Canadian universities open doors to hurricane survivors

[Brundle_Fly]

Canadian universities open doors to hurricane survivors
Last Updated Tue, 06 Sep 2005 07:08:12 EDT
CBC News

Canadian universities are opening their doors to American students affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The schools said they will admit undergraduates who were enrolled at Louisiana and Mississippi universities that have been closed indefinitely by flood damage. Up to 100,000 students have been displaced according to the Association of American Universities.

"If we can accommodate these students until Tulane is up and running, then we're happy to do so," said Jennifer Robinson of McGill University

Robinson said the university has had over 100 phone calls from interested students. So far, two have agreed to travel to Montreal to study. They had been planning to attend Tulane University. But with the campus in shambles, the start of the school year has been postponed.

more
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/09/06/cdn_unversities_katrina_200509006.html

[AspenRose]

1. Yay McGill!

I love Montreal and I love Canada. (Shout out to my homies in Verdun!)

[Village Idiot]

2. Remember to bring your hats and scarves...

Montreal is an incredible city, but it can get a tad chilly in the winter months (Nov - April)...

[iverglas]

3. one case where international relocation is reasonable

University and college students expect to be mobile and to spend extended periods away from home. Relocation of other people -- kids, old people, nuclear families -- a thousand miles away from home, across an international border, several steps removed from everything and everyone they know and from any feeling that they can contribute to the recovery, is not such a good idea (although I'll sign up for some houseguests if it starts being necessary). Remember how international adoption of tsunami orphans was discouraged.

The effort at Canadian schools seems to be generalized:

http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news_details-e.php?nid=646

Hurricane Katrina and university students -- Statement by President Patry
OTTAWA, September 2, 2005 — Statement by the President of the University of Ottawa, Gilles Patry:

The University of Ottawa is ready to help students affected by Hurricane Katrina:

If students from affected universities are interested in attending the University of Ottawa, we will do everything in our power to allow them to continue their education.

We will be informing the appropriate University services (Housing, International Office, Strategic Enrolment Management, etc) of the possibility that hurricane-affected students may be arriving, and we will be preparing to help find off-campus housing and offer support services to ease the transition for any students who choose to come.

We will also make contact as best we can with colleagues at universities in the affected area and with media to make students aware of this option.

Students could even reconnect with their Acadian (Cajun) heritage at a school in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia ;) -- or investigate other Franco-American cultures, like at the University of Manitoba.

There will not likely be much room in on-campus residences (fewer students in Canada live on campus than in the US anyway), but there would unquestionably be shared-accommodation situations, either with other students or with households in the community, found for anyone in this situation.

If anyone at DU is in this situation or knows someone who is, feel free to post in the Canada Forum here to ask for assistance in getting more information about particular cities and schools.

[Lisa]

5. plus there's already an extensive student exchange network set up

This makes it a lot easier to arrange billets, course transfers, etc.
Much easier to do this when the system is already in place. (I had a student from Brown U. in my class here in B.C. last term -- she had to go home before the start of exams because they're on a different schedule. The school arranged for her to write the final under supervision at her home institution, and Admin faxed it to our department.)

[iverglas]

6. "billets"

Watch out -- our southern friends aren't familiar with that term. I tried to claim my billet at a National Lawyer's Guild conference in DC once, and when I was met by blank stares at the registration desk after saying twice that I'd registered for a billet, I said a place to stay in somebody's house, and they said oh, a place to stay in somebody's house! and gave me the address.

Our neighbours will be thinking about things like their constitutional protection against the billeting of troops, and wondering whether we're being forced to accept the "refugees" rejected by their own country ...

;)

But yes, Canadian campuses do have highly organized support systems for international students, and they're on alert.

[silverweb]

4. Thank you, Canada!!

:yourock: