TULANE TALK

May 25, 2001

Good Morning:

I just got back from Washington, D.C. where I attended the American Council on Education’s Board of Directors meeting. The council includes about 1,600 accredited, degree-granting institutions and, among other functions, represents higher education before Congress, federal agencies and the Supreme Court. I was elected to the council’s board of directors in February. While in D.C., I also had an opportunity to meet with alumni and with U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-New Orleans), U.S. Rep. Richard Baker (R-Baton Rouge) and officials from Senators Landrieu’s and Breaux’s offices. Our congressional delegation continues to be very helpful to Tulane.

I hope you all enjoyed last week’s commencement activities as much as I did. The “Wave Goodbye” was another smashing success and the next day’s commencement was truly a memorable event. Our speaker, Marian Wright Edelman, told me ours was one of the finest commencements she had ever attended. I can’t say enough about her address or the one delivered by our student speaker D. Hamilton Simons-Jones. What a combination those two were! Visit http Tulane web site to see many great photos of commencement fun. All in all, I think Commencement 2001 was the perfect ending to a very productive academic year.

With the coming of summer, I have decided that this will be the last Tulane Talk until the beginning of the fall semester. (That better not be cheering I hear!) Of course, if there is some pressing information I think you need to know about I will be sure to drop you a line.

I’ve really enjoyed these little “chats” and all the feedback I have received from you regarding them. I hope they have helped further my goal of improving university-wide communication.

Thank you for all your support this year. In the fall, I will provide an overview of this past year in Town Hall meetings and in other forums but I wanted to make sure you knew how much I appreciate your continued hard work and efforts on behalf of Tulane.

Oh, and don’t forget to come out and enjoy our fabulous baseball team this weekend. We are hosting an NCAA regional and are currently ranked No. 5 in the country.

Have a great summer!