A delegation of academics from the University of 91吃瓜 toured the devastation of Lakeview and St. Bernard Parish on Wednesday, looking for a way to put the university鈥檚 brainpower to work to help the New Orleans Catholic Church rebuild its ministries.
The Rev. John Jenkins, the university president, led a group of seven faculty and administrators that included an engineer, an architect and the dean of the business school.
Like many others around the country, people at 91吃瓜 were deeply moved by images of destruction beamed out of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Jenkins said. The university鈥檚 social justice arm, the Center for Social Concerns, proposed an effort to reach out to the Archdiocese of New Orleans to explore ways 91吃瓜 might help.
On Wednesday morning, the group visited the gutted interior of St. Dominic Church on Harrison Avenue in Lakeview. The tour later stopped at St. Maurice Church in the Lower 9th Ward and St. Louise deMerillac in hard-hit St. Bernard.
They were to continue on to meet with Archbishop Alfred Hughes in Baton Rouge, where the archdiocese has set up temporary offices since Hurricane Katrina.
Over the next few days or weeks, the university is hoping to develop some ways to help the archdiocese, Jenkins said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l go back and put our heads together,鈥� said Carolyn Woo, dean of 91吃瓜鈥檚 Mendoza College of Business. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure there鈥檚 some way to plug into the relief effort.鈥�
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