Twelve freshmen who matriculated at Duke after being displaced by Hurricane Katrina cannot apply to transfer to the University next semester, members of the administration confirmed Thursday.
Although officials released the decision in October, the situation was re-evaluated in response to issues raised by Duke Student Government, East Campus Council and other organizations in recent weeks. "We understand the concerns that led to the appeal of the announced policy, but we are reaffirming our earlier announced decision," Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College of Arts and Sciences and vice provost for undergraduate education, wrote in an e-mail to the visiting students. "I hope that your semester at Duke was a good experience for you and wish you well as you open this next chapter in your life."
DSG passed a proposal to change the current transfer admissions policy for the displaced students Nov. 9. The policy states that students must take two semesters of transferable credit before they are able to matriculate at the University-an impossible requirement for the Katrina freshmen.
"The decision is indeed final," Provost Peter Lange said. "We took their issues very seriously and... we looked very thoroughly at our decision again."
Administrators said a revised policy would raise certain institutional concerns and would be unfair to other transfer students, among other complications and difficulties.
"We do feel for the displaced students, but to keep them beyond the initial terms of their visit raises non-trivial questions," President Richard Brodhead said.
DSG leaders said they understood the difficulty faced by administrators.
"Though we are not happy with the outcome, we respect the administration and the decisions," said DSG Executive Vice President Brandon Goodwin, a senior.
Some student leaders said administrators have shown an unwillingness to listen to student concerns.
Freshman Jordan Giordano and junior Ryan Strasser said they were not able to sit down and discuss the proposal with administrators before the final decision was made.
"I was very disappointed," Strasser said. "While ultimately the change may never have been implemented, it should have been a students-to-administration issue."
Administrators said they tried to meet with student leaders but decided it was important to release the decision sooner rather than later.
"At some point there was a tension between the timing of the meeting and getting the information out," Lange said.
The University's confirmation was released on the same day that Tulane University announced that it will lay off 230 faculty members. Many of of the displaced freshmen-some of whom are from Tulane-said their home colleges will probably look very different than the schools to which they applied last fall.
Undergraduate student governments at Harvard University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Virginia have also called for more lenient admissions policy in response to the extenuating circumstances posed by Katrina.
Although it usually does not accept freshmen transfer applications, Giordano said New York University will make an exception and take applications from its visiting freshmen this year.
"This is an unprecedented situation, and I think it's unfair to force us to go back again," said freshman Nichole Kanopoulos, one of the displaced students. "I think the issue is not looking for a big door into Duke but looking for an opportunity to be judged by the same criteria as any Duke student."
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