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The following letter was sent to members of the HGSE community by Acting Dean Kathy McCartney earlier this afternoon. Dear Members of the HGSE Community, As we all know by now, Hurricane Katrina has devastated much of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, claiming untold lives, displacing thousands of residents, and decimating the natural landscape across the Gulf Coast. I am writing to let you know Harvard’s and HGSE’s response. First, I have written to our current students living in affected areas to let them know that they are in our thoughts and that we are here to help. It is likely that these students may not be in a position to check their e-mail inbox, so I encourage you to try to contact students that you believe may be struggling as a result of the hurricane. If students need financial assistance to travel to Cambridge or have other pressing needs, we will do our best to help. Jim Stiles, Associate Dean for Degree Programs, will be coordinating this effort. Second, HGSE will be assisting students of education who will not be able to return to their fall studies. Several universities have lost their campuses as a result of the hurricane. We will be offering 25 students an opportunity to study here, tuition free, in the fall as special status students. They will be able to enroll in courses and to transfer credit to their home institutions. We will make every effort to assist students with housing needs as well. FAS and the professional schools each plan to meet the needs of displaced students in a similar manner. Jim Stiles is doing outreach with other schools and departments of education, and we will also be announcing this program prominently on our web site. [Click here to learn more about this initiative.] Third, Harvard will be setting up a mechanism to contribute to relief efforts. Importantly, the University will be matching our donations up to $100. You will be hearing more about this initiative from President Summers later today. Fourth, many K-12 students in the Gulf region will not be able to return to school this fall. Several members of the community have suggested that HGSE explore ways to meet the needs of these students. Jim Stiles and Deidre Duckett have volunteered to work on this. You will be hearing more from them in the weeks ahead. The enormity of this humanitarian crisis has overwhelmed many of us this week, as the news seemed to get worse and worse. I have every confidence that this community will once again do its part to help those most in need. Best, Kathy HGSE News, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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