Campus Alert Archive
Dillard

Ten Feet of Water at the Heart of Black New Orleans: An HBCU Evacuates to Shreveport, Then Holds Class in Hilton Guest Rooms

LAhurricaneadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

On August 27, 2005, two days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana, Dillard University President Marvalene Hughes ordered a mandatory evacuation of the historically Black New Orleans campus and arranged emergency transportation to Shreveport. Hours later, the breach of the London Avenue Canal levee put Dillard's Gentilly campus under more than 10 feet of water; a fire destroyed three residence halls; total damages exceeded $400 million. The university held no formal classes for the entire fall 2005 semester. When it reopened in January 2006, the 1,100 returning students lived and learned out of the New Orleans Hilton Riverside, with hotel meeting rooms serving as classrooms.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Dillard University
Hbcu · LA
~2,200 studentsDillard Emergency Alert (Omnilert/E2 Campus)
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

3 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPhone
Approximate reconstruction550 chars
[President Marvalene Hughes orders mandatory evacuation of Dillard University. All students must depart the Gentilly campus today; emergency transportation to Shreveport, Louisiana is being arranged for students who cannot evacuate independently. Students with off-campus housing should evacuate with family or friends out of the New Orleans area. Take important documents, identification, and at least one week's worth of personal effects. Updates will be communicated through the Office of the President and through resident-assistant phone trees.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Dillard had no formal mass-notification system in 2005; communication relied on RA phone trees, the campus operator, and on-campus PA announcements
President Hughes's pre-landfall order pre-dated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory evacuation by approximately 24 hours
Shreveport became Dillard's emergency relocation point because it was outside the predicted impact corridor and had Black-college mutual-aid relationships through the United Negro College Fund
UPDATEWebsite
Approximate reconstruction503 chars
[Dillard University's Gentilly campus has sustained catastrophic flood damage from the breach of the London Avenue Canal levee. A fire of undetermined origin has destroyed three residence halls. The campus is uninhabitable and inaccessible. The fall 2005 semester is canceled. Students should consult the Dillard website and the Department of Education's HBCU disaster response page for transfer-credit and aid options. The university is committed to reopening; details will follow as conditions allow.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Floodwaters at Dillard reached more than 10 feet, the result of the London Avenue Canal breach approximately one mile from campus
Three residence halls were destroyed in a separate fire whose cause was never definitively established; the fire occurred while the campus was inaccessible
Dillard was the only HBCU in New Orleans to lose three residence halls in addition to flooding; total damage estimates ranged from $400 million to over $500 million
FOLLOW-UPEmail
Approximate reconstruction571 chars
[Dillard University reopens for the spring 2006 semester at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside and the adjacent World Trade Center on Monday, January 9, 2006. Hotel meeting rooms have been converted to classrooms; faculty offices have been relocated; students will live in standard guest rooms during the semester. Approximately 1,100 students have confirmed return for spring; the Office of the Registrar has worked with peer institutions on transfer-credit reciprocity for fall coursework completed elsewhere. The Gentilly campus remains under environmental remediation.]

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Dillard relocated an entire semester's operations to the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and the adjacent World Trade Center building — an arrangement essentially unprecedented in modern US higher education
Spring 2006 enrollment was approximately 1,084 students; about 784 lived at the Hilton in roughly 500 double-occupancy rooms reserved for the university
Classes began Monday, January 9, 2006, in converted hotel meeting rooms and World Trade Center offices; students returned to the Gentilly campus in September 2006
Context

Background

Dillard University is one of the country's oldest historically Black universities, founded in 1869 as the merger of two Reconstruction-era institutions. In August 2005 the campus sat in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans, less than a mile from the London Avenue Canal, one of the levee systems whose failure during Hurricane Katrina would inundate northeastern New Orleans. President Marvalene Hughes, who had taken office only weeks earlier, ordered a mandatory evacuation on Saturday, August 27, 2005 — pre-dating Mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory-evacuation order by roughly 24 hours — and arranged emergency transportation to Shreveport for students without independent transit. When Katrina made landfall on August 29 and the London Avenue Canal levee failed, more than 10 feet of water swept Dillard's campus; a separate fire of undetermined origin destroyed three residence halls while the campus was inaccessible. The damages exceeded $400 million, and Dillard was forced to cancel the entire fall 2005 semester. In January 2006 the university reopened in an arrangement unprecedented in modern US higher education: the New Orleans Hilton Riverside on the Mississippi River became Dillard's temporary campus, with hotel meeting rooms converted to classrooms and student housing in standard guest rooms. About 1,100 of the pre-Katrina 2,000+ students returned. The Dillard case is significant for the archive because it predates the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act's emergency-notification mandates, demonstrates how an HBCU with limited mass-alert infrastructure executed a successful pre-landfall evacuation through phone trees and personal communication, and shows the longest sustained off-site academic operation in modern US higher-education history. Hughes was widely credited with saving the institution.
Analysis

Key Findings

President Marvalene Hughes's August 27, 2005 mandatory evacuation order pre-dated New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin's mandatory order by approximately 24 hours and saved Dillard from any deaths on campus
Dillard had no formal mass-notification system in 2005; the successful evacuation relied on RA phone trees, on-campus PA, and personal communication
Floodwaters reached more than 10 feet on the Gentilly campus; a separate fire destroyed three residence halls during the period the campus was inaccessible
The fall 2005 semester was canceled; spring 2006 classes began Monday, January 9, 2006 at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside and the adjacent World Trade Center building, an arrangement essentially unprecedented in modern US higher education
Approximately 1,084 of 2,000+ pre-Katrina students returned for spring 2006 (about 784 lived at the Hilton); students returned to the Gentilly campus in September 2006 — a recovery rate widely considered remarkable given the scale of campus damage
Outcome
All Dillard students evacuated successfully ahead of landfall on August 29, 2005. Campus inundated by 10+ feet of floodwater and a separate fire destroyed three dormitories. Estimated $400 million in damage. The fall 2005 semester was canceled; spring 2006 classes began Monday, January 9, 2006 at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside and the adjacent World Trade Center building. Approximately 1,084 of the pre-Katrina 2,000+ enrollment returned for spring 2006, with about 784 living at the Hilton. Students returned to the Gentilly campus in September 2006. President Marvalene Hughes was later credited with saving the institution.
Provenance

Sources

  1. Source
    Dillard University - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  2. News
    Marvalene Hughes, Dillard University president who revived the school after Katrina, dies at 88 - NOLA.com
    nola.com
  3. Report
    Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Universities - AAUP Report
    aaup.org
  4. Source
    Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans - Wikipedia
    en.wikipedia.org
  5. News
    New Orleans Universities Open After Hurricane Katrina - PBS NewsHour
    pbs.org
  6. Report
    Institutions Affected by Katrina: 'The Louisiana Story' - AACRAO
    aacrao.org
  7. Official
    Hurricane Season Preparedness - Dillard University Emergency Preparedness
    dillard.edu
Tags
hurricanekatrinahbculouisianaevacuationfloodingfirehistoricalpre-modern-alertingsemester-canceledhotel-classroommarvalene-hughesgentilly
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion