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Hurricane Ida spares most Louisiana public schools of significant damage
Virtual learning, classes in “alternative facilities” on-campus or continuing their education in a different school in a different part of the state are among the options for Louisiana students whose schools suffered significant structural damage during Hurricane Ida last weekend, state Superintendent Cade Brumley said. In their initial estimate of the damage statewide caused by […]
Hurricane Ida interrupts fall semester for many Louisiana universities
Universities in southeast Louisiana put their fall semester on pause after Hurricane Ida devastated the region last weekend, leaving the vast majority of the area without electricity or internet access and lacking in food, gas and phone resources. The catastrophic storm sent thousands of students scrambling, with Southern University of New Orleans, which encouraged students […]
Hurricane Ida leaves bayou region without water, power or hospitals for days
Residents in Louisiana’s bayou country entered their fourth day without power and limited water as they dig out of the wreckage caused by Hurricane Ida. Two of Louisiana’s most southern parishes, Terrebonne and Lafourche, were among the most heavily impacted by Ida. The storm made landfall at the southern tip of Lafourche midday Sunday as […]
Louisiana residents seek shelter from Hurricane Ida
Mildred Webster, a Baton Rouge native, tried to evacuate too late when the city flooded in 2016. She and her family were “just a couple blocks away” from their house when their SUV was caught in the water and Webster’s family had to leave the vehicle behind and “wade through all that water.” “We had […]
LSU’s rejected requests from faculty to teach remotely leaves one professor ‘heartbroken’
Melissa Flournoy was scheduled to teach Louisiana Government and Politics and American Government in-person at LSU this semester before the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus began massively spreading across Louisiana over the summer. Flournoy, a former Louisiana lawmaker and part-time LSU instructor, has a heart condition as well as eldery parents and a 72-year-old […]
Hurricane Ida ‘will be one of the strongest’ in Louisiana since 1850s, Gov. John Bel Edwards says
Hurricane Ida, projected to be a Category 4 storm when it makes landfall Sunday evening, “will be one of the strongest hurricanes to hit anywhere in Louisiana since the 1850s,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said Saturday afternoon. Ida is expected to make landfall in Terrebonne Parish around 7 p.m. Sunday, Edwards said during a press […]
Two University of Louisiana system schools report COVID-19 vaccination rates above 50 percent
Individual schools within the University of Louisiana system were reporting COVID-19 vaccination rates from 40 percent to 68 percent as of Thursday, though officials say nearly half of the University of Louisiana system’s student body and almost 80 percent of its faculty and staff have already gotten at least one dose of the vaccine. The […]
Southeastern Louisiana University cuts funds to student newspaper to pay for Title IX staff
Southeastern Louisiana University is taking $150,000 from the school’s student newspaper and using it to pay for two additional staff members in the university’s Title IX office. The University of Louisiana System Board of Supervisors approved the shift in funding Thursday without discussion. Half of the university’s $12 student publication fee will now go toward […]
UL system president: ‘Our student population is not sufficiently vaccinated’
As public universities across the state announced this week that COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for students, University of Louisiana system President Jim Henderson told the Board of Regents Wednesday morning that “our student population is not sufficiently vaccinated” at 40 percent. The UL system — with over 90,000 students — enrolls more people than […]
LSU announces vaccine mandates, Tiger Stadium restrictions for fall semester
LSU students will be required to get at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or fill out an exemption waiver, by Sept. 10, LSU President William Tate announced Tuesday. “We’re excited to be able to offer the in-person experience we know you’ve been hoping for this semester,” Tate said in a letter to […]
Most Louisiana public universities will require COVID-19 vaccine after FDA approval
COVID-19 vaccinations will be mandatory for students at most Louisiana public universities for the spring semester after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine Monday morning, though state law also makes it easy for students to apply for exceptions to any vaccine requirement. “We’ve been alerting students that this was coming for […]
Tulane University turns away ‘handful of students’ during move-in
Thousands of college students returned to New Orleans this week, as Louisiana is struggling to get its fourth surge of COVID-19 under control, but most of the city’s universities are requiring students to be vaccinated before arriving on campus. Tulane, Loyola, Dillard, Xavier and University of Holy Cross are requiring the COVID-19 vaccine. Louisiana’s public […]