Money was available for tuition, and instructors were willing to help, but finding the students for the online program was a challenge.
“These were students who didn’t have a place to go home [to] because their homes were under water,” says Oakley.
There were problems contacting some institutions in the flood-ravaged region. Sloan advertised in Louisiana and Texas newspapers, went on radio talk shows and advertised online.
“Students who did register for classes often had to withdraw because they were not in a stable environment with Internet access,” Oakley says. Some began to have problems completing the courses and communicating with the colleges. Sometimes, e-mails from the instructors were mistaken for unwanted spam and deleted.
Organizers say the program should have offered books to students who could not afford them. The Kirk brothers say they paid at least $500 for their books.
But despite the kinks, organizers say the program was a success.
“I think it brought about some of the best of what education can do,” says Joseph “J.J.” Kwashnak, director of information technology for the Southern Regional Education Board, which funneled information from the Gulf Coast area students to the universities offering online classes. “It sends a powerful message to people that your life may be interrupted but your education is enough [incentive] to continue.”
The program had 1,736 applicants. Of these, 1,587 were eligible and 99 withdrew. Fifty took an “incomplete” in a course. Fifty percent of participating students were Black, 75 percent were women and most were from Louisiana, Kwashnak says.
— Black College Wire
© Copyright 2005 by DiverseEducation.com
