Dillard University downsizes with recovery funds in limbo

New Orleans CityBusiness, Dec 3, 2007 by Stephen Maloney

Dillard University faced an uphill battle after Hurricane Katrina wiped out its Gentilly campus. Using help from as far away as Rhode Island meant the 77-year-old historically black university could survive.

Three Dillard student housing buildings burned down during the storm and three more were destroyed and razed, said Dillard Chancellor Marvelene Hughes.

"Every single building on this campus was under 6 feet to 10 feet of water, except for the chapel, which had extensive wind and rain damage," Hughes said. "Incrementally, every single building on this campus has been under reconstruction and recovery."

A $55-million lawsuit against the university's insurance company has slowed recovery, Hughes said.

"The insurance has only paid part of its coverage at this point, so we have the insurance company in litigation," Hughes said. "We have received about $115 million from the insurance company. About $55 million is left, minimally."

Hughes declined to name the insurance company because of the ongoing lawsuit.

With damage estimates near $400 million, Hughes said the recovery still needs much more funding.

"There is a lot (of funding) left and we want our $55 million," Hughes said. "Unlike Xavier and Tulane, Dillard was totally closed for one year. That's because it was so destroyed that no one believed it was possible for us to recover the university to where it is."

With enrollment down 50 percent to 1,000 students from the pre- storm total of 2,000, Hughes said a corresponding 50 percent drop in funding from tuition meant a smaller operating budget.

The annual budget of $70 million before the storm is down 28.5 percent to $50 million, Hughes said.

"I believe in operating the budget in the black," she said. "Since I arrived in 2005, every year we have had a balanced budget. We expect to have a balanced budget this year and every year into the future."

To accomplish this balancing act, Hughes tried to "right size" Dillard, cutting the faculty in half from 300 in 2005 to 150.

Dillard's plight after Katrina drew attention from Brown University in Providence, R.I., and Princeton University in Princeton, N.J. - two Ivy League schools with New Orleans connections.

Ruth Simmons, a Dillard graduate, was an administrator at Princeton before becoming Brown president, said Princeton spokeswoman Cass Cliatt.

Simmons sparked the partnership between the Ivy League schools and Dillard.

"Dillard was asking for assistance, not just helping students, which might be a one-time fix for an individual student, but help with the rebuild overall. We felt that we were in a position to offer something unique like expertise rather than just writing a check," Cliatt said.

At least 31 Princeton faculty members, mostly from the science departments, have been reimbursed for trips to New Orleans to help Dillard's science department recover. Cliatt said many more made the trip without requesting compensation.

Princeton and Brown officials are helping Dillard write grants to secure more funding to ensure the future of the ailing university, Cliatt said.

Hughes said things are looking up for Dillard, a university she said most people had written off.

"I think the future of Dillard is brighter than it has been in a long, long time," Hughes said. "As soon as we get the buildings back up and operational, the population will increase. The interest in Dillard University is increasing."