As federal and state officials continued to recover bodies and clean up the wreckage from Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University and Loyola University New Orleans announced that they would close for the fall and reopen for the spring semester. Several other colleges on or near the Gulf Coast announced they would reopen within the week.
Scott S. Cowen, president of Tulane, said in a statement released on Saturday that the university had suffered water and roof damage, broken windows, and downed trees. He said the campus could be repaired in a matter of weeks, but that his decision to close the school for the semester was based on the crisis in New Orleans.