WEB UPDATE, Sept. 5, 5:13 a.m.
In the wake of last week's devastating hurricane that wreaked havoc on the Gulf coast, Dartmouth President James Wright announced Friday that the College will offer temporary admission to undergraduate students whose institutions are closed because of Hurricane Katrina.
The College will waive tuition for accepted students, but expects matriculates to pay their regular fees to their own school to aid in the rebuilding effort.
"We envision that the home institutions will use the tuition funds to help rehabilitate their campuses and to help offset some of the impact on their local employees," Wright said in the statement.
As housing is in short supply even for students who are already enrolled, the College will not offer spots in dormitories to the displaced students. Instead, efforts will be made to find housing in the surrounding communities.
The Alumni Relations Office has set up a web log to enable members of the Dartmouth community to communicate about the hurricane, and an area resident has already posted an offer to house students who will temporarily attend Dartmouth.
No limit has been placed on the number of students the College will admit under the Special Community Student Program, which has been expanded in order to deal with the potential influx of students from Gulf Coast-area institutions.
Students who are admitted temporarily will be allowed to enroll in up to three classes, but may not take the place of a previously registered Dartmouth student.
Many peer institutions are also offering admission to displaced undergraduates. Cornell University has admitted affected students, who will pay $835 per credit to take classes this fall. Columbia University has also offered admission to students, but has not officially announced whether the students will pay tuition.
Students forced to relive the college application process in less than a week have met with understanding at most institutions.
Jeff Schwartz of Queens, N.Y., was helping his daughter Deena move into her freshman dorm at Tulane University in New Orleans when the family realized they had to evacuate the city. Deena has been accepted to Columbia University, where she will begin classes on Tuesday.
"The Dean said, 'Right now, you belong here with us,'" Deena said. "It seemed like she cared."
"That was very nice to hear," her father continued, "Because people are very emotional right now, so to have somebody welcome you in, it's very heartwarming. There have been a lot of tears of joy because people have been so warm."
