TULANE TALK

April 26, 2002

Good Morning:

Tulane was one of the top stories in Washington this week. The front page of Sunday’s edition of “The Washington Post” carried a banner headline declaring:”Redskins Select Tulane Quarterback Ramsey in NFL Draft.” I was in Washington for a meeting of the Association of American Universities when I came across this story. It was nice to hear some news from home and I couldn’t have been prouder of Patrick, a young man who represents excellence in both academics and athletics.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the troubled state of college athletics lately with its win-at-all-cost attitude, abysmal graduation rates and spiraling costs. Clearly, system-wide reform is needed so that stellar student/athletes like Patrick can be the rule rather than the exception. I plan to address this issue in much greater detail at a later date.

But while we are on the subject of great students you might have noticed a lot of visitors on the uptown campus this month. These are prospective students and their parents who have been accepted to Tulane but have not yet decided to enroll here. The students and their families are participating in the “Tulane Days” program, which gives them a thorough introduction to the university.

Many of these students are from out-of-state and may be wary of traveling and living far from home in light of Sept. 11. To counter these negative feelings our admissions staff has worked doubly hard, not only to make the “Tulane Days” visits special but also in creating “Tulane Comes To You,” a special program in which admission counselors and faculty members visit students in cities throughout the country. These efforts have met with much success. We have had a record number of applicants and a record number of visitors from among the most academically qualified students in the country. We have a lot to look forward to next fall.

Have a great weekend,