News Archive

Hurricane Katrina: Helping in the wake of disaster

Fall 2005 tuition waived for college students
displaced by Katrina disaster

UW-Eau Claire is prepared to admit 15 to 20 students from institutions closed due to hurricane damage and who are interested in continuing their studies at UW-Eau Claire. Students displaced from Gulf Coast colleges and universities by Hurricane Katrina will not be required to pay tuition costs for the fall 2005 semester if they enroll at UW-Eau Claire or any of the University of Wisconsin System’s 26 campuses. (Read UW System news release.)

UW-Eau Claire's application deadline for interested students is Friday, Sept. 23. On-campus housing is available, as well as the support services these students will require to help them with their transition to UW-Eau Claire. For more information, contact Heather Pearson, associate director of admissions, at pearsonh@uwec.edu or (715) 836-5415.

Past UW-Eau Claire relief efforts:

• "Operation Classmate" T-shirt sale: UW-Eau Claire's student organizations have partnered with Eau Claire and Altoona schools in "Operation Classmate," an effort to bring aid to the central Louisiana city of Alexandria, where the public schools are overwhelmed by an influx of Hurricane Katrina victims. As a continuing "Operation Classmate" fundraising effort, T-shirts (with the image at left printed on the front and the names of participating schools on the back) are available for sale through Sept. 26. Anyone interested in purchasing a T-shirt for $5 can contact Lori Bica via e-mail at bicala@uwec.edu.

• Wristband sale: Several UW-Eau Claire honor societies will be selling blue silicon Hurricane Katrina wristbands on Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 21 and 22, with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross Katrina Relief Fund. The wristbands, engraved with the words "Hurricane Katrina Relief," will be sold for $1 (but donations of up to $5 will be accepted) and are available in the east lobby of UW-Eau Claire's Davies Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or as long as the current supply of 1,000 bands lasts. Additional wristbands are ordered, but supplies are backlogged. Groups selling the bands are UW-Eau Claire's Mortar Board, Golden Key, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Gamma Zeta II honor societies.

• "Operation Classmate": UW-Eau Claire's student organizations are partnering with Eau Claire and Altoona schools in "Operation Classmate," an effort to bring aid to the central Louisiana city of Alexandria, where the public schools are overwhelmed by an influx of Hurricane Katrina victims. Donations of needed supplies will be accepted through Friday, Sept. 16. Donations may be dropped off in donation barrels on the Central Campus Mall during the Blugold Organizations Bash on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain site: Zorn Arena). Following the Blugold Organizations Bash, the donation barrels will be in the east and west lobbies of Davies Center through Friday evening. See the following lists of requested donation items: (1) items of greatest need, (2) kits/packs and (3) lagniappe ("a little something extra").

• Fraternity/sorority coffee and doughnuts sale: The UW-Eau Claire social Greek organizations (fraternities and sororities) will be "selling" coffee and doughnuts on the Central Campus Mall on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 12 and 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sodexho Dining Services and Festival Foods are contributing food items at cost or free so that all proceeds can be sent directly to the American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina Disaster Fund.

• Donations accepted for stranded animals: The Activities and Programs Office CALL volunteer services program will have a table at the Blugold Organizations Bash accepting donations of cash for the ASPCA and American Humane Association efforts on behalf of animals stranded in the wake of the hurricane disaster. All proceeds will be directed to those two entities. This will be on the Central Campus Mall on Wednesday, Sept. 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain site: Zorn Arena).