TULANE TALK

February 10, 2006

Good Morning:

Tulane University’s purpose is to create, communicate and conserve knowledge in order to enrich the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities to think, to learn, to act and to lead with integrity and wisdom.

For this reason we are presenting ìPerspectives on Katrina,î an interdisciplinary seven-week series, free and open to the public, that will seek to understand and derive lessons from this great catastrophe.

The series kicks off on Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. in McAlister Auditorium with ìAugust 28: Katrina Takes Aim.î Tulane history professor and best-selling author Doug Brinkley, New Orleans Homeland Security Director Terry Ebbert, Army Corps of Engineers Deputy District Engineer Gregory Breerwood, meteorologist Dan Milham, and R. King Milling, chairman of the Governorís Advisory Commission on Coastal Restoration and Conservation, will lead the discussion which will be moderated by radio personality Spud McConnell.

Over its seven-week run the series will feature 21 different programs examining diverse aspects of the stormís impact. For instance, on Feb. 14 at noon, Tulane law professor Stephen Griffin will discuss ìKatrina and the Constitution: How Our Fundamental Political System Contributed to the Crisisî in Room 239 of the Boggs Center for Energy and Biotechnology.

On Feb. 16 at 4 p.m. on the first floor of Josephine Louise House, Dennis Kehoe, chair of Tulaneís classics department and a board member for the New Orleans-area Habitat for Humanity, will discuss ìRebuilding New Orleans: Habitat for Humanityís Operation Home Delivery.î For additional programs in this series please visit http://www2.tulane.edu/katrina/perspectives.cfm

I hope you will attend as many of these programs as possible. Hopefully, the lessons learned through this series will be part of the good that we as Tulanians have always searched for in the midst of tragedy.