Tulane students to return home

Waking Sunday morning to the season's first snowfall, a group of students hurried to build a giant snowman, pausing from time to time to throw snowballs at each other.

For Princetonians accustomed to winter weather, the scene is a familiar one. But for the visiting students from Tulane who are spending this semester at the University, the winter weather is yet another new experience in their time spent displaced from New Orleans.

"This is only the second time I've ever seen snow," said Tulane student Ben Bradley '09, taking a break from throwing snowballs. He probably won't see much snow after Jan. 17, when he and the other 20 Tulane students visiting Princeton this semester, will return to New Orleans for the spring semester.

Other schools, including Harvard and Yale, are grappling with requests from some of their visiting Tulane students who have asked to be allowed to stay at their adopted institutions permanently. The question of what to do is particularly significant for freshman, who had not yet started at Tulane when Hurricane Katrina struck.

At Princeton, however, the students say that they have enjoyed their time on campus but are looking forward to returning to their academic home in New Orleans.

"It's been great to come to Princeton, but I promised to attend Tulane," Bradley said. "I feel it's my responsibility to do what I can to help there."

The visiting students would also not be permitted to stay under University policy because Princeton does not accept transfer students, University spokesperson Cass Cliatt '96 explained.

"The University has a policy of not accepting transfer applications and will continue in this policy this spring," she said. "When we agreed to take on visiting students, we agreed to aid Tulane in its rebuilding process and have a responsibility to return its students to their school."

That's just fine by most of the Tulane students here, who are eager to return to their own university. "I can't wait to get back," said Kyle Galloway '09, who joined men's crew this fall. "We have an extraordinary opportunity to help rebuild our community."

Harvard's student government is currently backing a proposal to let eight visiting Tulane students apply in a special transfer applicant pool to become Harvard students before the spring semester. At Yale, the administration will require its 10 visiting Tulane students to return to New Orleans when the school reopens.

The students hoping to stay at Harvard seem to be an exception. This year 86 percent of Tulane students are returning for spring semester, only a slight decrease from the usual 90 percent, Tulane president Scott Cowen said in a statement on Tulane's website.

Rosa Mathai '08 said that she is looking forward to returning to Tulane and seeing her friends. "I guess it makes sense for freshmen [to want to stay], but I think any student who has been there, who already has friends there, will want to get back as soon as they can," she said.

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Though Mathai is excited about leaving for Tulane, she said she nevertheless enjoyed her semester at Princeton.

"When I first met them, some of the Princeton students gave me a disclaimer about how people generally think Ivy League students are arrogant and stuff, but I haven't found any of that here," Mathai said.

Galloway agreed that the environment was friendly.

"I really enjoyed Princeton," he said. "I could see how some students might hold a grudge against us for coming here without applying, but everyone has been friendly, and the administration has been welcoming."