To the Campus Community:

Baruch College is actively addressing the devastation that visited the
Gulf Coast last week due to Hurricane Katrina. I am grateful to the
faculty, staff, and students who have reached out to contribute services,
funds, and even instruction for those affected by the disaster along the
Gulf Coast. Your sincerity and initiative are inspiring and heartfelt, and
we will do everything possible to assure that our organized effort will
have a meaningful impact. I am most thankful to the faculty who have
responded by welcoming displaced students, and even offering additional
classes.

We will be taking in college students from the Gulf Coast as visiting
students, which may mean slightly larger class sizes. Thus far, Baruch
College has received at least 15 calls and has enrolled five such students
to date.

Like all of CUNY and New York City, our students, faculty, and staff share
a common value of support in times of crises, particularly in recent
years. A number of people have already stepped forward to help, and we
invite students and members of the Baruch community to contribute in
various ways to aid those communities in dire need. More concretely, our
efforts will include:

• Enrollment at Baruch College for displaced college students in the
affected areas as visiting students
• Accommodation for displaced faculty members from institutions closed by
the damage
• Donations through the American Red Cross and the United Negro College
Fund.  UNCF is accepting contributions specifically for those Historically
Black Colleges severely affected by the hurricane.
• A Clothing Drive
• A teach-in concerning the social and economic aspects of Katrina
• Community re-building during spring break.  An organized volunteer
physical relief effort to help re-build homes.

Enrolling Displaced College Students from the Gulf Coast
The American Council on Education reports that more than 30 colleges and
universities in the Gulf Coast region have been severely damaged by the
hurricane, and that up to 100,000 students have been displaced. Baruch
College will be accepting and registering displaced college students as
visiting students with the expectation that they return to their home
institutions in the spring semester with transferable earned credits.
Efforts will clearly be made to fit these students into classes related to
their educational program. Instructors in courses where these students are
enrolled are encouraged to assist in bringing them up to date.

Governor George E. Pataki and Chancellor Matthew Goldstein have announced
that CUNY will charge in-state tuition rates to dislocated Gulf State
students (from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama) this fall semester. At
the request of Chancellor Goldstein, CUNY has been working for the past
few days with the Governor's staff to determine ways to assist students
whose education has been interrupted by the Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Each case will be reviewed and aided as appropriate. For additional
information, please contact James Murphy at the Baruch College Office of
Undergraduate Admissions at 646-312-1400 or [log in to unmask]
For information about attendance at other campuses of The City University
of New York, please check the CUNY Web site.

Accommodation for Displaced Faculty from Affected Colleges and Universities
In addition to the students displaced by Hurricane Katrina, many faculty
members from affected colleges and universities are left in need of a
place from which to base their research while their home institution
recovers. Baruch College is committed to providing assistance whenever
possible, in the form of library access, workstation space, etc.
Professors who have temporarily relocated to the New York metropolitan
area and are in need of an academic home for the semester are encouraged
to contact Associate Provost Barbara Lawrence at 212-802-2840 or
[log in to unmask]

Donations
Donations to both the American Red Cross and the United Negro College Fund
will be coordinated through the Office of Student Life. The UNCF is aiding
three Historically Black Colleges (Xavier, Dillard, and Tougaloo) in the
areas most affected. We will be using the Student Life Office as the
collection office since it is staffed from 9 AM until 8 PM daily. Checks
and cash will be accepted.

Students are invited to attend an organizational meeting that will outline
plans for a massive campus-wide fundraising effort for Hurricane Katrina
Relief. The meeting will be held at 4 PM on Wednesday, September 7, 2005
in Room 2-125 of the Newman Vertical Campus. Students who wish to take an
active part in the fundraising effort should make every effort to attend. 
Those who would like to participate but might not be able to make the
September 7th meeting should e-mail Carl Aylman, Director of Student Life
([log in to unmask]). We want to encourage all students, in clubs
or not, to join and help in this effort.

Clothing Drive
Student organizations and the Office of Student Life at Baruch College are
organizing a Clothing Drive for the thousands who lost almost all of their
possessions during and after Hurricane Katrina. A notice about the
collection will be posted on the web and in public spaces shortly, as well
as posting an e-mail encouraging people to participate, as soon as details
are finalized.

Hurricane Katrina’s Impact: A Teach-In
Prof. Ted Henken from Sociology and Black & Hispanic Studies is organizing
a Teach-In on the hurricane, entitled "The Storm After the Storm,” to look
at the political, social, and economic impacts of the disaster. This will
take place on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 12:40 p.m. in the Newman Vertical
Campus, Room 3-210.  Information will be posted to the Student Life box on
the Blackboard homepage and on the College’s Web site.

Re-Building the Gulf Coast
Efforts are underway to connect with Habitat for Humanity to arrange for a
team of Baruch volunteers to travel to affected areas to contribute to
rebuilding projects during Baruch’s Spring Break. Jim Murphy, Assistant
Vice President for Enrollment Management, will be coordinating efforts. 
Such initiatives are typically called “Alternative Spring Breaks” at many
campuses, an alternative and constructive community effort to aid
communities in need. A limited number of students will be eligible to
apply for partial grants for travel provided by Baruch College.

Again, thank you very much for all the heartening expressions of support
and generous gestures so many of you have already made. We will continue
to keep you posted regarding ways we can offer assistance as a community.

Sincerely yours,

Kathleen Waldron
President