Students transfer to PC in the wake of Hurricane Katrina

Bridget Chaney had only just arrived back at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana for her sophomore year when she got a desperate phone call from her mother asking how she planned to avoid quickly-approaching Hurricane Katrina.

"After arriving on Friday, I had a great time just catching up with friends I hadn't seen all summer," Chaney said. "When Saturday morning rolled around neither I nor any of my friends really knew anything about a hurricane until my mom woke me up and said 'So what's your plan?'"

After evacuating the city by car with her friends to Atlanta, Georgia, Chaney watched the news through the weekend as her favorite city in the world was destroyed. By Tuesday, however, she was back living with her parents in her hometown of Warwick, R.I., and enrolled as a temporary student at Providence College.

Heather Pirolli of Narragansett, R.I., had a similar whirlwind experience. A senior at Tulane studying psychology and early education, Pirolli and her roommates evacuated the city before the hurricane and drove to Mobile, Ala., staying with friends who had a house on high ground. From there, she rode out the storm until it was safe to drive to stay with another friend in South Carolina.

"I was able to get a flight into Rhode Island on Monday night," Pirolli said. "I registered for classes first thing on Tuesday morning and went straight to classes all day. When it was all over on Tuesday night, I think I took the biggest breath of my life."

Chaney and Pirolli are examples of the dozens of native Rhode Island students unable to attend colleges and universities closed by Hurricane Katrina. Looking for ways to help, a meeting of the Rhode Island Independent Higher Education Association on Sept. 1 led many schools such as Providence College and Brown University to offer tuition-free enrollment to these students for the fall 2005 semester.

According to Brian Williams, dean of Enrollment Services, 11students have enrolled for classes so far at Providence College. These students were supposed to be studying at schools such as Tulane University, Xavier University of New Orleans, Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans, and Loyola University New Orleans, all of which have cancelled classes for the semester.

Following the announcement by many Rhode Island schools to offer academic aid, Williams was bombarded with phone calls by students displaced by the

hurricane and concerned parents inquiring if there was room for their children in classes.

Every student has been able to enroll in all of the courses that they needed, which Williams said is imperative to ensuring that students do not fall behind in their semester away from their home schools. Most would like to prevent a delayed graduation because of the circumstances of this semester.

Williams praised the faculty of Providence College for opening their classrooms to these students, even over-enrolling students into courses that may have already been at their preferred maximum capacity, as long as there was somewhere for them to sit.

Because of lack of space and a large freshman class, Providence College was not able to offer on-campus housing to any displaced students, so most are commuting from their homes throughout Rhode Island or have found temporary apartments in the area.

"We've even had faculty of Providence College, as well as alumni of the school, contact us offering housing for students who couldn't find anywhere to stay," Williams said. "It's just astounding how everyone is reaching out. That says a lot about the type of Catholic institution we have here."

Williams has experience dealing with students in the event of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina. He was working at St. Louis University in Missouri during the floods of 1993, so he felt gravitated toward helping displaced students make a smooth transition to Providence College.

"We should just imagine ourselves in the situation these students are in. Imagine arriving at college for your first semester as a freshman, all alone for the first time in your life at just 18 years old, and you're told to evacuate?" Williams said. "The students from Rhode Island are very lucky that they still have homes to come back to, but for many of them their transition to college is destroyed and that can be difficult."

Permanent Providence College students have also been reaching out to these new students, who said they have found people to be sympathetic and curious about their stories. Since most of them are native to Rhode Island, they have even been able to reconnect with friends from high school that now attend Providence College.

"Everyone at Providence College has been so helpful and generous to us," said Pirolli. "I am so grateful for all of their support."

Still, making such a large adjustment after such an ordeal is not easy.

One temporary student, Hana Esmail, has a more personal connection to the recent tragedy than the others. Esmail, a junior at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans studying Elementary Education, is a New Orleans native and has lived there all her life.

Esmail noted that hurricane season is just a fact of life for many who live in the southeastern part of the United States, so her family chose to ride out the storm in their house. Esmail's father was stuck at work protecting his business and her sister worked through the storm at a New Orleans hospital. She has a strong image imprinted in her mind of sitting in the middle of her family room with her mother and brother, praying for the storm to pass.

"We had mattresses ready on the floor to shove against the windows in case they smashed, to keep water and debris from coming in," Esmail said.

While Esmail's house only endured wind damage, her father's business was completely destroyed. After the storm passed and communications were down, it was three days before her family learned that her father was safe.

"We didn't know where he was; we didn't know if he was hurt or even if he had survived," she said. "It was one of the most frightening moments of my life and I hope its something I never have to go through again."

Esmail is currently staying with her sister who lives in Pawtucket, RI. She chose to attend Providence College this semester because she identified it as a small private Catholic school much like her own and hoped it would bring some normalcy to her time away from home.

"Being here at PC, I kind of feel like I am on vacation, but the second I see the news, it hits me and I want to be home," she said.

Chaney and Pirolli also said they are having a hard time watching the news and seeing the devastation.

"As an education major, I work in the New Orleans schools and I see how poor some of these people are and what a rough time they already had before the storm," Pirolli said.

Chaney said, "Despite everything the hurricane has done to me and my fellow students, we haven't been hurt nearly as bad as those native to the city. New Orleans is very, very poor. The more expensive real estate is higher in elevation. Unfortunately the rich could afford to rebuild and escape, but the poor cannot-and hurricane season isn't even over yet."

As for what the future holds for these students at Providence College, the current plan is for them to return to their own schools in the spring. Williams said that the school is not addressing this issue yet, however, preferring to focus on the needs of these students in the present.

"Since we don't know what other institutions will be doing yet, we are treating these students as special guests and visitors and trying to make them feel comfortable in every way possible," Williams said. "Of course, they are open to apply for the traditional transfer process after the semester is over, just as students at any school can do."

Despite facing such a tragedy, these students still want to go back to their schools in the hurricane affected areas to move on and rebuild their city.

"It's my senior year and I want to finish my last semester of college with my friends at Tulane, so we can all graduate together like we planned," said Pirolli.

"I love New Orleans. I love everything about it. It is indeed the most unique city in the United States. It is our Venice," said Chaney.

Hana Esmail couldn't agree more.

"New Orleans is where I was born and raised," she said. "It's my home and despite tough times, it will always be my home. I have no doubt that I'll be going back."