Tulane Talk September 03, 2010
TULANE TALK
September 3, 2010
Good Morning:
One of my proudest moments as president of Tulane University occurred this past weekend as nearly 2,000 of you braved inclement weather to take part in the Day of Service and Outreach Tulane. Your involvement was just further evidence of the quality of your character and the love you bear for our city.
It was also another reminder that Tulane has made the transition from survival to recovery to renewal in the five years since Katrina. Our goals for the next five years should be to build on this momentum and enhance our standing among national universities, while helping our beloved city achieve its own renaissance.
My heartfelt thanks to all of you who volunteered, as well as to those who stayed behind to keep the university running, often doing double duty. Hopefully, all of you can get a well-deserved break during the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
And one more reminder of the fifth anniversary of Katrina. Last night’s victory over Southeastern sets the stage for an exciting year for Green Wave fans and for our student-athletes who, as they did in the dark days immediately after the storm, still carry the torch, are the face and represent the name of Tulane University.
Have a great Labor Day weekend,
Tulane Talk August 27, 2010
TULANE TALK
August 27, 2010
Good Morning:
Today and Saturday I will join nearly 2,000 of you as we commemorate the fifth anniversary of Katrina by taking part in the Day of Service and Outreach Tulane.
In some ways August 29, 2005, feels like just yesterday, in others it seems like another lifetime. This is just one example of the mixed emotions I think many of us are experiencing as we approach this landmark anniversary. The grim images on the news recounting the horrors of Katrina and the breached levees bring back haunting memories of those dark days that will never be erased from my mind and heart. And yet I have never been more optimistic about the future of our university and city.
Reconciling these two reactions to the anniversary is something with which we all struggle. I am hoping that the special multi-media exhibition, opening Tuesday, August 31, on the first floor of the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life, will help. This exhibition, constructed from the photos, newspapers, videos, memories and sacrifices of so many of you, will chronicle the story of Tulane’s Hurricane Katrina experience.
With conflicting emotions that include wounds that wonít heal and opportunities that have brought undreamed of hope, I can only recall the words from one of my first messages to the university community in the hours after the storm. ìIt is difficult to describe what this situation feels like for those involved. It is surreal and unfathomable; yet, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our focus is on the light and not the darkness.î
Five years later we are still focused on that light, and it is getting brighter each day.
Tulane Talk August 20, 2010
TULANE TALK
August 20, 2010
Good Morning:
Tomorrow we welcome 1,630 first-year undergraduate students to campus.
These new Tulanians are the select few we chose out of an incredible 44,000 applicants. The size of our applicant pool this year was the largest of all private universities in the country.
Besides being among the top scholars in the nation, these students also represent another triumph in our recovery from Hurricane Katrina. Many of them will join more than 1,500 of their fellow students, faculty and staff next week as a green army hits the streets of New Orleans to paint, clean, weed, rebuild and restore the city during the Wave of Green Day of Service and Outreach Tulane.
It says a lot about our values that the first major activity of the new school year is a weekend of service. I am looking forward to seeing all of you there and to communicating with you regularly again through Tulane Talk.
Here’s to another successful academic year.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk July 08, 2010
TULANE TALK
July 8, 2010
Dear Friends:
Please join me and hundreds of your fellow staff, faculty and alumni on Friday, Aug. 27 for a Day of Service to our community in commemoration of the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
We will spend our day either building homes for Habitat for Humanity or mulching, clearing brush, planting trees, weeding and otherwise beautifying a true New Orleans gem, our 1,300-acre City Park.
Don’t worry about transportation or lunch. We will provide both, along with a closing celebration with food and drink. We just need your commitment to mark this landmark anniversary, honor Katrina’s victims and survivors and make a meaningful contribution to the renewal of our city. With the full force of the Green Wave behind us, we can make a real difference indeed.
Those who cannot participate on Aug. 27 are encouraged to join 1,000 students who will hold their traditional day of service, Outreach Tulane, the following day.
For more information on both of these events, please visit the http of Green website. I look forward to seeing you there.
Tulane Talk June 09, 2010
TULANE TALK
June 9, 2010
Good Morning:
I thought I would send you a brief e-mail to update you on Tulane’s efforts in helping to address the BP oil leak.
With round-the-clock news coverage of this disaster, we are beginning to receive calls about the impact of the leak on New Orleans’ air, water and quality of life. Answers to these questions can be found on http page. I hope you find these FAQs helpful.
Through the Tulane Response Team, which was formed to coordinate the university’s actions in the midst of this unfolding tragedy, we are serving as a resource for federal, state and local officials by testing water, soil and air; recommending ways to reduce the oil’s impact and researching the effects of this disaster. We are also pursuing grants to further investigate the immediate and long-term consequences of this disaster.
On other fronts, Tulane Community Health Center in New Orleans East, in partnership with Mary Queen of Vietnam Community Development Corp., continues to provide health care for many of the fishermen idled by the oil leak. Tulane students, in addition to standing ready to assist in the clean-up, are helping http the oil’s landfall.
Finally, if you have followed the news at all recently, you have no doubt read, seen or heard a Tulane researcher providing expert commentary on this crisis.
These are just a few of the Tulane-led efforts underway to safeguard our coast and unique way of life for which I, along with the entire Gulf Coast, am grateful.
Tulane Talk May 21, 2010
TULANE TALK
May 21, 2010
Good Morning:
This has been quite a commencement season. In addition to Tulane’s Unified Commencement on Saturday, I also attended graduation ceremonies at the University of Connecticut and Notre Dame.
All three ceremonies were spectacular celebrations of academic achievement with their own unique traditions. For instance, witnessing commencement in the house Knute Rockne built at Notre Dame is something I will never forget. But as marvelous as these ceremonies were and as unbelievably proud and humbled as I am to have been recognized by both institutions, I can honestly say nothing compares to a Tulane Commencement.
I am indebted to the graduates, faculty, staff and especially the volunteers who, year in and year out, make Tulane’s Commencement the envy of the nation. Notre Dame is a terrific setting, UCONN will always hold a special place in my heart, but I am the luckiest man in the world to be here at Tulane in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This will be my last regular Tulane Talk until the fall. But, rest assured, I will be writing occasionally during the summer months with news. As you know, Tulane never sleeps.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk May 14, 2010
TULANE TALK
May 14, 2010
Good Morning:
Tomorrow we salute the Tulane University graduating class I have dubbed the “Risk Takers.” This is the first Tulane graduating class whose majority of members had no connection to Tulane prior to Hurricane Katrina, but still took a chance on a recovering city and university.
Like the “Katrina Class” before them, they helped us believe in ourselves and our future. We will be forever grateful to them. As a measure of our thanks, we have assembled a special http line-up to celebrate their achievements and contributions to the university and city.
The keynote speaker for this “thank you” will be Tulane President’s Medal recipient Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and an advocate of New Orleans since the dark days of the storm. Honorary degrees will be given to U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, a Tulane graduate who became a folk hero for treating the poor of her hometown; Harlem Children’s Zone CEO and President Geoffrey Canada, who is transforming the lives of young people in Harlem; and John Ruffin, director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, who is working to increase the number of minority health professionals while fostering the study of health differences among the races.
When we New Orleanians thank someone there is always plenty of good music and fun and Commencement will be no exception. Entertainment will include the incomparable Dr. Michael White’s Original Liberty Jazz Band and jazz great Wanda Rouzan, who will serenade graduates with the classic, “Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?” There will also be herald trumpets, confetti cannons, a traditional New Orleans second-line procession and special surprise guests from the “Who Dat Nation.”
This is a class that took a chance on us. Now I ask that you join me in honoring and thanking them. You don’t need a ticket to attend tomorrow’s Commencement, just a grateful spirit and a second-line hankie.
Have a great Commencement Weekend,
Tulane Talk May 07, 2010
TULANE TALK
May 7, 2010
Good Morning:
This week I joined Recovery School District Superintendent Paul Vallas and representatives from other local universities in a meeting with Dr. Jacky Lumarque, rector of Haiti’s Quisqueya University and chair of the Presidential Commission for Education in Haiti. The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the best means to rebuild Haiti’s destroyed school buildings and reform its educational system from pre-kindergarten through college.
I viewed this meeting as a continuation of the long relationship between Haiti and New Orleans. From red beans and rice to Creole cottages, New Orleans has deep cultural and historic ties to Haiti. Now we share the experience of having to rebuild a school system destroyed by disaster. It was with this kindred spirit that those attending the meeting pledged to partner with our neighbors, indeed our brothers and sisters, to ensure that every child of Haiti receives the education he or she deserves.
In the next couple of months, Dr. Lumarque will share with our group a blueprint for the reconstruction and reformation of Haiti’s educational system from pre-K through college. We will offer our expertise, advice and assistance in helping to implement this plan so that Haiti and New Orleans can share another experience: a transformed educational system that gives all children, regardless of race or socioeconomic class, the opportunity for a rich and fulfilling life — with lots of red beans and rice.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk May 04, 2010
TULANE TALK
May 4, 2010
Dear Colleagues:
In the last week we have watched with horror the impending danger our region faces as a result of the BP oil leak. This is another tragedy that has resulted in lost lives and likely extensive damage to our ecosystem, culture and economy.
As government, industry and individuals unite to combat the encroaching oil slick, the Tulane community continues to lend its expertise. Teams from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are using Tulane’s high-performance computing resources to upload data, via the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative, directly to federal response coordinators in Washington, D.C.
Tulane’s Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy has developed a http of the disaster and response to enable responders to track day-to-day activities and provide a clear picture of who is doing what, when and why.
The Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) is coordinating the efforts of numerous university departments to test water, soil and air for pollutants; recommend ways to mitigate the impact on fish, birds and wildlife; and research the long-term effect of this disaster. The CBR is also working with the governor’s Office of Coastal Affairs to devise responses to the oil leak.
Our faculty also continue to provide around-the-clock commentary on this disaster to local and national media. Students, staff and faculty are eager to help in the clean up and the Tulane Center for Public Service is working with the Louisiana Serve Commission to http volunteers.
While the leaking oil threatens the environment, economy and culture of the Gulf Coast states and, indeed, the nation as a whole, it is important to remember that officials do not see any health or safety issues for New Orleans. Still, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our neighbors, to face this disaster as we have faced others in the past.
Tulane Talk April 30, 2010
TULANE TALK
April 30, 2010
Good Morning:
We are currently marshalling Tulane’s vast array of experts in the environmental, biological, economic and energy related fields to determine how we can assist in mitigating the impact of the massive oil leak that is threatening our state and region. After assessing the situation and coordinating our response this weekend, I will update you early next week on our efforts.
Ironically, just this week we have also been working to determine how we can best commemorate the upcoming fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the catastrophic levee failures that changed our lives and the life of our city forever.
We want this commemoration to honor those who suffered so much as a result of Katrina and the failed levee system while also noting the remarkable progress our recovering, resurgent city and university have made in the last five years.
One element in our effort to mark this milestone anniversary will be a large multi-media memorial display we will place in the Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life that will tell the story of Tulane’s Katrina experience.
Just as we could never have gotten through that experience without your help, we cannot construct this remembrance without your creativity and assistance. Please contact Kathryn Hobgood Ray at http@tulane.edu and let her know what material and ideas you might be able to contribute to this memorial.
I will send more details in the coming months on this and other anniversary-related activities. While no one wants to dwell on the dark days of the storm and its aftermath, it is important that we honor the memory of those who were lost so that the living will never forget. It is also important to remember that we will face and triumph over this current disaster just as we did Katrina.
Have a great weekend,