Neeraj Pradhan

hortly after Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana State University published LSU in the Eye of the Storm, a booklet chronicling the role of the university in the fight against the devastating effects of the natural disaster. Leafing through the fifty-page booklet, one cannot help but respect the leadership displayed by LSU during one of the most devastating natural disasters in US history. LSU has provided first-aid and shelter to thousands rendered homeless, registered over 3,000 students from affected universities, housed countless others from affected areas of the state, and organized funds and donations to help with the rebuilding process. But for all that is written in the booklet about the services the university has rendered during the course of the disaster, there is almost no mention about the future of LSU or other Gulf Coast institutions in this publication, nor in any other public statements from the university or the media.

Certain issues surrounding the Katrina disaster have been comprehensively reported. The national media has covered deficiencies in hurricane relief efforts on both the local and national levels, such as FEMA's failed mobile home program, which cost $4 billion but, due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, had not provided trailers as late as six months after the fact. However, the media has mostly ignored the extent to which the state's higher education system must be rebuilt, failing to report on issues ranging from funding to drawing in future leadership that currently afflict universities' rebuilding processes.

There have been a total of 31 institutions of higher learning and more than 67,000 students affected by the hurricane. Especially for institutions in New Orleans, infrastructural damage has been severe, and a resultant shortage of money became immediately apparent to university administrators. In one of his written statements to the university body following the hurricane, Tulane University President Scott S. Cowen hinted that certain faculty members and programs might need to be discontinued.

One must be realistic about the time and resources required for the extensive rebuilding process, but as a result of the Herculean tasks before them, public statements such as Cowen's must emit general tones of solidarity and courage. Cowen writes: “But for Tulane University, survival and recovery are not enough. We aspire to so much more for ourselves and for our city, region and country. It took Tulane 172 years to become one of the most respected and highly regarded universities in the nation. I am here today to tell you, the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of Tulane, that regardless of what challenges we face we have no intention of letting this disaster destroy our legacy and dream of world-class academic excellence.”

For people across the US trying to learn more about the rebuilding process at these institutions, such statements provide a glimpse into the determination of university administrators. However, they also belie the fact that there is a strong sense of uncertainty plaguing faculty and students as to how, with limited resources, the administrators will actually follow through with their plans to return the university to its former status.

In a telephone interview, J.W. Hoffman, a Professor of Mathematics at LSU, conveyed the chaos and confusion immediately surrounding the campus at the beginning of August. Baton Rouge, one of LSU's main campuses, is a city of about 400,000 people; however, its population ballooned by more than 250,000 people immediately after the crisis. The university took economic recourse almost immediately. Following the initial shock, the university board started speaking with faculty about financial constraints; projected budget cuts have been as drastic as 4 to 5 percent. But according to Hoffman, the primary worry for him and many of his colleagues is unrelated to funding or campus rebuilding. It is a worry about the uncertainty of the university's future and the leadership that will be willing to come and help rebuild LSU for future students and scholars. It is his opinion that people now have a worse perception of the state, and the resulting ordeal for departments around the university becomes whether they will be able to entice professors, post-docs and students from other parts of the country to their institution.

These problems are not specific to LSU. Max Berde, a sophomore at Tulane University, has corroborated the abjectness of the rebuilding process at his institution. Expecting almost no support from the government, Tulane has been forced to charter its own Renewal Plan. This program, announced on Dec. 8, has cut over one-third of Tulane's medical school faculty and eliminated five of the seven engineering programs.

As Berde wrote in an e-mail, “There is still anger in students and faculty in the case of the engineering cuts. Many saw it as a real slap in the face when faculty who had a lifetime of research established at Tulane were told on the same day as students that they were being separated' from it at the end of the next school year.”

Berde went on to say how infuriated Tulane students were by the budgetary decisions that the administration had made. Little, if any, explanation was given regarding why certain departments were cut. Engineering was clearly the most negatively affected, which was surprising considering the large amount of grant money that these departments had previously guaranteed the university. Like many of the decisions stemming from the Renewal Plan, these decisions seemed to the student body to be arbitrary and rash.

The claim that leadership is at risk stems from a combination of the natural disaster and other socio-economic problems in the state of Louisiana. Katrina was bad publicity for a state already infamous for possessing among the lowest per-capita incomes and highest annual murder rates in the country. The state does not have the jobs or compensation to entice many would-be leaders to settle there. The average income in the state is under $28,000. Unemployment percentages for the state have been as high as 12 percent in the past six months, and there are expected to be over 400,000 lost jobs within the next year. Compared to other US urban centers such as New York, Chicago or Los Angeles, the Gulf Coast guarantees less financial security and job opportunity.

The failure of proper response to Katrina's physical effects cannot completely overshadodw the failure to start discussing the issue of education especially because any solution to this problem will be complex. Monetary donations, while needed, cannot be the sole solution to the problem. Fostering a renewed confidence in the educational system on the part of students, faculty, prospective students and academics, which requires a sustained effort, is necessary if the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina are to be restored.

Affected students such as Berde are beginning to consider their options as they search for institutions and cities that will allow them to continue their educations and careers. “It breaks my heart to be forced to leave the school I love and the city I call home because my school tells me I cannot graduate with a degree in civil engineering. What do I tell schools I'm applying to for transfer [status]? I love where I was, but I'll learn to love your school?” Louisiana needs to retain all the leadership that it can, and if the nation does not help these universities find answers, we will soon be regretting more than just the loss of the buildings of New Orleans.