About one third of the 9,600 HBCU students displaced in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina found a higher education home at other historically black colleges and universities throughout the country, according to a new study by Atlanta researcher Mike Weaver.

In many cases, it meant that the HBCUs accepted the students without the benefit of their financial aid because they had already paid to attend their home institutions, Weaver told BlackAmericaWeb.com.

“If it weren’t for HBCUs, many of the students who were displaced by Katrina may not have gone to school at all,” Weaver said. “We are our brothers' and sisters' keeper. That is what HBCUs have done traditionally. Hurricane Katrina brought out the best in HBCUs.”

A total of 67 HBCUs received students who fled from Dillard, Xavier and Southern University New Orleans. Southern University in Baton Rouge took in the largest number at 960, followed by Texas Southern which took in 600 students.

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At Southern University, keeping sisters and brothers meant working almost around the clock, said Kevin Johnson, deputy administrator and director of emergency preparedness. Several students who attended Southern University came from that higher education system’s New Orleans campus, but many also came from Dillard and Xavier universities.

“We wanted to make the ordeal as less stressful as possible,” Johnson said. “We brought in televisions. We set up computer terminals so they could go online to find loved ones and information on assistance programs.”

Southern opened its doors to students as well as hundreds of displaced residents who came to the Red Cross Center on the campus

"It was something that needed to be done, so we did it," Johnson said.

Crystal Moore, a Meridian, Mississippi native who is SGA president at Xavier, left days before Katrina approached and went to Houston with a friend. “We thought we’d be gone for the weekend and return on Monday,” she told BlackAmericaWeb.com.  Instead, days later, she was enrolling at Jackson State University in Jackson, Miss.

“They were so welcoming. When we arrived, there were food and clothing drives. I stayed on campus and was able to take courses,” she said. “I could not have asked for more.”

According to Weaver’s report, 152 students who were displaced from New Orleans attended Jackson State in fall 2005.  

Lezli Baskerville, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, said in addition to those institutions that accepted displaced students, several that did not enroll New Orleans area students did other things to pitch in and help.

“They sent students to help in the aftermath, and they raised money on campus to help the sister institutions,” Baskerville told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “But our first concern was to make certain that the displaced students remained connected to higher education.”

While much attention has been given to students displaced by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, Baskerville said, issues with displaced faculty members from HBCUs remain.

“Currently, NAFEO is working on faculty fellowships for displaced faculty. We’re concerned with the entire picture,” she said. As students return to their home institutions, they expect to have the same level of academics and support that was available before the storm, she said.

Most of the students who attended Texas Southern University have returned to their home institutions, said Gayla Thomas, senior vice president for enrollment and planning.

“Our enrollment is robust enough not to raid other institutions,” Thomas told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “We did whatever possible to assist students in facilitating their return.”

Texas Southern, located near the heart of downtown Houston, issued a press release stating it would accept students displaced from New Orleans. They were expecting about 100 students, but the first day, more than 300 showed up, and they continued to come, Thomas said. Not all who inquired about temporary admission enrolled.

Because it also has a pharmacy school, Texas Southern was able to accept students near completion of their pharmacy degrees at Xavier, Thomas said.

“There was never a question we would help,” she said. “We are an HBCU. We knew we had to step up.”

Now that campuses are beginning to rebuild, more students are returning, and the New Orleans HBCUs also are recruiting new students.

A total of 2,456 students have enrolled this fall at Southern University at New Orleans, compared with 3,500 before Katrina. At Xavier, enrollment for the current semester is 3,013, compared with 4,100 before the Katrina. And at Dillard, 1,100 enrolled this fall compared to 2,000 in 2005, according to Weaver’s report.

The numbers, he says, are important because historically, the role of HBCUs during Katrina should be documented.

"Years from now, people will look at this information,” Weaver said. “They will say that this was the largest natural disaster of our time, and I want them to know that HBCUs played a vital role in meeting the needs of thousands."