Universities in and around New Orleans have closed their campuses — most of them as of Saturday — and told students and staff members to evacuate the area before Hurricane Gustav makes landfall on Monday. Tulane University’s president, Scott S. Cowan, posted a message on the university’s Web site saying that he was leaving New Orleans on Sunday morning to join senior staff members in Nashville and that he would take part in a live online chat Sunday afternoon.

Delgado Community College has closed all of its campuses through at Tuesday.

Xavier University of Louisiana has closed its campus through at least until Thursday morning.

Loyola University New Orleans said that it would resume classes online Tuesday morning, and that, conditions permitting, it would resume on-campus classes Thursday.

The University of New Orleans is also closed until at least Thursday morning.

In Baton Rouge, La., Southern University encouraged students to leave and canceled Tuesday classes. The university said it expected to put up students from Southern University at New Orleans. Louisiana State University said that it would remain closed through Wednesday, but that its residence halls would remain open. The university also posted a call for volunteers to help care for evacuees brought to the campus.

Elsewhere in the state, the University of Louisiana System reported that McNeese State University had closed and told students to leave Lake Charles; that Nicholls State University had closed and would evacuate any remaining students to Louisiana Tech University; that Southeastern State University had closed its campus; and that the University of Louisiana at Lafayette had canceled classes but would keep its residence halls open.

Louisiana Tech University, Northwestern State University, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe were all preparing to offer emergency services to people from elsewhere in the state, the university system said. —Lawrence Biemiller