Students from Tulane University began to enroll at SMU yesterday as the future of their school and the city of New Orleans remained unclear after the destruction inflicted by Hurricane Katrina.
In a mass email sent to students yesterday, SMU President Dr. R. Gerald Turner and Provost Dr. Robert Blocker announced that the university would be enrolling Tulane students from the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex for the fall semester on a space-available basis through Tuesday, Sept. 6. As of press time, 44 students have enrolled and there is no determined cap on how many students SMU will allow to enroll.
Although there are currently 50 vacancies in on-campus housing, Residence Life and Student Housing Director Doug Hallenbeck is unsure as to how many of these new students can stay on campus.
“There is no clear picture right now,” Hallenback said. “We have about 50 or so vacancies now, but it depends on the status of the students. Some of the openings are in freshman halls, others are in graduate halls and the rooms are broken down by male and female.”
According to Vice President Dr. Jim Caswell, Turner was able to talk to Tulane President Scott Cowan.
“While I’m hesitant to speak for Dr. Turner, my impression is of how grateful they are for SMU and other institutions offers of help,” Caswell said.
Tulane students were initially evacuated to Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss. but were moved to Georgia Tech and SMU when the hurricane hit that city.
In addition to 150 members of Tulane’s football team, a group of 10 students and staff came to stay at SMU.
SMU set up telephone banks, so that Tulane students and staff could call their families and make arrangements to get home. They were also provided with meal cards and lodging in guest rooms which are located in various buildings across campus. All but two of the non-athletics students and staff have gone home, and the remaining international students will fly home from DFW on Saturday.
According to Tulane Associate Athletic Director John Sudsbury, he has no idea right now how long Tulane’s football team will stay in Dallas.
“We’re waiting for more word from the university,” Sudsbury said. “There hasn’t been enough time to assess the whole situation.”
While Tulane’s football team waits as the university’s administration discusses options, practices, held at Jesuit College Prep School of Dallas, continue.
“In some ways practice has been better because it’s been a release,” Sudsbury said. “When we’re at the hotel we’re just watching the news and it’s tough to stare at it over and over again.”
Though practices continue as normal, Tulane’s football schedule for this year has yet to be determined. Their first game, set for Sept. 4 against Southern Mississippi, was rescheduled for November, and their second game against Mississippi State will be played at home. Considering that most sources predict the rehabilitation of New Orleans could take months, Sudsbury believes it is unlikely that Tulane will play their second game at home.
At this time, Sudsbury has no idea how or if Tulane will continue its season as normal.
“There are a lot of possibilities,” Sudsbury said. “One is that we could play all our games on the road or we could play from a new home site, but we just don’t know right now.”
Sudsbury expects more conclusive information from the administration by Monday.
