Penn State accommodates students displaced by Hurricane Katrina

University Park, Pa. -- Some students displaced by the Hurricane Katrina disaster last week are now sitting in Penn State classrooms and more are on the way.

Penn State's office of undergraduate admissions believes as many as 50 undergraduate students will begin classes at University campuses during the next few days as a result of the hurricane. These students are coming from several different institutions that were shut down by the disaster, including a number from Tulane University in New Orleans.

"We have been contacted by many students who actually were admitted to Penn State as freshmen for the fall semester but instead chose to attend Tulane or other southern schools, and we are working hard at getting them quickly into Penn State because we have all the academic records we need," said Graham B. Spanier, president of Penn State. "Some of these are students who live in New Jersey, Maryland, New York and other nearby states."

Many of the inquiries are from students who have had no prior contact with the University, and Penn State is making efforts to accommodate those students as well. Penn State also is trying to coordinate some resources for housing accommodations for some of these unexpected students.

"In addition, graduate students have contacted individual academic departments and campuses around the 24-campus Penn State system and they are being welcomed with open arms," Spanier said. "For instance, our Dickinson School of Law is helping several law students continue their studies and move -- in some cases with their families -- to the Carlisle area."

Students who have been displaced by Hurricane Katrina who are seeking information about Penn State are encouraged to check these options as soon as possible. The normal deadline for fall semester enrollment is Friday, Sept. 9.

Undergraduate admissions information can be obtained by calling (814) 865-5471 during regular business hours. To leave a message after regular business hours, call the University operator at (814) 865-4700. Graduate admissions information should be obtained directly from respective academic departments. For more information about departments and directories, check online at http://www.psu.edu/ph/

Affected students already at Penn State

University officials have been in contact with a number of currently enrolled students known to have hometowns in the most affected states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

In addition, seven students from Xavier University in New Orleans are currently studying at Penn State's University Park campus through a doctoral program in the College of Education. Efforts are underway to assist the Xavier students in relocating displaced family members who are hoping to join them in State College.

The partnership with Xavier was established in 2003 to increase the diversity level in the college, as well as to provide additional opportunities to Xavier students. Although the program also includes an exchange of faculty, no Xavier faculty are at University Park currently, and no Penn State faculty were at Xavier when Hurricane Katrina hit.

Relief efforts

Penn State's department of intercollegiate athletics, in partnership with the American Red Cross, collected more than $55,000 last Saturday at the Penn State-South Florida football game. Twenty-four Nittany Lion and Lady Lion student-athletes were among those collecting donations outside the gates of Beaver Stadium. Donations will be accepted again during this Saturday's Nittany Lion football game against Cincinnati.

The Red Cross also will be holding blood drives on Penn State's University Park campus through September. Donations will be used to replenish the low blood supply in Centre County and to support the hurricane relief effort. To schedule an appointment for donation, please visit http://www.givelife.org online or call (800) GIVELIFE (448-3543). Times and locations of blood drives being held on the University Park campus can be found at http://live.psu.edu/story/13332

Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center also is directly contributing to relief efforts on the Gulf Coast. This weekend, University Emergency Medical Services (UEMS) joined a fleet of 80 ambulances and more than 200 providers from across Pennsylvania to assist with medical rescue and recovery efforts around Hurricane Katrina's destruction.

Six paramedics and two ambulances left at 5 p.m. on Saturday from the Farm Show complex to make the 1,200-mile journey to Lafayette, La. From Lafeyette, they will be deployed into New Orleans and surrounding areas where they will carry out the mission to relocate those in need of more acute medical attention to hospitals in a safer location. Ten vehicles and 42 EMS and support personnel from southcentral Pennsylvania were part of the statewide mobilization. The crews will remain in Louisiana for up to a week.

"We're prepared to provide medical care and transport to support the efforts currently underway," said Lee Groff, manager, UEMS. All crews must be self-sustaining for the seven-day mission, taking all supplies that they may need. For this reason, UEMS is also taking along a mechanic who will help service the southcentral fleet.

Penn Staters answer the call to duty

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, approximately 30 Penn State students who are part of the National Guard are being called upon to assist in relief efforts under way in the states hit hardest by this tragedy.

As of this weekend, 16 students from the University Park campus have been activated for Pennsylvania National Guard duty as part of the estimated 2,500 Pennsylvania troops en route to the affected southern states. Additionally, at least four students from other Penn State campuses have been confirmed as activated for military duty in response to the hurricane relief effort.

Students needing more information about military activation can contact the University Park Registrar's office at (814) 863-1929. For more information about the University's military duty withdrawal policy, see http://www.psu.edu/registrar/faculty_staff/administrative_office/office_policies/off_military_withdrawal.html

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For more information on Penn State's response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster at http://live.psu.edu/story/13357