Creating the ACORN Housing/University Partnership
 

In November of 2005, New Orleans and Louisiana ACORN leaders, in cooperation with representatives of the New Orleans City Council, Louisiana State Legislature, and several major universities, including LSU, Pratt Institute, and Cornell University, organized the Rebuilding New Orleans Conference at the Alumni Center of LSU. This event brought together more than 150 local activists, area policy-makers, and university scholars to discuss the critical steps needed to advance the recovery process. The major outcome of this conference was the identification of the "right to return" as the primary policy objective to be achieved and several dozen immediate planning studies and reports needed to guide local recovery efforts.

At the end of the conference, representatives of 17 colleges and universities agreed to work with local leaders in carrying out specific planning, design, and development research projects during 2006 to support the recovery efforts of local residents and elected officials. Following this meeting, Cornell University, Columbia University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign agreed to form a community/university partnership to focus on the specific research, planning, and design needs of the City of New Orleans' 9th Ward. During the spring semester of 2006, these universities came together with representatives of ACORN and ACORN Housing to form the ACORN Housing/University Partnerships (AHUP). From January to May of 2006, AHUP members worked together to complete an impressive list of cleanup and research projects.

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