TULANE TALK

October 25, 2002

Good Morning:

Last Wednesday’s Presidential Symposium on the topic of “Space and Place: Urban Frontiers of the 21st Century” was a most productive event. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear four distinguished scholars discuss an issue of great importance to all of us: how universities such as Tulane can learn from and contribute to the development of urban communities. It is my goal that our engagement with urbanism be both intellectual and applied, encompassing nearly every aspect of the university. The symposium provided some helpful points on ways this goal might be accomplished.

Today begins our Homecoming and Parent/Family Weekend. All the many events planned for the next couple of days culminate with our Homecoming game against Navy tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium in City Park. This is the first time in 28 years Green Wave fans will be able to enjoy a home game in an outdoor setting. A good primer for the game is the series of articles The Times-Picayune ran this week on our athletics department. The articles provide a great history of where the department is and where we are headed. You can read these articles at http://www2.tulane.edu/news_and_publications.cfm.

Among the pre-game Homecoming events will be a performance by Amanda Shaw, the young fiddler from the North Shore. A couple of years ago Amanda visited my office and gave me an impromptu performance of her fiddle-playing virtuosity. It was pretty amazing, especially coming from a 10-year-old! Since then, Amanda has been on the Rosie O’Donnell Show, performed with Cyndi Lauper and released her own CD. I guess I can say I knew her when.

Finally, I want to remind you that the United Way/Community Shares donor celebration will take place Oct. 29 at 12:30 p.m. at Dixon Hall, which will be transformed into a French Opera House. Those who pledged $75 or more to this year’s campaign will enjoy delicious French food, wonderful French music and a chance to win some great prizes. If you haven’t made your pledge yet, you can still do so at the door the day of this event. This year, despite an uncertain economy and two hurricanes that disrupted the last weeks of the campaign, we are well on our way to achieving our goal. This attests to the generous spirit of our campus community and is something for which we should all be proud.

See you at the game,