Louisiana students seek enrollment at IU after colleges close

John Spotts strolled down Bourbon Street last Friday night, about to begin his freshman year at the University of New Orleans. The next morning, Spotts awakened to a city evacuating ahead of Hurricane Katrina and a college education put on hold. \n"It actually happened really quickly," said Spotts, a Brownsburg, Ind., native. "Friday night I was walking around the city and Saturday I woke up and evacuated. I drove to Houston and I realized I wasn't going to be back in New Orleans for awhile."\nSpotts is one of a growing number of students who are transferring to IU from universities forced to close in Katrina's wake. Colleges in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama have been shut down for an undetermined time. IU has received calls from at least 25 to 30 families and 10 to 15 students have already begun enrolling, said Registrar Roland Coté.\nA number of offices on campus are working together to facilitate the students' arrivals as efficiently as possible. Those include the Office of Financial Aid, the Registrar, the Bursar and University Division, said Susan Williams, IU's assistant director of media relations.\n"All those areas are working to get them in as quickly as we can to minimize what is already a terrible situation for them," she said. \nIU still has dorm space for the students in Eigenmann Hall, and the University is working to waive late enrollment fees and to arrange financial aid and credit transfers, Williams said.\nFor Spotts, transferring to IU proved an opportunity he couldn't pass up.\n"I just need to start school back up," he said. "I was already starting classes and getting the rhythm of it. I don't want to lose any of the credits I was starting down there, and (transferring to IU) is a great way to do it as fast as possible."\nIndiana native Ryan McDonald, another displaced student who transferred to IU, was set to begin his sophomore year at Tulane when Katrina changed his plans. McDonald arrived in New Orleans Saturday at 3 p.m. to the tune of a mandatory city evacuation. Two hours later, he was on his way out, leaving town ahead of Katrina and its destructive force. \n"I never actually even went onto Tulane's campus," he said.\nMcDonald learned of IU's offer to accept transfer students and, along with nine others from Tulane, was fast-tracked through admissions, scheduling, advising and housing.\n"What it takes most students several months to do, I did in one afternoon at IU," McDonald said.\nFreshman Robyn Long from Sarasota, Fla., spent Thursday debating whether to transfer from Tulane to IU or Tennessee, which is also accepting students displaced by the hurricane. She said she was leaning toward IU after a whirlwind week which saw her moving into her dorm, evacuating it and finding herself without a school. Classes would have begun Wednesday. \n"This is definitely not how I expected my freshman year of college to go," Long said.\nLong arrived with her parents at Tulane where officials told students to move into their dorms and then get out of the city. Thinking it wouldn't be such a big deal, Long did so and left. \n"I'm from Florida and we get hurricane warnings all the time and it doesn't seem like a big deal," she said. "I thought we'd be back in like two days, so all I brought is a small suitcase with like two pairs of pants."\nLong moved into a sixth-floor room, so she said she's optimistic her belongings aren't ruined or drenched. \nShe said jumping into classes after the first week shouldn't be such a big deal.\n"It's just a week -- if it was a month it'd be a lot harder," she said. "But it will be difficult"