When Universities Are Destroyed

How Tulane University and the University of Alabama Rebuilt After Disaster

By the time the floodwaters receded in early September of 2005 after the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina, Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, had suffered losses of $650 million. School administrators were faced with the daunting task of rebuilding. Seeking direction, the staff looked to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and its renewal efforts after it was destroyed by fire by Union forces during the Civil War in 1865.

In When Universities are Destroyed, author Jack Kushner describes the destruction of each university and compares each institutions efforts to overcome adversity, rebuild, and once again provide education to its students. Kushner details how Tulane University cleaned up from the hurricane, and with the adroit leadership of President Scott Cowen, reopened six months later. This history book also shows how the reconstruction period in the South delayed the rebuilding of the University of Alabama.

Examining both the similarities and differences between the two universities, When Universities are Destroyed provides a vivid picture of how Tulane University and the University of Alabama faced the destruction of their campus and found the fortitude to move forward.