Aha! There Is Room!
The forum at Spelman College yesterday went remarkably well, and as I anticipated, they did call Morehouse College to task (as did I) for not opening their doors to fellow UNCF HBCUs Xavier University of New Orleans and Dillard University. Morehouse has quickly sprung to action; I received the following statement from the Office of Institutional Advancement:
How is Morehouse helping students from other colleges and universities?
As a member of UNCF, Morehouse is committed to doing what it can to support its fellow member institutions, Xavier University and Dillard University, which have been forced to close this semester because of damage to their campuses. The presidents of these institutions have said they plan to reopen by January 2006. Morehouse does not intend to recruit Xavier and Dillard students, but to offer them educational services in support of our UNCF family of institutions.
After assessing our current course offerings and housing availability, Morehouse has agreed to extend offers of admission to approximately 30 students from Xavier and Dillard as “special registrants” for the fall 2005 semester. Students from these schools who wish to enroll at Morehouse must present proof of enrollment in the form of a recent grade report or unofficial transcript, and must demonstrate that they were in good standing at their home institution. Priority will be given to graduating seniors, then to Georgia residents, and then to others on a first-come, first-served basis.
Will tuition for the Xavier and Dillard students be waived?
Tuition and fees for these students will be waived to the extent these costs are not met by federal, state and other financial aid sources. Accordingly, we will request that all special enrollment students complete financial aid forms and pursue transfer of their aid to Morehouse. Special enrollment students from Xavier and Dillard who are not originally from metropolitan Atlanta will be permitted to reside on campus. Room and board costs will be waived for these students.
While it is anticipated these students will return to Xavier and Dillard, there may be hardship cases that necessitate a permanent transfer to Morehouse. A separate application process will be established to handle all of the various requirements and paperwork. We will defer consideration of enrollment for the spring semester until later in the academic year.
Now that’s what I’m talking about! Morehouse College stepping up to help their UNCF brethren. Upgrade!
Your two postings on this topic are great. Thank you.
Isn’t Atlanta Great!??!
(AP)Evacuee Arrested for Panhandling in Ga.
ATLANTA
A man who fled Louisiana with his family to escape Hurricane Katrina was arrested for asking motorists for money in this city where banning panhandling has been a hotly debated issue.
James Scott says he had slept in a car for days with his brother, sister and her two young children before they decided to ask for help.
Nearly broke, the family drove to Buckhead, an affluent north Atlanta neighborhood Thursday and got out near a shopping mall, hoping for the charity of others.
“It’s the most expensive mall in Atlanta,” Scott said. “I thought I could get some help.”
After a half hour of asking passing motorists for help, Scott was approached by a policeman on a bicycle. Scott showed the officer his Louisiana driver’s license, his car tag and his car registration _ proof that he was not a local homeless person, but an evacuee down on his luck in an unfamiliar city. He was arrested for soliciting.
“I asked the cop, ‘You can’t feel my pain?'” said Scott, who added that another officer gave him $7 as he was taken to jail.
Atlanta Police Department spokesman John Quigley said soliciting on a public sidewalk is allowed, but not in traffic. He said he was not aware of any increase in panhandling arrests in Atlanta since the hurricane.
Last month, Mayor Shirley Franklin signed into law a panhandling ban around tourist destinations in parts of downtown Atlanta, not the area where Scott was arrested. The ordinance drew noisy protests from opponents who declared the ban was a mean-spirited way to hide the city’s homeless population
That’s great about Morehouse, and you’re correct re: your response in the closed thread to your earlier post. I’m sorry if my comment suggested you were jumping to racist conclusions.
My use of words like ‘unintentional characterization’ and ‘potentially’ branding as racist in response to you’re question “why isnt Georgia Tech extending the same courtesy to African-American students” was meant to ‘softly’ put it out there that although you may not have intentionally meant to characterize GT’s possible inaction as somehow racially influenced, the “say affirmatively they aren’t doing anything for black students, and then ask immediately afterwards if anyone knows whether they are or not” came across, to me, as making an accusation of potential bias first, ask questions later, and did not serve well the purpose of your post, which yes, was primarily directed at Morehouse. And yes, it was a very valid point, to which I’m pleased you’ve had some hand in influencing Morehouse to extend offers of admissions to those students. Again, sorry.
Re: Panhandling. Someone find that man and his family and get them connected with the Red Cross locally. Citing him is not the answer here if he is indeed an ‘evacuee.’ Telling him how to access the relief organizations and their aid would be appropriate, more so than living in a car and going up to people in their cars to ask for money. People all across the world are showing their goodwill with their wallets by giving directly to relief orgs, for the exact purpose of helping people like this…they need to take advantage of the goodwill at this time.
Re: Level 3 Communications, if you are looking at the IP address via Typepad comment section and then doing an ARIN search or IP locator, Level 3 comes up as the major Class A address block for my ISP.