More than 1,000 students at Texas A&M University at Galveston, along with faculty and staff members, will be relocated next week to the university system’s main campus, in College Station, because of extensive damage to Galveston Island, university officials announced today.

The Galveston campus, which was pummeled by Hurricane Ike on Saturday, will not reopen for the foreseeable future. Damage to campus buildings was described as minor, but there is no place for students or employees to live on the island, which remains under mandatory evacuation.

“There simply are too many unknowns at this time as to when basic services and infrastructure will be available on Galveston Island,” said R. Bowen Loftin, chief executive officer of the Galveston campus. “We have planned for a situation such as this happening, and we are appreciative of the College Station campus opening its doors for fellow Aggies. It is great to see the Aggie Spirit is alive and well.”

Up to 1,200 students are expected to accept an offer to attend specially arranged classes in College Station beginning next Wednesday. Galveston professors will teach some of the classes in the evenings and on weekends. Texas A&M officials have sent out an appeal to College Station students, alumni, and members of the faculty and staff, asking them if they would be willing to share a room, open a spare bedroom, or offer a rent-free apartment to an evacuee.

The main campus is already bursting at the seams, with a record enrollment of 48,126 filling all of its dormitories. —Katherine Mangan