Water-damaged Xavier University in New Orleans plans to reopen

Published: 2005-10-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Norman Francis was a freshman at Xavier University in New Orleans in 1948, his work-study scholarship landed him the job of repairing damaged books in the university library. These days, Francis, who has been Xavier's president for nearly four decades, is once again fixing things, although this time on a colossal scale: overseeing the repair of the entire university. The library books, damaged when the library filled with 6 feet of water in Hurricane Katrina, are just one of his concerns because nearly every campus building was waterlogged during the Aug. 29 storm and the massive flooding that followed. An early estimate of the recovery price tag, including reconstruction, faculty salaries and student financial aid, was about $90 million. Finding the money to pay for the loss is now the daunting task before school officials. Xavier, the country's only historically black Catholic university, does not have the large endowment that larger universities do. Instead, it has a $50 million endowment primarily restricted for scholarships. Eighty-five percent of its student body receives financial aid. The school's insurance will cover wind damage but not the extensive water damage on the campus.

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