Students At Hurricane-Damaged Universities May Apply For Fall Quarter At Cal State East Bay

Students enrolled at Gulf Coast universities affected by Hurricane Katrina are being offered admission to California State University, East Bay under extraordinary latitude granted the campus by CSU Chancellor Charles Reed.

Cal State East Bay is among seven of 23 CSU campuses able to offer admission to students of universities damaged by Katrina. The university reopened its online application operation today so that students at Gulf Coast universities in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi could apply.

The university has received numerous inquiries from students at Gulf Coast universities that have been shut down by the disaster.

Fall quarter classes begin Sept. 22 at Cal State East Bay's Hayward and Concord campuses and at its center in downtown Oakland.

"In the midst of this tragedy we are reaching out to students who have been uprooted from their campuses by the hurricane," said Cal State East Bay President Norma Rees. "Our outstanding enrollment services staff has three weeks to work with potential students so that their studies can continue uninterrupted. Our hearts go out to our friends and colleagues at the universities and colleges along the Gulf Coast and we are willing to help where ever else we can."

Among the emergency measures authorized by the CSU chancellor, Cal State East Bay will be permitted to provisionally accept students without transcripts or the ability to immediately pay their fees. The requirement to take English and math placement tests will be waived. Students who are residents of the Gulf Coast states affected by the hurricane will be exempt from paying non-resident tuition.

Also being explored is the possibility of special conditions on the federal financial aid regulations for students unable to attend college in the Gulf states.

Cal State East Bay still has about 100 additional beds that could be made available to new students in its International House dorm facility on Carlos Bee Boulevard in Hayward.

Student applicants should contact the Cal State East Bay Office of Enrollment Services at (510) 885-7563. To apply online, prospective students should go to www.csueastbay.edu/apply.

"The California State University want to make sure that the educational goals of students are not interrupted by this devastating hurricane," Chancellor Reed said. "We will do what we can, as fast as we can, to help out these students and their families."

Reed said seven CSU campuses were reserving space for students from Gulf Coast colleges and universities: Bakersfield, Chico, Dominguez Hills, East Bay, Humboldt, Los Angeles and Sacramento. Some of the other 16 campuses may accept Katrina-affected students on a case-by-case basis, he said.

New Orleans area universities include Tulane University, Loyola University of New Orleans, the University of New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, Our Lady of Holy Cross College, Xavier University at New Orleans, and Troy State University. None has yet announced if they will be able to reopen for the fall term.

Cal State East Bay President Rees has a particular interest in helping students from Dillard University, where her friend Marvelene Hughes is president. Hughes was president of California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock before taking the presidency at Dillard earlier this year.

At Dillard, where the fall term began on Aug. 22, President Hughes ordered the campus evacuated on Saturday. Some 225 Dillard students fled New Orleans, heading north in a convoy of buses, one of which developed a mechanical problem and burned up en route, destroying students' belongings, Dr. Hughes said.

Media Contacts:
Kim Huggett, Dir. of Public Affairs, (510) 885-2032, or
Barry Zepel, Media Relations Officer, (510) 885-3884