Campus Alert Archive
XULA

Nation's Only Catholic HBCU Shifts to Remote Ops at 5 PM Tuesday as Francine Strengthens to Cat-2 Hurricane

LAotheremergency notificationmedium confidence

On September 10, 2024, Xavier University of Louisiana announced the campus would shift to remote operations starting at 5:00 PM CDT, with the campus physically closed except for essential personnel through Thursday, September 12. The decision came as Tropical Storm Francine strengthened and was forecast to make landfall in Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane on September 11. Students living on campus were instructed to shelter in place, and shuttle services were suspended.

Alerts
3
Response
—
Killed
0
Injured
0
Institution
Xavier University of Louisiana
Hbcu · LA
~3,300 studentsXULA Emergency Alert System
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 ALERTEmail
Approximate reconstruction532 chars
XULA Emergency Alert: Due to Tropical Storm Francine's forecast strengthening and projected landfall in Louisiana, Xavier University of Louisiana will shift to remote operations starting at 5:00 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 10. The campus will be physically closed except for essential personnel through Thursday, September 12, 2024. Classes beginning at 5:00 PM Tuesday will be held remotely. Wednesday classes are canceled. Thursday classes will be remote. We anticipate returning to in-person instruction on Friday, September 13.

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

Francine had just strengthened from a tropical depression to a tropical storm; the National Hurricane Center forecast hurricane strength at landfall
Xavier University of Louisiana is located in New Orleans's Gert Town neighborhood, about 5 miles inland from the Mississippi River — well within Francine's projected wind impact zone
The 5:00 PM start time gave commuter students roughly 8 hours of advance notice; this is unusually generous for Gulf Coast HBCUs facing rapidly intensifying storms
UPDATEEmail
Approximate reconstructionReconstructed from XULA Weather Preparedness Guide and university communications paraphrased by news outlets489 chars
XULA Update: All essential personnel are required to report as normal. Non-essential staff are expected to work remotely on Wednesday, September 11 and Thursday, September 12. University Dining will operate on a weekend schedule beginning Wednesday and resume normal operations on Friday, September 13. Shuttle services are suspended Wednesday and will operate on a weekend schedule on Thursday. On-campus residential students should prepare to shelter in place with a disaster supply kit.

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

XULA's residential students received specific shelter-in-place guidance with a disaster supply kit requirement
Shuttle suspension was significant: XULA shuttles serve students commuting from off-campus housing across New Orleans
Dining shift to 'weekend schedule' rather than full closure reflects the residential population's continued need for meals during shelter-in-place
ALL CLEAREmail
Approximate reconstruction354 chars
XULA Update: Hurricane Francine has passed Louisiana and the immediate threat to the New Orleans area has subsided. The campus will resume in-person instruction on Friday, September 13. Essential personnel should continue their assigned schedules. Students are encouraged to monitor university communications for any updates. Thank you for your patience.

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

Francine made landfall in coastal Louisiana on September 11 as a Category 2 hurricane and weakened to a tropical storm as it crossed the state
XULA's New Orleans campus experienced power outages and heavy rainfall but no significant flooding, allowing the planned Friday reopening
The full closure window of approximately 64 hours (5 PM Tuesday to early Friday) reflected the storm's rapid passage rather than extended damage assessment
Context

Background

Xavier University of Louisiana — the only Catholic HBCU in the United States and the nation's leading producer of Black medical school applicants — sits in New Orleans's Gert Town neighborhood, about 5 miles inland from the Mississippi River. On September 10, 2024, with Tropical Storm Francine forecast to strengthen into a hurricane and make landfall in Louisiana, XULA announced that the campus would shift to remote operations starting at 5:00 PM CDT with the campus physically closed through Thursday, September 12. Francine made landfall on September 11 as a Category 2 hurricane near Morgan City, then weakened as it crossed the state. XULA was one of multiple Louisiana campuses that closed in advance of the storm, alongside Tulane, Loyola, Southern University, and Dillard. XULA's response was notable for its detailed staff/student differentiation: essential personnel reported normally, non-essential staff worked remotely, dining shifted to weekend schedule, and shuttles operated on a modified schedule. The university employs an enterprise emergency alert system capable of personalized voice messages, text messages, email, and TTY/TDD receiving devices. Residence halls remained open and residential students were instructed to shelter in place with a disaster supply kit. In-person instruction resumed on Friday, September 13. Francine's relatively gentle passage allowed for a faster recovery than the 2005 Hurricane Katrina experience, which had closed the XULA campus for an entire semester.
Analysis

Key Findings

XULA's hurricane response demonstrated the value of pre-storm staged closures, with 8 hours' advance notice and a clearly differentiated remote-operations model
Xavier is the nation's only Catholic HBCU and the leading producer of Black medical school applicants — its hurricane resilience is institutionally significant
The closure window of approximately 64 hours was a fraction of the multi-month closure that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, reflecting both Francine's lighter impact and XULA's matured emergency operations
XULA's emergency alert system supports voice, SMS, email, and TTY/TDD — a comprehensive accessibility profile relevant to its sizable healthcare-track student population
Outcome
Francine made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on September 11. The XULA campus experienced power disruption and rain damage but no injuries were reported. In-person instruction resumed Friday, September 13. The remote-operations protocol was widely cited as well-executed.
Provenance

Sources

  1. national media
    Anticipating hurricane, Louisiana campuses close (Inside Higher Ed)
    insidehighered.com
  2. News
    Tropical Storm Francine: Louisiana college and university closures (Louisiana Illuminator)
    lailluminator.com
  3. national media
    Tropical Storm Francine heads for Louisiana (Yale Climate Connections)
    yaleclimateconnections.org
  4. Official
    Weather Preparedness Guide (Xavier University of Louisiana)
    xula.edu
  5. Official
    Emergency Alert System (Xavier University of Louisiana)
    xula.edu
  6. official
    Hurricane Francine 2024 (National Weather Service Lake Charles)
    weather.gov
  7. reference
    Xavier University of Louisiana (Wikipedia)
    en.wikipedia.org
Tags
natural-disasterhurricanehbculouisiananew-orleansremote-operationshurricane-francinecatholic-hbcushelter-in-place
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion