In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, which left thousands displaced from their homes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Northeastern will open its doors to aid students who no longer have a university to attend.

“We’re going to assess the needs and then see how we can assist them in any way possible,” said Ed Klotzbier, vice president of student affairs.

In the days following the hurricane, Northeastern received calls and e-mails from over 100 displaced students interested in attending Northeastern for the fall, said Laura Shea, assistant director of communications. Starting this week, about a dozen students from southern universities will begin attending classes at Northeastern.

Shea said the university has set tomorrow as the deadline to figure out exactly how many students Northeastern can temporarily support. Klotzbier said residential life is continually checking to see if there are any open beds after last weekend’s move-in.

“We’re counting beds every day to see what we have available,” Klotzbier said.

Some students will be residing on campus as space allows, and the university will help others find off-campus homes, Shea said. She said each student is being considered on a case-by-case basis.

“The decisions are being made very much on an individual basis,” she said. “We’ll continue to work with all the applicants as they are calling.”

In a statement to the community, President Richard Freeland advised displaced students not to transfer schools hastily because their universities have canceled classes.

In the meantime, the Office of Student Affairs has been working to contact the approximately two dozen students enrolled in Northeastern who are from the areas hit hardest by Katrina. While the university has had success contacting several students, many in Louisiana have not yet been contacted because phone service is unavailable in the aftermath of the storm, Klotzbier said.

“We’re just working as hard as we can to see how we can assist them in any way possible,” he said.

Zack Jacobson, a sophomore business major who has lived in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans, his entire life, said the university should do all it can to help those affected by the storm.

“Everyone’s just looking for a place where they’re welcome and there are people that are going to help them,” Jacobson said.

Jacobson, who was home for the summer, got out of New Orleans a day before the hurricane hit. Even though he is in Boston, he can only dial out on his cell phone because cell phone towers are down everywhere in New Orleans. Of all his friends from home, he has only been able to get in touch with four.

But Jacobson considers himself lucky – his home escaped much of the damage and his parents are safe in Orlando, Fla.

“To have gotten out and to have escaped so much damage … I feel guilty for so many others,” he said.

He said as much money as possible should be raised to help the families and friends he left behind in New Orleans.

“A lot of people don’t have any income coming in, now they have to go out and get jobs [elsewhere],” he said.

At Northeastern, student groups are holding fundraisers for Katrina relief. Kappa Sigma and Delta Zeta teamed up selling lemonade in the Krentzman Quad during move-in Saturday, raising over $500 for the American Red Cross. A dunk tank event in Krentzman Quad Monday raised $145. Kappa Sigma added another $150 toward the victims of Katrina.

Even with all the money, Jacobson said there will be parts of New Orleans that will never fully recover.

“The French Quarter is not going to be the same,” he said. “The allure isn’t there … even if they rebuild it, it’s not doing the job.”