Converse Responds to Hurricane Victims by Opening Doors

Converse College stands ready to help those whose lives have been disrupted by hurricane Katrina. The college has opened its doors to female college students who have been displaced from their schools as a result of the tragedy, and is collecting supplies for the Red Cross.

Students who have been accepted at four-year institutions affected by the hurricane are welcome on a space-available basis for enrollment during Fall Term or for the entire 2005-2006 academic year. Converse is minimizing costs to students by offering significant reductions in tuition and room/board costs. The college’s financial aid office is also available to assist students in any way possible.

Fall Term classes began at Converse on August 30. Emergency visitors are requested to begin at Converse no later than September 12 in order to receive credit for the current term. Faculty stand ready to assist visitors in compensating for the first few classes they will have missed, and the entire Converse community will provide a home for the visiting students displaced by this disaster.

Students interested in the emergency visitor program should contact the Dean of Admissions, Aaron Meis, at 800-766-1125 or by sending an e-mail to admissions@converse.edu as soon as possible for more information.

In addition to providing enrollment for displaced college students, Converse is partnering with Clemson University to offer a fall break hurricane relief trip for students, faculty, and staff. The group will depart Friday, October 14th and return Tuesday, October 18th. The location is being determined.

Converse’s Student Athletic Association has collected donations of items to be delivered to the Red Cross for shipment to damaged areas and is continuing to collect monetary donations from the campus. Earlier, Project Serve, a Converse student service organization, coordinated several students who helped with the WSPA-TV telethon to raise funds for victims.