Days after Hurricane Ike ravaged the Texas coast, many area residents are still without food, water and electricity. Gasoline is hard to come by and Houston Mayor Bill White is urging people to stay home unless absolutely necessary. And days after Ike engulfed parts of Galveston Island and demolished inland towns, causing billions of dollars in damage, UH President Renu Khator made the decision to open the University on Tuesday.
Across the city, buildings are damaged, lights are out and lines snake from gas stations as people wait to fill up – people who may still need to find food, water or a hospital. In the Third Ward, traffic lights are broken or out of service, tree limbs block the streets and major roads provide access for relief vehicles. At UH, the campus is littered with downed tree limbs and uprooted trees, and some buildings lack electricity. If there’s a good reason people are being asked to come here, we haven’t found it.
Khator has insisted classes are optional and has said faculty, staff and students should use their discretion and stay home if leaving compromises their safety. However, even if someone can safely drive to campus, his or her doing so may put the surrounding community at risk. The Houston Chronicle reported that relief workers heading to Galveston are being delayed by traffic on Interstate 45 – the route many people take to get to the University.
Khator said her decision to open the campus was made, in part, so that UH can fulfill its "educational mission." With the majority of professors canceling classes and most students following the mayor’s instructions and staying home, it seems unlikely that mission can be successfully accomplished. To hold optional classes is a waste of time and resources, as faculty members will have to re-teach absent students at a later date or students will end up wasting gas by driving to campus only to find empty classrooms.
Khator said the University must show leadership. We believe by opening Tuesday UH instead showed a disregard for students, faculty and staff. Asking them to return at this time is irresponsible, unnecessary and potentially dangerous. It not only shows bad judgment, but indicates that UH is more concerned with its image than with the well-being of the University community.
