About this Special Feature

Black Collegian, Oct 2005 by Ikeda, Stewart David

Special feature in collaboration with Black College Wire and IMDiversity.com

On the eve of Hurricane Katrina's arrival in New Orleans, the staff was eagerly applying the finishing touches to this issue. It would be a particularly special issue - biggest in years! launching our year-long 35th Anniversary Publishing Year celebration. We had no idea, of course, just how very "special" the issue would prove. Completed through extraordinary effort by our staff in exile with only the most limited resources, aided by a few generous vendors and organizations, its release was temporarily delayed. This was not so much due to logistical problems stemming from the disaster and evacuation (which were legion), but because we saw and understood first-hand how deep and far-reaching was the devastation in our communities. We knew we could not simply continue with "business as usual".

As only one result, we determined to reach out to our friends at Black College Wire, forging a special collaboration to expand the issue to reflect the dire conditions faced by the schools in our community. From on-the-ground feature articles to a vivid photo essay, these pages (extended online at http://blackciAlegian.com/kalrina) spotlight the talents and feelings of displaced student journalists. Even as the floodwaters were literally rising around them, these young people kept reporting, photographing, filing stories with the kind of dedication you might expect in professionals, not in students. We wanted to do something for them - and with them. Also featured are Dillard University President Dr. Marvalene Hughes and Xavier University President Dr. Norman Francis, providing updates on their losses, most urgent needs, and plans for rebuilding their schools - safely, quickly, and better than ever before.

We are proud to present the diverse perspectives of these students, educators and historic institutions after Hurricane Katrina. For 35 years now, they have not only been our valued audiences, contributors, and sometimes even clients - they are our neighbors. They have been there for us when we needed them in the past, and we are dedicated to rebuilding our community with them now. Its what we must do.

Stewart David Ikeda, on behalf of the Editors and Staff of THE BLACK COLLEGIAN und IMDiveisity Inc.