TULANE TALK

May 17, 2002

Good Morning:

What a week! I have devoted most of the last few days to meetings with the Board of Tulane. You would be pleased to know that they are an extremely dedicated, talented and committed group. It is a pleasure to work with them.

Commencement 2002, the pinnacle of the academic year, is upon us. This year’s graduating class is extra special for me because I, like most of them, came to Tulane four years ago. I wonder if our graduates are as astonished as I am that the time has passed so quickly.

Anyway, I’m not the only one who is excited about Commencement. I found out this week that C-SPAN is planning to send a crew to cover our ceremony which, as you know, begins at 9:30 a.m. on May 18 in the Superdome. The keynote speaker for this year’s Commencement is Pulitzer-prize winning columnist and best-selling author William Safire. He should be interesting! We will let you know when our Commencement appears on C-SPAN.

I hope as many of you as possible will be able to attend the Commencement ceremony. This is an ideal time for us to gather together and celebrate what defines us as a community. The Commencement Weekend officially began last night with the annual Senior Emeritus Crawfish Boil honoring the class of 2002 and the class of 1952. Margie and I are having a wonderful time greeting visitors to campus and congratulating our graduates.

Have a great Commencement Weekend,