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Harvard Opens its Doors to Students from Schools Hit by Katrina
Plan offer admitted students tuition-free courses
Cambridge, Mass. - September 2, 2005 - William C. Kirby, Edith and Benjamin Geisinger Professor of History and Dean of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), announced today a plan to admit students from colleges and universities in the Katrina-ravaged area that will not open this semester due to the storm to Harvard College, the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and Harvard Extension School.
"The devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina have stunned us all," Kirby said. "The loss of life, destruction of property, and unimaginably severe conditions that remain in parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, are profoundly saddening. Our thoughts, prayers, and sympathies are with all those who have suffered from the storm and its aftermath, and naturally we want to do what we can as a university to help," he said.
The Harvard College Visiting Undergraduate Students program will admit 25 additional students from colleges and universities hit by the storm for the Fall semester. Applications will be processed on an expedited basis. No tuition will be charged, Kirby said. On-campus housing will be provided on a space-available basis and priority will be given to students rendered homeless by the storm.
In addition, the Dean said the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will admit 25 students to its Special Students program from colleges and universities that will not reopen this fall due to the storm. As in the case of Visiting Undergraduate Student Program, applications will be processed rapidly, and no tuition will be charged.
The Harvard Extension School (HES) will allow enrollment in any of its fall courses to those students living within commuting distance who would normally be attending college in the flooded areas. For those students who are not within commuting distance of the campus, HES will make available enrollment in any of its 36 fall online courses. In either case, Kirby said, HES will waive the tuition for these students and require only the $50 registration fee. Further, high school students from the flooded region who can come to the Boston area and live with relatives may enroll in Extension School courses that meet advanced placement requirements, such as Introduction to Calculus, introductory science courses, and introductory language courses.
Dean Kirby also said that FAS staff are in the process of contacting Harvard undergraduate and graduate students who live in the region to offer any assistance possible to help them to return to Cambridge safely for the fall term. "We also stand ready to lend support to any member of the Faculty or staff who has family members displaced by the storm," he said.
Harvard classes begin on Mon., Sept. 19. For more information on all programs, go to www.fas.harvard.edu.
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