Xavier and Tulane hit the Jackpot

Qatar Pledges $30.8-Million to Louisiana Universities Damaged by Hurricane Katrina
By PAULA WASLEY

The oil-rich emirate of Qatar announced on Tuesday the allocation of $60-million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. More than half of the money will go to three universities in Louisiana.

Xavier University of Louisiana, the country's only historically black Roman Catholic university, will receive $12.5-million to expand its College of Pharmacy in order to increase enrollment and to staff clinics in low-income neighborhoods of New Orleans. An additional $5-million will set up a Qatar Scholarship Fund, to provide full scholarships to Xavier students affected by the hurricane.

Tulane University was promised $10-million for scholarships for both new and returning students from Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi who were affected by Katrina. Qatar also pledged $3.3-million to Louisiana State University for a fund to provide help with tuition, room, and board for 1,249 students.

The announcement detailed the distribution of a portion of $100-million in hurricane-relief funds pledged in September by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the emir of Qatar. The embassy plans to allocate the remaining $40-million in pledged contributions in the next several weeks.

"This is an incredibly generous gift," said Scott S. Cowen, Tulane's president, in a written statement. "We are deeply grateful to Qatar and the emir for their friendship and support."

The beneficiaries were chosen by Qatar's ambassador to the United States, Nasser bin Hamad al-Khalifa, with assistance from an advisory committee consisting of James A. Baker III, the former secretary of state; Laura D'Andrea Tyson, dean of the business school at the University of California at Berkeley; John J. DeGioia, president of Georgetown University; and Lee R. Raymond, the recently retired chief executive of the Exxon Mobil Corporation.

"Hurricane Katrina was very devastating," said Ambassador Khalifa, "and the world is becoming a village. In today's world, we are one world. ... People wanted to help."

The three universities were chosen, he said, because they each had a large population of students coming from the areas most affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Qatar chose to donate money directly to the institutions rather than to intermediary organizations, such as the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund or the Red Cross, so as to ensure transparency and accountability, he said.