Katrina evacuee graduates with honors from ETBU

MARSHALL—Despite the loss of her home in New Orleans to Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Lynn Wartberg refused to allow a hurricane to stop her from achieving a life-long goal—earning a college degree.

Wartberg received her undergraduate degree in history at East Texas Baptist University's spring commencement . She graduated with distinction in history by writing an honors project paper titled “Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant: International, Social, and Environment Perspectives in East Texas.” The paper won a national award from the Alpha Chi National College Honor Society.

East Texas Baptist University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Sorrels with help from Jerry Summers, dean of the School of Humanities, adjust the honors hood on graduate Lynn Wartberg. Wartberg, a Hurricane Katrina evacuee from New Orleans, received her undergraduate degree in history during spring commencement. (PHOTO/ETBU/Jason John Cowart)

Wartberg enrolled in Tarleton State University after she graduated from Stephenville High School in 1982, but she dropped out her first semester to help take care of her mother who had a chronic disease. 

“I spent the next 20 years helping care for my mother who passed away six years ago,” said Wartberg. “I was preparing to enter the University of New Orleans the spring semester after Katrina hit.”

When the London Avenue Canal levee brook, it sent five feet of water into her home a mile away, even though it was built four feet off the ground.

“Seven weeks after the hurricane, we were allowed to go back and check on our homes,” said Wartberg. “The hardwood floors looked like every other plank had been kicked out from below the house. The mold was growing up the walls, and the kitchen cabinets had fallen off the walls.”

When she and her family fled New Orleans, they first they took refuge in Jackson, Miss., eventually settled in Marshall. Wartberg made her way to ETBU at a friend’s suggestion.

“I became friends of Kristi Hook through our children. Her son was a friend of my daughter, Taylor.” said Wartberg, a member of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Marshall “Kristi was a junior education major at ETBU, and I told her that I was planning to go back to college but was unable to because of the storm. She encouraged me to look into attending ETBU and even brought me to the campus for a personal tour.

“I will always be grateful for the blessings brought into our lives here, and there is no doubt that I have found a second home, at least in my heart.”

Looking back at her family’s experiences since Katrina hit, she said, “I am not sure that my daughter and I would have done as well had we ended up anywhere else. There is no doubt in my mind that God had a purpose in sending us to Marshall and ETBU. He knew exactly where we needed to be.” 

Several professors at ETBU described Wartberg as an engaged student with a deep passion to learn. She is a student who will read beyond the assigned reading topic just out of curiosity, they noted.

“She has thrived in an academic environment,” said Jeanna White, who had Wartberg as a student in three English classes. “If Lynn is anything, she’s resilient. Losing her home in Hurricane Katrina became a catalyst for her to change her life and to pursue her dream to become a college history professor.”

Wartberg and her daughter will leave Marshall in August.

“Taylor and I are returning home to New Orleans,” she said. “I am going to the University of New Orleans for my master’s degree in history, and will continue on for my PhD.” 

Her daughter hopes to return to Marshall after high school to attend ETBU.

“Thanks to everyone for taking my daughter and me in and making us a part of the family here at ETBU.” said Wartberg. “It has been an amazing time in our lives, and this community has impacted us in ways you cannot imagine.”