage than their wealthier counterparts on higher ground and have tiny endowments, limited resources and students who are almost all dependent on financial aid.
My point here is not that I believe Xavier and Dillard will be completely forgotten in the rebuilding process. They will rebuild like the other universities but it’s going to be especially hard for them given the generally smaller budgets and much smaller student population, most of which is on some sort of financial aid:
"I don't have an endowment I can take money from," said Dr. Norman C. Francis, the president of Xavier. "If I can't recover the money we expected for the first semester to pay faculty and staff and pay our bills, we're standing here naked. We have nothing. And what we're looking for now is the help we need so we won't be severely crippled in our ability to come back."
I am optimistic because from what I can tell universities from across the country have been very generous in their willingness to accept displaced students and otherwise help alleviate the strain that faces the 75,000 college and university students in the New Orleans area (Both Tulane and Loyola have extended the use of their facilities to Xavier in the event they aren't ready for the planned reopening in January). As with the countless small towns that Anderson Cooper never made it to, we cannot forget about the smaller, historically black institutions of higher education that have been destroyed and that may provide one of the only routes out of poverty for some.
Posted by Will at September 25, 2005 11:58 AM in Academia