In response to the concerns about retention rate, I find it laughable that the adminstration even dares to comment. Publically, the university voices its concerns over dropping retention rate, but in essence is driving its own students away. The administration has not made it possible for some students to return at all.

My family, like most, fled from Katrina and was safe from much of the death and destruction. My dad is employed by the government at NSF in Michoux as an accountant; the government relocated his section to Texas. Once January rolled around, the scheduled date for him to return was in March. Loyola refused to allow me to continue the spring semester here in Dallas. I was given two options: if I stayed here, my credits from the Spring would not transfer. In short, my parents would be wasting approximately the same tuition as Loyola. The alternative was that, for the credits to count, I had to reapply as a transfer student. With Loyola already in serious finanical constraints, I’m willing to wager I could kiss my scholarship goodbye.

With so much anxiety and debate, and open hostility from those seeking to further their own political agendas, New Orleans’s easygoing climate is destroyed. With much of its population scattered, it is a mere shadow of its former self. Starting school three weeks behind (particularly with physics, math and organic) was not pleasant. But like so many, I surivived. I was looking forward to returning to my home for spring semester two.

I understand the concern that some might settled in, get too comfortable, and not return. I see that the thought behind this policy had some merit. In some sense it was meant to help the retention rate. However, given some students’ circumstances, the shortage on housing, and the fact that some cannot afford to live on campus to begin with, it is having a contrary effect. Loyola’s administration is driving away students who would gladly love to return. This policy only increases the confusion and hurt already felt by so many.

Perhaps before anyone considers the increase in transcript requests and the statistics, they should consider the students’ situations and ultimate welfare. Perhaps these requests were from students like myself who were prevented from returning due to bureaucratic nonsense and an unflexible administration. Essentially, losing a scholarship or paying for classes that would not count is the administrations’ way of forcing a decision.

I am asking the administration, is one semester of tuition worth the three or so more years I would be enrolled here–that’s three more years of tution–worth it? I find it disheartening that a University five hundred miles away has been more accommodating than Loyola.

Samantha Behrent