T he University performed a great service when it allowed about 100 displaced Tulane University students to spend the semester at Penn. In the same spirit of supporting other academic institutions, Penn is doing the right thing by not allowing those students to remain at the University.
They will certainly return to a New Orleans that is much different than the one they left. However, even if some students want to remain, there are larger issues at work.
The displaced students knew when they came to Penn that they would only be staying for one semester.
If Tulane and other universities are to experience a full and unabated recovery, they are going to need all the students they can get. Not to mention that most displaced students are ready and eager to return to their former schools in time for Mardi Gras.
For displaced freshmen -- who have spent more time at other institutions than at the school they applied to attend -- it will undoubtedly be difficult to adjust to a new school for the second time in only six months. But it is necessary for the long-term health of the universities affected by Hurricane Katrina.
The schools need tuition dollars for rebuilding and a vibrant, full student body to attract new students.
And if the students have found their niche at Penn, the school should encourage them to apply for a transfer for the fall semester of 2006.
Penn has a commitment to the students it took in this semester, but it has a larger commitment to academia. The University made the right decision -- albeit a tough one.
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