Hurricane Katrina Relief: Hands Across The Water

Four Israeli Universities are welcoming students from New Orleans' Tulane University:

Bar-Ilan University, Hebrew University, and the University of Haifa have joined Tel Aviv University in offering students from Tulane University in New Orleans a chance to study here.

The Israeli schools are offering academic scholarships, housing and expedited admissions processes for students interested in spending a semester or longer here after Tulane had to shut its doors for the time being due to damage from Hurricane Katrina.

The Jewish Agency has also encouraged students from the areas devastated by the hurricane to study in Israel, with funds provided by Hillel and the United Jewish Communities.

One of Hillel s initiatives at Tulane was the Tulane-Israel Public Affairs Committee (TIPAC), a student group that promote a strong Israel-US relationship.

The University of Haifa has invited Tulane students to join Haifa's highly reputed overseas students program, in which classes are held in English. The university will offer financial aid for any tuition fees not covered by the Jewish Agency and other institutions.

The university's gates will be open to any of these students who wants to study in Haifa, said Prof. Hanan Alexander, director of the program, after receiving the enthusiastic go-ahead from university president Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze'ev.

Board of Governors deputy chairman Leon Charney has donated $50,000 to cover some of the costs. The program's Web site (http://overseas.haifa.ac.il/ ) has already announced the invitation.

Students will join a Hebrew-language ulpan and can also take courses in other parts of the university as well.

What a wonderful thing that it is now that schools overseas are now doing what they can to help students from stricken New Orleans. The Israelis have set the world an example. I hope that other schools in the international community will follow suit.

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