2008 Woodie Awards
A&M-College Station offers classes, shelter to Ike evacuees
Mike Cedeno
Issue date: 9/25/08 Section: News
After the disastrous effects of Hurricane Ike, Texas A&M-College Station is doing its best to help those who have been displaced. College Station is now host to more than 400 special needs patients and 1,572 Texas A&M-Galveston students.
According to Jason Cook, Vice President of Marketing and Communication at Texas A&M, before Hurricane Ike there were 1,777 college students enrolled at Texas A&M-Galveston. Cook's records show that 1,572 of those students are now enrolled to take classes at College Station.
"That is 88 percent of the students," said Cook.
Cook said that this has been a large job that is completely unprecedented. In order to accommodate these evacuees, the university had to organize billing, financial aid, housing, dining services and everything else that is needed for a college student to get started at a new school.
"The interesting part is that the Aggie spirit is a part of everything we are doing here," said Cook. "We welcome the Galveston students."
According to Cook, it is planned that the Galveston campus is expected to open back up in January for the spring semester. Power and utilities should be restored to the campus in the next couple of weeks, but the major concern for opening the campus to the students again is off-campus housing, because there is no estimate of the damage done to residential areas on the island.
Reed Arena at Texas A&M is home to a different kind of evacuee. Since Sept. 10, the arena has been set up as a makeshift hospital by the United States Public Health Service and is home to special needs patients that had to evacuate before the storms. A majority of these patients came from hospitals and nursing homes from the Beaumont and South East areas. However, some came from as far as Corpus Christi according to Cook.
The basketball team has had informal practices in another part of Reed arena and will begin formal practices in a couple weeks. The patients may all be relocated in the next couple of weeks.
"We received some information that we may be able to close that facility at the end of the week," Cook said. "But we will keep our facilities open for those who need it."
For more information about the Texas A&M-Galveston campus, visit www.tamug.edu.
According to Jason Cook, Vice President of Marketing and Communication at Texas A&M, before Hurricane Ike there were 1,777 college students enrolled at Texas A&M-Galveston. Cook's records show that 1,572 of those students are now enrolled to take classes at College Station.
"That is 88 percent of the students," said Cook.
Cook said that this has been a large job that is completely unprecedented. In order to accommodate these evacuees, the university had to organize billing, financial aid, housing, dining services and everything else that is needed for a college student to get started at a new school.
"The interesting part is that the Aggie spirit is a part of everything we are doing here," said Cook. "We welcome the Galveston students."
According to Cook, it is planned that the Galveston campus is expected to open back up in January for the spring semester. Power and utilities should be restored to the campus in the next couple of weeks, but the major concern for opening the campus to the students again is off-campus housing, because there is no estimate of the damage done to residential areas on the island.
Reed Arena at Texas A&M is home to a different kind of evacuee. Since Sept. 10, the arena has been set up as a makeshift hospital by the United States Public Health Service and is home to special needs patients that had to evacuate before the storms. A majority of these patients came from hospitals and nursing homes from the Beaumont and South East areas. However, some came from as far as Corpus Christi according to Cook.
The basketball team has had informal practices in another part of Reed arena and will begin formal practices in a couple weeks. The patients may all be relocated in the next couple of weeks.
"We received some information that we may be able to close that facility at the end of the week," Cook said. "But we will keep our facilities open for those who need it."
For more information about the Texas A&M-Galveston campus, visit www.tamug.edu.
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