Several NCAA member institutions --- assisted by quick action from the Association to permit latitude in applying an assortment of bylaws -- struggled in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to salvage opportunities for student-athletes to compete this fall, while others opened the doors of campus athletics facilities to temporarily house evacuees from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast.

Two Division I institutions most directly impacted by wind damage and severe flooding in New Orleans -- Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, whose campuses were shut down indefinitely by the storm -- pledged to put teams back on fields and courts as soon as possible.

In fact, Tulane's women's soccer team --after relocating to Birmingham, Alabama -- played only five days after the hurricane passed just east of New Orleans August 29, and the university announced plans September 6 to enroll displaced student-athletes at five institutions in Texas and Louisiana.

However, UNO announced it was forced to cancel its women's volleyball season -- after a 4-0 start by that team -- and now is working to salvage its full men's and women's basketball schedules and spring sports competition. Tulane reported that its cross country teams will not run this fall.

Numerous other institutions in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama also were affected by the storm, and even in locales where the hurricane inflicted little or no damage, athletics programs in all three NCAA membership divisions acted to help student-athletes from storm-struck areas who were left stranded on campuses without resources and in many cases were cut off from families.

The enormity of the disaster -- and its unprecedented impact in intercollegiate athletics -- prompted the NCAA to develop guidelines designed to provide institutions and conferences with the flexibility they need to assist student-athletes and their families.

The guidelines addressed situations involving financial aid and extra benefits, recruiting and personnel, eligibility, and playing and practice seasons (see accompanying story).

"Our No. 1 priority is with the safety and well-being of student-athletes, their families and the entire Gulf Coast population," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "This unprecedented natural disaster is a reminder to us of what is really important. We need to keep things in perspective -- sport is a game and this is about life."

Institutions lend a hand

Even though thoughts turned quickly toward resuming competition, several NCAA member institutions coped first with repairing significant damage on campuses and restoring electrical service -- including the University of Southeastern Louisiana, which canceled a home football game against Jacksonville University, and the University of Southern Mississippi, which moved its football team to Memphis pending campus repairs. The Golden Eagles were scheduled to host Tulane September 3.

Others schools housed evacuees from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Louisiana State University became a primary base for relief efforts, as many evacuees from New Orleans temporarily took up residence in LSU's Pete Maravich Assembly Center and another campus shelter, and representatives of all 20 of the school's varsity athletics teams and the school's athletics staff pitched in as volunteers.

LSU canceled its football home opener against the University of North Texas due to the effort and, citing the inability of Baton Rouge to host a large crowd for its September 10 home game against Arizona State University, announced that game would be moved to Tempe, Arizona. Southern University, Baton Rouge, which also hosted relief efforts, canceled its opening football game at McNeese State University.

Nicholls State University canceled a football trip to Utah State University, and administrators there were unsure whether that team would be able to arrange travel to a game scheduled at Indiana University, Bloomington, September 10.

Other schools postponed competition out of concern for team members' and coaches' families, including Division III member Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Alabama, which rescheduled its football season opener against Millsaps College to October 1.

"There are still a lot of people that have not been able to make contact with family members and loved ones," Huntington Athletics Director Buzz Phillips said in a statement. "Power is still out in their home area. Flooding is still a concern. Football is a very small concern compared to that. It was an easy decision to reschedule under those conditions."

Most member institutions and conferences organized a variety of efforts to collect donations for hurricane victims or otherwise provided assistance -- ranging from the Southeastern Conference, which announced a $1 million donation for relief efforts, to Ohio State University, which is donating proceeds from sales of football programs at its first four home football games to the American Red Cross, to Louisiana College, where members of the women's tennis team collected teddy bears, coloring books and crayons to distribute September 3 to evacuees housed in central Louisiana.

Various other institutions opened athletics facilities to evacuees, including NCAA member institutions University of Louisiana, Monroe, at Fant-Ewing Coliseum, and Centenary College in Shreveport, at its Gold Dome arena and also its fitness center.

Tulane and UNO

Jackson State University, which lost electrical power during the storm, still managed to house about 400 Tulane students --including student-athletes -- in its T. B. Ellis Gym. From there, Tulane's football team relocated to Dallas, near Conference USA's headquarters in Irving and C-USA member Southern Methodist University, and the soccer team relocated to Birmingham, with assistance from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Tulane President Scott Cowen, in announcing September 2 that the university decided to cancel its fall semester, pledged the school's athletics teams would continue to compete.

"We want our athletes to carry the torch, face and name of Tulane University during this difficult time," he said, adding that student-athletes will be able along with other students to enroll in courses at other institutions pending their return to the Tulane campus.

"This is made possible...with assistance and generosity from colleges and universities --those in Conference USA and those outside of the conference -- that have generously offered to help keep our teams together by providing not only academic opportunities but also practice facilities, playing facilities and general support."

Eleven Tulane teams will enroll, practice and compete together while attending other institutions, under a plan announced by school administrators September 6. The Green Wave football team will enroll at Louisiana Tech University, while four teams -- men's basketball, women's swimming and diving, women's volleyball and the women's soccer team -- will attend Texas A&M University, College Station. Baseball and women's basketball student-athletes will be housed at Texas Tech University; men's and women's tennis at Rice University; and men's and women's golf at SMU.

"I have shared with our coaches that Tulane athletics has been given a role and a mission," Athletics Director Rick Dickson said in a statement. "That is 'Carry the Torch, Be the Face, Represent the Name, of Tulane University.' We have to carry the message, to Tulanians especially, but also to the whole country, that an institution as valuable as a 170-year-old university, and a culture as rich and vibrant as ours in New Orleans, will not and cannot be erased by this disaster."

University of New Orleans Athletics Director Jim Miller said in a statement that Privateer coaches began contacting student-athletes on their teams as soon as they were able to do so, and the school is working to determine how much of its fall sports season -- excluding volleyball -- can be salvaged.

The school's men's and women's basketball teams will be enrolled at the Unviersity of Texas at Tyler.

"We are optimistic that our campus infrastructure will be restored to the point where we will be able to launch the basketball season on time and have a full spring sports season," Miller said.

NCAA guidelines give flexibility to schools dealing with disaster

Due to the unprecedented circumstances in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the NCAA has developed guidelines that allow institutions and conferences needed flexibility to assist student-athletes and their families.

The guidelines address situations involving financial aid and extra benefits, recruiting and personnel, eligibility, and playing and practice seasons.

"The effects of this disaster are outside the scope of the intentions of NCAA bylaws," said Steve Mallonee, NCAA managing director of membership services. "The normal activities of athletics programs do not apply to those affected by the hurricane and, therefore, the normal application of NCAA rules doesn't work."

Mallonee added that institutions and conferences should have the latitude to make decisions that are in the best interests of student-athletes and their families.

The national office staff sought to identify the most immediate needs and questions that might be facing athletics personnel and student-athletes.

Staff also reminded institutions that all transfer rules remain applicable, including the requirement that an institution receive permission to contact a student-athlete from another institution, as well as the requirement that an institution must grant permission in order to use the one-time transfer exception, where applicable.

However, Mallonee noted it is impossible to predict all the issues that will arise as the hurricane recovery effort continues.

Thus far, the following broad guidelines have been developed:

Financial aid and extra benefits

• Affected institutions and conferences may provide necessary expenses and benefits to accommodate the immediate needs of student-athletes and their families. That includes, but is not limited to, providing clothing, housing, meals and medical assistance to student-athletes and their families.

• Student-athletes and their families affected by the disaster may accept financial assistance from outside sources for educational expenses or expenses related to the disaster. Sources of this assistance may include boosters and other academic institutions.

• Affected institutions and conferences may provide additional expenses and benefits related to practice and competition in any location. Examples of such assistance include, but are not limited to, room, board and travel expenses.

• Institutions may make financial arrangements to have student-athletes attend other institutions.

Recruiting and personnel

• Institutions whose physical campus is directly affected by the hurricane may provide official and unofficial visits to locations other than the main campuses. Examples of such locations include temporary campuses and playing and practice facilities.

• Institutions affected by the hurricane may use the "temporary replacement exception" at their discretion to meet the coaching needs of their institutional teams. The exception allows institutions to temporarily replace coaches due to extenuating circumstances.

• Any athletics department staff members may recruit off campus when coaches or traditional permissible recruiters are unavailable.

Eligibility

• Eligible student-athletes at affected institutions may represent their current institution in practice or competition activities without satisfying the minimum full-time enrollment requirements or while enrolled at another institution.

Playing and practice seasons

• Institutions forced to cease practice or competition activities due to the hurricane may resume such activities at a later date without that break counting as an official segment break.

Mallonee said the NCAA recognizes that these guidelines only address some of the more immediate needs and concerns.

Additional issues will surely arise involving division membership requirements, initial-eligibility requirements, seasons of competition, length of playing seasons and championships participation. The national office staff is assisting institutions and student-athletes in working through those issues.

Likewise, the NCAA is examining issues related to transfer situations involving student-athletes who are natives of the affected areas or are enrolled at campuses there.

"We recognize the unique challenges this disaster poses to student-athletes," NCAA President Myles Brand said. "We believe that by giving increased flexibility to conferences and schools, they can best assess the particular needs of the student-athletes within their campus communities."