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As flood waters clear in New Orleans, uncertainty clouds the future of the city’s black colleges, as many of the institutions’ faculty and students have found new homes far away from Bourbon Street.

Though the city’s three black campuses – Xavier University of Louisiana, Dillard University and Southern University of New Orleans – have promised to repair and rebuild, questions linger as to their ability to woo back top faculty and students.

Black faculty are in high demand, as schools across the nation are looking to increase faculty diversity, likely making it more challenging for New Orleans universities to hold onto them.

And for many, this uncertainty spells sharp decline in the prestige of these institutions, which have for years incubated many of the black community’s top leaders.

Failure to bring back top faculty could lay a big blow to the black community in hurricane-affected areas.

“If they don’t return, it’ll be devastating,” said Darnell Hunt, director of the Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA.

“There’s a culture at these universities, a tradition in supporting and nurturing black students that’s been invaluable,” Hunt said. “It’ll definitely be a blow.”

The road to reconstruction won’t be an easy one.

Dillard’s endowment is less than $50 million, significantly smaller than the coffers of comparable institutions, which often range in the billions.

Some black leaders have called for increased financial support from alumni, federal and state government, and corporate donors to fill the gap.

“Clearly there are some immediate, incredible challenges, but going forward I’m sure something good will come out of it,” said Lezli Baskerville, president and CEO of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, an umbrella organization representing black and predominantly black colleges across the nation.

Though school insurance policies are expected to cover much of the tab, officials say donations are still needed to meet repair costs – expected to hit $1 billion – at the three schools.

Xavier, now closed indefinitely, sent more black students to medical school than any other institution, and Dillard has one of the most prestigious nursing programs in the nation.

“Contemporary leaders graduate from these schools,” Hunt said.

Some faculty and students who fled the disaster zone may feel uneasy returning to a city below sea level, where future hurricanes are likely to hit.

The need for diverse faculty at colleges around the nation could lure New Orleans professors elsewhere.

Hunt said the Bunche Center is in early negotiations with at least one professor from New Orleans, though he would not provide more detail.

UCLA has taken in 84 students from colleges affected by the hurricane, some of whom are considering staying in Westwood until they graduate.

“A lot of my friends, they’re either afraid of another hurricane hitting or they may feel that our school was unprepared,” said second-year pre-pharmacy student Annette Evans, who recently transferred from Xavier to UCLA.

“It’s too devastating having your stuff gone,” she added.

Evans said her college future – either in Westwood or New Orleans – is “up in the air.”

Though Evans expects many of her friends to remain at their new colleges, some black leaders have disagreed, saying the nurturing atmosphere and rich history at the region’s black colleges will keep students coming back.

“Students that were attending these institutions were there because they wanted to be. They could have been anywhere they wanted to be and they chose to be there,” Baskerville said. “The thing that drew them to these institutions will be there after Katrina.”