TULANE TALK

January 10, 2014

Good Morning:

To me the new year has always been about new opportunities. That’s why I was pleased to receive an invitation to join other university presidents at a White House summit next week. The purpose of the summit is to discuss how to get more low-income students enrolled in college and ensure that they succeed once they get there.

I will share Tulane’s efforts in this area, which include establishing the first Posse Foundation chapter in New Orleans. Through this chapter, Posse recruits talented public high school students from New Orleans and Los Angeles and prepares them to attend Tulane in multicultural teams known as posses. The first Posse class graduated from Tulane last year. One star among the class was Chris Hanuscin, who earned a degree in cell and molecular biology, a spot on the Green Wave football team and entrance to medical school at the University of Southern California. I will also share information on our efforts to enroll graduates of KIPP, a national network of free, open enrollment college preparatory public schools.

Then I will introduce a new partnership we formed last month with the Urban League of Greater New Orleans and College Track, a national nonprofit that empowers students from underserved communities to attain their dream of a college degree. We will work with these newest partners to enroll more underserved students at Tulane and help them to succeed in college and in life. We are also continuing our efforts to keep tuition as low as possible for all students.

Ensuring that a college education is accessible to all qualified students regardless of their financial circumstances is vital not only to the future of these students but to the promise of our country as a whole. I am proud to be able to share our efforts and ideas on this important mission with the president’s senior staff.

Have a great weekend