Update: The University cancelled class for Wednesday, Aug. 30, as Tropical Storm Harvey moved toward Louisiana. The original column was published Sunday, Aug. 27.

In 2005, my family and I moved nearly 400 miles away from New Orleans to a suburb directly outside of Houston. We moved one week before Hurricane Katrina hit the city.
As I am here at the University, my house in Texas is about to flood because of Tropical Storm Harvey. Suddenly, the storms we moved to escape from are now affecting us somewhere else.  
Earlier today, LSU President F. King Alexander emailed the “Texas Tigers,” offering us support and giving us options for counseling, federal assistance and other accommodations like access to food through the University’s food pantry. Though he said we could talk to our professors if we need to miss class, he has so-far failed to cancel class across the board for all students.
“Texas has been both a good neighbor and friend to Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, as well as subsequent events,” Alexander said in his email. “Now, it is time for us to return the favor. Tigers, please know that the entire LSU family stands behind you during this natural disaster.”
According to The Advocate, the Baton Rouge area is forecast to see 4 to 6 inches of rain. We may need to cancel class anyway, so it is unnecessary to prolong such events, especially when so many students have already been affected by the storm.
I was not the only Louisiana native to move to Texas because of Hurricane Katrina or other storms. Alexander is right; many Houston-area schools and programs took Louisiana residents in during the storms, and it is up to him to allow all students the time to reconcile now. I do not know many people from Louisiana who don’t have any ties to Texas, so the storm affects more than just those in Texas.
Some students may want days off just because they don’t want to attend class, and though this is true for some, it doesn’t change what is happening to many of us. Even if just Texas Tigers were allowed to miss class, we would still be getting behind in our work. If class is cancelled altogether, then there wouldn’t be any worry about whether or not we were missing out on learning opportunities.
We saw similar actions from the University when Baton Rouge flooded last year. We started class on time despite the flooding of many locals’ homes, and many students struggled to attend class with everyone else. I am not saying we should have an extensive amount of time off for all students because of the Texas flooding, but a day or two is the least the University could do.
The University should not relive past mistakes by failing to give students some time off for the flooding. It is not only a safety precaution for the Baton Rouge residents, but also a thank you to the many students who left their Louisiana homes to move to Texas, only to eventually come back to attend school at the University.
Lynne Bunch is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Terrytown, Louisiana.