Evacuees housed in Minidome, Seymour

Approximately 680 persons displaced by Hurricane Katrina have been placed at Southern University’s F.G. Clark Activity Center and at least 200 students from Xavier University have been temporarily placed in Clifford T. Seymour Gym.
The Minidome is one of five East Baton Rouge Parish shelters supported by the American Red Cross.
“About two months ago the Red Cross contacted Southern and asked if we could use their facilities in the event that it became necessary,” said Laura Bielanowski, assistant shelter manager at the Minidome. “SU has just been phenomenal. They have provided us with office supplies, security and they have made donations.”
SU System Interim President and SUBR Chancellor Edward R. Jackson pledged the university would house the devastated individuals for as long it takes the government to find a permanent solution.
“We are going to go as long as we have to,” Jackson said. “Maybe as long as a month or longer. We have to allow the government to find alternative housing and get the resources in place to establish some opportunities.”
Jackson said state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, was kind enough to utilize buses from his Louisiana Leadership Institute to retrieve New Orleans area evacuees. Fields and other state officials, assisted by the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, found shelter for over 400 Xavier students on Grambling State University and Southern’s campuses.
“We have to ensure these people are housed and we have to do everything we can to make sure it runs smoothly,” Fields said.
Southern’s hospitality did not go unnoticed.
“These are courageous people,” said Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., founder of Rainbow PUSH Coalition. “They come together as family, they bond and this is an experience they will never forget. Southern is to be congratulated for their efforts.”
Johnny Anderson, chairman of the SU System Board of Supervisors, said Xavier President Norman Francis asked if Southern could house the students. Anderson said they readily accepted.
“We plan to feed them and do whatever is necessary for them as long as we have to,” Anderson said.
Most of Xavier’s students have reunited with their family members, but Chancellor Jackson said safety should not be an issue, despite number of evacuees in the Minidome.
“We will protect our students,” he said. “Thus far we’ve had no problems. We’d heard rumors about the shelter residents but we have not had any difficulty. We have put in place security just in case we need it and our chief is on top of the situation.”
SU Police Department Chief of Police Dale Flowers said students should not be alarmed by shelter residents.
“We don’t feel the students are in any danger,” Flowers said. “We’ll continue to do everything we can to keep students safe. We have the national guard, state investigators, local police, and our own officers.”
Flowers said each individual housed on campus will be required to wear wristbands and he is asking that students keep their identification cards visible.
“There will be a lot of cars on campus and we need to be able to identify the people that are up to no good,” Flowers said. “Those individuals will be challenged and we will run them off.”
Jackson said students should refrain from entering the area surrounding the Minidome area unless they are volunteering.
“Students should not be in the Minidome area unless they are a part of an organized group sponsored by the university,” he said.
He said the university would work through tribulations during these trying times.
“It’s a necessary thing that we do … Not an easy thing, but a necessary thing,” Jackson said. “We will get through this and we will be a much stronger institution because of it. The challenge of the shelter is a wonderful opportunity for Southern to do some good and help some people and we gladly accept it.”