Black Collegian News & Views

FEMA Eases Up on Demanding Student Repayments

By Ashley R. Harris
Black College Wire

Michael Grant/the Gramblinite Twin sisters Katrina Byrd, and Katherine Byrd, along with a friend, were trapped on the campus of Xavier University after Hurricane Katrina struck.

Hundreds of university students who were being hounded to repay emergency assistance funds they received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after Hurricane Katrina may be able to keep the money after all.

The welcome news is the result of a change in eligibility requirements announced by FEMA in May after the agency took a shellacking from angry senators and members of Congress.

Under the new rules, students who received compensation for damages suffered from hurricanes Katrina and Rita can keep the money if they can prove through written documentation that they lived in campus housing for at least six of the 12 months prior to the 2005 storms.

The change in policy went into effect on April 20, according to Alexandra Kirin, news desk manager for FEMA. It is described in detail at http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=36109.

Students should contact their college or university for letters verifying proof of residence, and then submit an appeal to FEMA, said Ashley Small, a public relations officer for the agency.

"Someone will be in contact with them, once they submit a letter of appeal, and they will be directed to a team of specialists who only work with college students," Small said. "They will then be assigned a specific case worker who will work with the student until the case is resolved."

Students who have already submitted an appeal with the letter of verification do not need to resubmit another letter, Small said. Instead, they should call the FEMA hotline: 1-800-621-3362, and ask to speak to a college caseworker to review an individual case.

FEMA is also creating a database of universities and colleges recognized by the U.S. Department of Education that have dormitories in the declared disaster areas, Kirin said. FEMA will compare those dormitories' physical addresses with the damaged addresses claimed by applicants in the FEMA system, she continued.

"When we determine a match, we will rescind or reduce the amount of debt a student owes, based on the new guidelines," Kirin said. "We will notify the students by mail, with the address we have on record, if their balance changes as a result of this new guidance."

The change of policy came after lawmakers, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., took FEMA to task for demanding that about 700 New Orleans-area college and university students repay what they received after the hurricanes.

"When FEMA granted expedited assistance to college students, it was an example of a federal agency stepping up appropriately to provide for the victims in the aftermath of a major disaster," Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said in a statement. She accused FEMA of bullying Louisiana students who were "in no financial position to repay grants that they received more than a year ago."

Some of the children of another lawmaker, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D–Mo., were among the students at Dillard University who were being hounded by FEMA. According to Cleaver's communications director, Danny Rotert, the congressman is working on legislation that would alleviate some of the tension caused by the original letters. Cleaver wants to reduce the amount that the students owe and let them pay it back after they have graduated and are in a better financial position.

A lot "in the same boat" as Dillard

Almost every college and university in the New Orleans area is urging its students to communicate with FEMA.

"We're suggesting that they file an appeal to FEMA, and we will provide verification of housing," said Mike Strecker, director of public relations for Tulane University.

Two-thirds of Tulane's campus was flooded by the storm and more than $500,000 in damage was incurred because of the flooding. Enrollment has dropped from 13,000 before the hurricane to 10,000, graduate and undergraduate. In the two years since landfall, Strecker approximates that 25 to 30 students have asked for letters proving their residency.

"We had a lot of students in the same boat as the Dillard students," he said.

Tulane is working with its general counsel to see what more the university can do to aid its students, said Phillip Allison, special assistant to the vice president for student affairs.

Dillard's campus was inundated by more than 10 feet of water and also suffered fire, mildew, mold and looting damage.

The University of New Orleans had a pre-Katrina enrollment of 17,000. Now the school has 10,000 to 11,000 full-time graduate and undergraduate students. Although the university has hired an attorney to assist students in matters concerning living arrangements and FEMA, there is little it can do outside of providing the standard letter verifying residence pre-Katrina.

"This is an individual matter, not a university matter," said Lucille Gallese, dean of the Office of Student Affairs at the UNO. "It's too bad that each of these cases have to be handled individually. Many students don't know where to turn."

"FEMA takes a long time making up its mind"

The schools have questioned the system that FEMA has established, two years removed from the storm.

"There are a lot of impediments to get things done in a timely fashion," Gallese said. "FEMA takes a long time making up its mind – urgency is not there for them."

At Xavier University, things seem to be settling down for students. According to Joseph Byrd, the vice president of student affairs for the university, approximately 20 students have asked for letters for the FEMA appeals process.

"We gave them a letter to give to FEMA if they were residing in one of our residence halls when the storm hit," Byrd said. "I'm assuming that our students are taken of."

However, Byrd contends that the university has not established any protocol to see whether the students are, in fact, taken care of.

"We have no way of following up to see if they're taken care of," he said. "They would need to come back and talk to us, but there is not much that we can do right now."

Southern University of New Orleans received $400 million to $600 million in damage, but because it does not have dormitories, it is not dealing with the same FEMA situation, said Harold Clark, director of public relations.

Ashley R. Harris, who was evacuated from Dillard University after Hurricane Katrina, is a student at the University of Houston. To comment, e-mail Black College Wire.

Posted May 28, 2007