Student Life in New Orleans

Black Collegian, Oct 2006 by Worley, Brandi

Katrina: One Year After

There may not be many stores open, or the laughter of children playing hopscotch in the streets, or a look of freshness in the neighborhoods surrounding the city's college campuses. Nevertheless, college students returning to New Orleans this fall can see signs of a city trying desperately to rebuild, a year after Hurricane Katrina pounded weak levees and caused major flooding.

The good news is that most necessities of student life can be found, though sometimes not in the immediate areas around the historically black colleges and universities heavily damaged by the floods, and sometimes for a higher price than before the hurricane.

Many students say with optimism that restaurants, gas stations and stores are up and running, and they don't have a problem finding school supplies and dorm room basics.

It helps to have a car, to get out of the campus neighborhoods to go shopping or see a movie or find a dry cleaner. More difficult, some said, is locating good hair care, especially for some styles such as dreads and braids. It's also a challenge to get a P.O. box to receive mail and care packages from home. But entertainment is plentiful, students said.

"Up until January, there was a curfew; now you can go, basically everything is open," said Foluso Shokunbi, 20, a second-year pharmacy student at Xavier University of Louisiana. "They have a lot of entertainment. A lot of clubs are open. The movies are open - all the movie theaters we had before Katrina except for one on the East are open."

Students may have trouble negotiating traffic in and around the occupied sections of the city and routes to newly crowded areas to which residents fled, some said.

Mathile Coleman, 18, an incoming Dillard University freshman and child psychology major, said she wouldn't recommend that anyone with an hour break in between classes try to make a short trip off campus. They wouldn't make it back on time, she warned. Because many New Orleans residents relocated to the West Bank following Katrina, traffic on the Crescent City Connection tollway has increased tremendously.

Though aware of the flood damage that for a year prevented Dillard from moving back to its Gentilly campus, Coleman chose Dillard over Loyola University.

She was impressed that Dillard officials seemed determined to help students overcome the challenges of life in a city recovering from unprecedented disaster.

"It's not like you have no resources to help you," Coleman said. "People are helping you. If you really need it, someone will help you.

"I'm talking to the counselors and they are really working towards getting it better," she continued. "I want to be that first class back. Loyola sent me everything - roommate info, everything - but I called [Dillard] every single day because this is something that I want to do."

While campus communities look to reestablish themselves, area merchants that relied on student customers are depending on returning students more than ever as they struggle to rebuild. Many say that the post-Katrina drop in student enrollment is having a devastating effect on their businesses.

For example, Dillard's enrollment after Katrina has been down by as much as half. Nearby, at the StorAll self-storage company at 4601 Chef Menteur Highway, manager Dan Sharlow said he used to serve 75 to 100 students, mostly from Dillard, before and after school breaks, but now, "I would say the numbers are probably down to 20, 30; I don't see them all." Several businesses around the StorAll closed after the floods. Sharlow said his business has begun posting advertising at the area colleges, but, "There isn't much we can do until the school starts attracting students," he said.

It's important to note that for students who are also New Orleans residents, the issue of finding needed supplies and services can be more extreme than for out-of-state students who come to the city just for schooling. They have to cope full time, not just when school is in session, and in many cases, they are still trying to put back together storm-shattered lives.

Gina Batiste, 20, was a junior graphic arts and photography major at Southern University at New Orleans before the storm. Then Katrina dumped 15 feet of water in her family's house; they fled to Houston.

"When I first got back, that's what made my motivation to go back to school, because it was hard trying to find places open and get things I need," she said. "Now, it's supply and demand, so if you didn't get it when school first starts, then you have to wait."

At first, Batiste picked up her studies at ITT Tech University after SUNO was forced to close. However, in time, she had to drop out of school for financial reasons. Batiste found work as a photographer on the Natchez, a New Orleans steamboat. She plans to save her wages and go back to school in the spring.

"I was like, look, the ball got to start rolling now - it's one of those 'now' situations. If you don't do it now, it's going to pass you up," she said.

To questions about the ease or difficulty of finding services or supplies, she had this reaction: "I feel like that's materialistic. You can build a house. Yeah, you might have lost memories, but as long as you have your family, that's all you need."