Dillard University President Marvalene Hughes expressed her hopes for the future of Dillard and New Orleans and thanked Brown and Princeton University for their help in rebuilding Dillard during a symposium in Sayles Hall Saturday afternoon.
"We are rebuilding, and what I am beginning to see is that out of the darkness we have encountered for so many months, there are rays of hope, and I will continue to seek them so that Dillard will return," Hughes said.
The talk was part of "Katrina: From Disaster to Renewal," which included speeches by emergency responders, reporters from the New Orleans Times-Picayune and a reading by the poet laureate of Louisiana.
After Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in late August, Dillard, a historically black university, was submerged under eight feet of water. The first floor of every building on campus, except for the chapel, was flooded.
In November Dillard announced it would lay off 202 faculty and staff - more than 60 percent of its work force - to keep the school running. Currently, the university is working out of temporary headquarters in Atlanta.
Although the campus will not be ready for students until fall 2006, Dillard has come up with a plan to offer courses next semester. Students and professors will be housed in a hotel, and classes will be held in satellite locations around New Orleans. About 800 of the school's approximately 2,100 students have committed to returning next semester, Hughes said.
President Ruth Simmons, who attended Dillard as an undergraduate, spoke of the terrible hardships New Orleans and Dillard have faced in the past few months.
Of her alma mater, she said, "Its impact on the American structural and social landscape far exceeded" its size.
Introducing her counterpart, Simmons emphasized Hughes' determination to rebuild Dillard, "not just as it was, but better."
Hughes assumed her position July 1, only two months before the hurricane hit. She had previously spent 11 years as president of California State University, Stanislaus.
Hughes emphasized the long history of Dillard, dating back to 1869, and the beauty of the surrounding neighborhood. "I have hoped and I do believe that every effort will be made to restore and recover the beautiful city I have known," she said.
She also expressed gratitude to Brown and Princeton for their special support. Each has organized a team to help Dillard prepare for next semester.
The teams "put us in contact with the right people," Hughes said. "Being able to do problem-solving with people who are not in a crisis ... is a kind of assistance that is sustained, assistance that I can count on." Hughes also thanked other schools that accepted Dillard students for a semester and paid their tuition.
Hughes said she had expected many new experiences as president of Dillard, but "the trauma of Katrina did not occur to me as a possibility ... five days after students had arrived on campus. My challenge was to find a way to get them off the city streets and get them to evacuate." Her recommendation to presidents of other universities was "to have a complete, comprehensive and unbroken evacuation plan."
During a question and answer session following Hughes' speech, Joelle Nixon, a Dillard junior who is spending the semester at Brown and will return to Dillard in January, said that although she appreciated Simmons' help in allowing her to attend Brown, she was glad that Hughes was working so hard to revive Dillard. She told Hughes how much she loved Dillard, referring to it as "my heart and my school."
"Students love Dillard, and they want to come home. They want to march down the Avenue of Oaks and receive their degree," Hughes said in response, referring to a tradition of Dillard's commencement. "I have promised the seniors that they will march down the Avenue of the Oaks."
