Back to books in the bayou

New Orleans Colleges are slowly starting to come back to life. Students are returning to a changed city.

Tens of thousands of college students scattered after Hurricane Katrina smashed New Orleans are returning this month to the city's colleges and universities. In a city that celebrates every time another business reopens, the reopening this week of Tulane University - now the city's largest employer - is like celebrating Mardi Gras early.
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Students who started classes last week have said that at times, it feels like they never left. At Loyola, one of the two campuses that began classes last Monday, there were long lines at the bookstore, confusion about classroom locations and students reading in tranquil Palm Court. Like every new school year, freshmen are excited to make new friends, except now they're introducing themselves by saying "where did you go?" instead of "where are you from?"

But they're also returning to changed campuses and neighborhoods, where Katrina's impact is everywhere. There are fewer professors but hundreds of construction workers busy repairing Tulane's campus, where freshmen moved in Thursday, and orientation activities at Loyola University now include bus tours through neighborhoods wiped out by the storm.
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Even in the less damaged areas near Tulane and Loyola, some traffic signals are out and many student-favored restaurants, bars and coffee shops remain closed because of too few customers and employees. It's a struggle to find restaurants open past 9 p.m., and streetcars that took students to the French Quarter aren't running.

Tulane senior Lewis Lowe realizes these are relatively minor inconveniences. A fraternity brother's family lost their Lakeview home. Two other brothers aren't returning to school after the university eliminated some engineering programs.

Remember when the worst thing you had to woory about was a losing footbal season? Our hats are off to those students who are returning and the administrators and instructors who are working overtime to bring normalcy back to the learning community.

KRT Wire | 01/15/2006 | Back to books in the bayou

Tags: New Orleans, college, katrina