Just as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought numerous organizations and agencies together to aid the evacuees and their families, these back-to-back disasters led Black College Wire and THE BLACK COLLEGIAN to join forces to provide a broad range of coverage for our readers.

Although different in design, focus and corporate status—one is a non-profit service and the other is a for-profit business – we combined resources to offer information to students and families from our common, underrepresented communities who were affected by the hurricanes.

It is with great pride that we share articles written by talented college students from HBCUs in and around the disaster areas. Often these students were reporting and writing articles amid the same challenges facing the hurricane victims they were covering.

Our coverage began with articles about evacuations at HBCUs in the Gulf region. Black College Wire was the only news organization on the scene at Grambling and Southern for the overnight arrival of buses carrying 400 rescued Xavier students and staff. Our student correspondents as a result were able to produce a credible account of the Xavier students' ordeal.

We also asked our writers to find information about services for the thousands of displaced HBCU students, and others who were in safe places but whose families and friends suffered losses. We compiled lists of colleges offering free transfers and agencies providing disaster aid specifically for students, even as THE BLACK COLLEGIAN has turned to identifying employment and other forms of relief for recent graduates and the displaced students who have been unable to matriculate.

In addition to our dedicated writers, Black College Wire's editors, Richard Prince and Jean Thompson, made this collaborative effort a reality. They honed the students’ fine work into the best journalism we have presented to date. We are honored to include these articles in this venerable publication.

Continue to the Features: Hurricane Katrina: Views from America's Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Pearl Stewart, Founder and coordinator, Black College Wire at www.BlackCollegeWire.org