Southern New Hampshire University Seeks to Help in Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Southern New Hampshire University is pursuing several ways to help those affected by the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina.

President Paul LeBlanc announced today that the university will offer three School of Community Economic Development scholarships for relief agency workers seeking to rebuild communities in the Gulf region. The university offered similar master’s degree program scholarships for CED practitioners from areas hit by last winter’s deadly Indian Ocean tsunami.

LeBlanc also has offered spots in the university’s undergraduate program for Tulane University students, particularly those from New England.

In addition to providing information about how the university community can help individually, the university has created a committee that will identify those efforts that will be most useful to victims in the days and weeks to come. Particular attention is being paid to helping students who are now without a college or university to attend in the coming year and providing aid to K-12 school systems.

The university also is working with a consortium of colleges and universities to make online courses available to affected students.

"We have all watched with horror and dismay the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf region. In typical SNHU fashion there has been an immediate desire to help," LeBlanc said in a memo to the campus community on Friday, Sept. 2.