Tulane Talk February 06, 2008
TULANE TALK
February 6, 2008
I hope you all had a safe and enjoyable Mardi Gras. I am sure you all noticed that this year’s Rex was former chair and current member of the Tulane Board, John Koerner. John certainly deserved this wonderful recognition.
Over the Mardi Gras holiday we also received a surprise request to host an on-campus speech by Sen. Barack Obama tomorrow morning. It took considerable effort for us to coordinate this event and its numerous details during a time when the city was virtually shut down. However, despite the challenges and hardships, I thought it was an important opportunity that we should not pass up.
Sen. Obama’s speech is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. tomorrow morning at Fogelman Arena. Doors open at 7:45 a.m. This event is open to the public, but an RSVP is strongly encouraged. Space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information or to RSVP please visit http://www.la.barackobama.com/neworleans.
For security reasons, please do not bring bags or large purses. No signs or banners are permitted.
We are honored to have Sen. Obama speak on campus and, of course, welcome requests from any other remaining presidential candidates to address the university community. I hope you have an opportunity to attend this event in what looks like a very exciting and historic presidential election year.
Tulane Talk February 01, 2008
TULANE TALK
February 1, 2008
Good Morning:
Whether you are marching with the band, cheering with the crowds, rolling in the parades or rolling out of town, I wish you, your family and friends (you may find out you have more than you thought) a wonderful and safe Mardi Gras weekend.
Scott
Tulane Talk January 25, 2008
TULANE TALK
January 25, 2008
Good Morning:
“Does everything wholeheartedly.” “Always has an amazing attitude.” “Commitment is unbelievable.” “Helps others all the time.” “Your deadline becomes his.” “Cares about people who work with her.” “Makes sure the job is done in the way that you need it done.” “Able to shift gears and talk to people at all levels.” “Motivates others.” “On call 24 hours.”
Does this sound like anyone you know? It should. These are some of the comments your fellow employees used to describe their nominees for this year’s Staff Excellence Awards.
Just before the holidays I had the pleasure of informing these exceptional and vital members of the Tulane community of the honor you bestowed upon them. Each of this year’s Staff Excellence Award winners will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and will be a guest at a special dinner hosted by Marjorie and me at Two Audubon Place.
If you try matching the comments above to the names below, I bet that you will learn something very interesting: that these same qualities, these same statements of dedication and commitment could be used to describe you, as well. For it has been my experience that the extraordinary Tulane employee is the rule rather than the exception. These annual awards are truly a testament to all of you.
So, without further ado, this year’s winners are: Tammy Bordes, laboratory technical specialist, Tulane Cancer Center; Glenda Folse, privacy and contracting officer, Office of General Counsel; Valerie McGinley Marshall, departmental development officer II, Stone Center for Latin American Studies; Oscar Sill, security administrator, Technology Services; David Lee, superintendent of construction, Facilities Services, Uptown; Michael Pizzolatto, program manager, Center for Public Service; Patricia Parrie, executive secretary, Division of Collaborative Research, Tulane National Primate Research Center; Mary Catherine Bourgeois, manager, Uptown Telecommunications, Technology Services; Tim Schuler, laboratory supervisor, Physics; Erica Woodley, director of residential education, Housing and Residence Life.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk January 18, 2008
TULANE TALK
January 18, 2008
Good Morning:
Next week we will once again celebrate the life and message of one of history’s most inspiring leaders when Tulane joins with Dillard, Loyola and Xavier Universities to present the 22nd Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Week for Peace. Under the theme “Are you Engaged? What Do You Stand For?” the week will appropriately begin with a Community Service Day, Saturday, Jan. 19 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Newcomb Quad will be the staging area for this day of service which will include building homes for Habitat for Humanity, helping construct the Stallings Kaboom Playground, cleaning up neighborhoods, painting and
renovating Carver and Douglass High Schools, helping to restore wetlands and more. To register as a volunteer for this day of service visit http://oma.tulane.edu/outreach/registration.php
On Monday, Jan. 21, the day on which Dr. King’s birthday is observed, there will be an Interfaith Service from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Church on Loyola’s campus. On Thursday, Jan. 24, Dillard University will host the MLK Convocation from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lawless Memorial Chapel. The evening will include a welcoming reception, the awarding of the Lifetime Achievement and Student Community Service honors and a special presentation by BET commentator and social activist Jeff Johnson.
On Friday, Jan. 25, the annual Candlelight March, one of the most evocative ceremonies of the Week for Peace, will begin at 4:45 p.m. in Tulane’s Pocket Park (next to the Lavin-Bernick Center). The march will end at Xavier University in time for the Expressions of Unity celebration that will begin at 6:30 p.m.
I know this is a busy time for all of us, but I hope you will be able to participate in at least one of these special events to help ensure that Dr. King’s dream and transformative message becomes a living reality.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk January 11, 2008
TULANE TALK
January 11, 2008
Good Morning:
I want to welcome back all of our students and faculty to a new semester and a brand-new year of unlimited potential and opportunity. To ensure that every member of the Tulane University community can experience, in safety and security, all this year has to offer, I want to update you on the steps we have taken to keep our campuses and surrounding areas safe.
In addition to Tulane police patrolling our campuses 24 hours a day, we also have hired New Orleans police officers to patrol the streets surrounding the uptown campus where many of our students reside or frequent. This area includes a perimeter bordered by South Claiborne, South Carrollton, St. Charles and Jefferson avenues.
We are also continuing to enhance the many safety initiatives we already have in place such as our uptown/downtown shuttle service, our Safe Rides program, the escort program (through which any member of the Tulane community can request an armed escort), our crime alert e-mails and postings, the self-defense classes we teach and the crime prevention sessions we give for new students. Through the Crimestoppers organization we will also continue to offer rewards for information leading
to the arrests of suspects.
Our crime-fighting efforts recently paid off when a Tulane police officer helped the NOPD identify one of the suspects believed responsible for armed robberies in the uptown area. A second suspect in these cases has also recently been identified.
In order to maximize the effectiveness of our crime-fighting efforts, however, we need your help. Criminals are predators of opportunity and are likely to frequent locales where their chances for success are enhanced. So call for an escort if you are traveling to your car alone after dark. Take advantage of the shuttle service and Safe Rides program. Stay in groups when you go out. Read and heed the crime alerts when they arrive in your e-mail. If you drink, do so responsibly and look out for your friends, classmates and co-workers. Always report any crime, suspicious person or activity to the Tulane Police Department at 504-865-5200.
Following these basic guidelines will help ensure the safety of us all and make this another great year of living and learning at Tulane University.
Scott
Tulane Talk December 21, 2007
TULANE TALK
December 21, 2007
Good Morning:
I hadn’t planned to write you again before the holiday break but I had some good news I wanted to share with you.
David Barksdale, an executive with the Barksdale Management Company, a private equity and philanthropic investment firm based out of New York and Jackson, Miss., and Lawrence M.v.D Schloss, chairman and chief executive officer of Diamond Castle Holdings, LLC, a private equity firm also based out of New York, have joined the Board of Tulane.
Both of these gentlemen are proud and accomplished Tulane graduates with interesting backgrounds, experiences and expertise that will help guide us through these challenging but exciting years of renewal.
David graduated magna cum laude from Tulane College in 2000 with a BA in Latin American Studies. He also earned his law degree from New York University and practiced law at the firm of Clear, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in New York before joining the Barksdale Management Company. Prior to entering law school, David was a legislative correspondent for former Sen. Bill Frist.
David is a member of the Tulane School of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council and Tulane’s President’s Council. He is also an accomplished musician who recorded the album “Big Boot Shimmy” with the band Jonas Risin’ at Tipitina’s in New Orleans in 2001. David performed lead vocals and guitar on the album, which included guest artists Cyril Neville and Theresa Andersson.
David’s family has a long connection to Tulane. His maternal grandfather, Thomas F. McDonnell, was a 1939 Tulane Medical School graduate and his grandmother, Mary Bryan (Saunders) Barksdale, attended Newcomb College. In December 2006, the Sally Barksdale Student Organizations Center was dedicated at Tulane’s Lavin-Bernick Center in honor of Barksdale’s late mother. David is also a newlywed, having wed Stephanie Bosse, a graduate student at NYU’s Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service, in August.
Larry is chairman and chief executive officer of Diamond Castle Holdings, LLC, a private equity firm, which he co-founded. He is the former global head of private equity at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), a division of Credit Suisse Group. Schloss was previously chairman of the merchant banking group of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.
Larry serves on the board of directors for MF Global Ltd., the world’s leading broker of exchange-listed futures and options. He is also a board member of the New York Police and Fire Widows and Children’s Benefit Fund and Performance Equity Management, LLC, the private equity affiliate of General Motors Investment Management Company.
Larry graduated cum laude with a BA in economics from Tulane in 1976 and received a master of business administration degree in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1978.
A Tulane Scholar, he was a member of Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and chair of the Student Welfare Committee at Tulane. Larry currently serves as chair of the President’s Council at Tulane. He is a current member of the Tulane School of Liberal Arts Dean’s Advisory Council and a past member of the former Tulane College Dean’s Advisory Council and the Associates Committee. Larry’s wife, the former Laurie S. Klayman, graduated from Newcomb College in 1977.
The announcement of Larry and David joining the board comes on the heels of the donation of the 15-story Murphy Exploration Building to Tulane. We are overwhelmed by the generosity of this gift. We will primarily use the building to continue the expansion of our School of Medicine, including administrative and educational offices. The building will also house a planned $5 million medical training simulation center, which will be one of the few such medical resources in the country. In addition, the building will be the home of a few central administrative functions.
These new board appointments and this donation are a great way to end the year and to herald the arrival of an exciting new year and new chapter in the life of Tulane University.
Have a great holiday break,
Tulane Talk December 14, 2007
TULANE TALK
December 14, 2007
Good Morning:
Margie and I have prepared a special holiday message for you at http://www.tulane.edu/HolidayCard_2007/
This greeting is just a small way for us to express our appreciation for all you have done through the year, and throughout all the years, to make Tulane University such a remarkable institution and a special place to live, work and learn.
This will also be my last message to you before the New Year. I wanted to send this now because next week will be a hectic one as students finish their exams, final grades are posted and we wrap up another semester.
I will be busy meeting with the President’s Cabinet, the Steering Committee for Tulane Medical Center and Recovery Director Ed Blakely. I will also have meetings on other city-related business and a possible visit with our newly elected Governor Bobby Jindal. Finally, I will have the great pleasure of notifying the winners of this year’s Staff Excellence Awards. So maybe you will hear from me next week after all.
Have great weekend,
Tulane Talk December 07, 2007
TULANE TALK
December 7, 2007
Good Morning:
I had a late night Saturday as I stayed up to watch Hawaii defeat Washington and earn a trip to the Sugar Bowl. Besides a reward for their undefeated season, their hard work, dedication and exceptional talent, Hawaii’s invitation to the Sugar Bowl represents an opportunity that would have been off-limits just a few years ago to this great and deserving group of kids.
Like our own Green Wave who went undefeated in 1998, the Hawaii Warriors would have been shut out of a major bowl game this year simply because they play in a conference outside the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) that determines college football’s champion. This inequity was remedied four years ago when a small group of college presidents from the non-BCS conferences fought for a change in the system and were successful. The end result was the addition of a fifth bowl and greater access to the BCS for teams usually excluded in the past.
A lot has changed in New Orleans since 2003 when I was one of the presidents leading this reform movement. As I sometimes tell reporters when they ask me how I feel about our achievement, which has led to greater fairness and parity in college football, I say, “I have not given it much thought because I have been otherwise occupied.”
However, the work of the college presidents who gathered fours years ago, both those who represented the BCS schools and those of us who petitioned for change, is worthy of note. The results have shown that when people with vastly divergent and strongly held opinions gather in a spirit of collegiality and goodwill, good things can happen. Like so many moments in sports this could well serve as an example for the larger, more vexing challenges of life.
Besides being more just and equitable for all, this new arrangement also gives New Orleans the opportunity to host two major sporting events next month: the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 and, just one week later, the National Championship game. These games will no doubt be a big boost to New Orleans’ recovering economy and give our city the chance to shine, once again, in the national spotlight. I am pleased beyond words that New Orleans will benefit so much from the change we fought for years ago. That was my hope at the time but little did I know then that the fruits of this victory would come at such a critical time in our city’s history.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk November 30, 2007
TULANE TALK
November 30, 2007
Good Morning:
As we enter the holiday season there are numerous opportunities at Tulane for us to help those most in need. The first will take place this Sunday, Dec. 2 at 4 p.m. when the Tulane women’s basketball team takes on LSU at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in Devlin Fieldhouse. Our team is asking fans to donate a new, unwrapped gift for Toys for Tots. Any fan who donates a toy will receive a voucher for a ticket to another Tulane women’s basketball game in the future. Remember the toy must be new and unwrapped.
Can’t decide what to give at the next office party? Please consider a donation to the Tulane Cancer Center’s Patient Relief Fund, which helps needy cancer patients. Your colleague will receive a card stating that a donation to the fund was made in his or her honor. Please send your contribution and the name of those individuals who should receive acknowledgement of your gift to: Keadren Green, Tulane Cancer Center, 1430 Tulane Ave., Box SL-68, New Orleans, LA 70112-2699 or contact Keadren at (504) 988-6064 or http2@tulane.edu
Another worthy cause is the Staff Advisory Council’s partnership with the Adopt-A-Family program. This program provides furniture and new or lightly used household goods (towels, bed linen, flatware, dishes, toasters, etc.) to formerly homeless families who are being placed in permanent housing.
Donations of furniture and household goods, as well as checks made payable to Tulane University with SAC-Adopt-A-Family on the memo section, are welcomed. Donations can be brought to Gwen Chavez in the Controller’s Office, 7029 C Freret Street; Susan Barrera in the Tidewater Building, Suite 2456; Judy Vitrano, at the Elmwood Campus, 800 E. Commerce Road, Suite 209; Robert Johnson, Building I, National Primate Research Center; or Cynthia Hayes, Alumni Affairs, 3439 Prytania Street, Suite 300. To schedule a pick-up of large furniture, contact Judy Vitrano at 504-314-2783 or http@tulane.edu.
Student Advocacy For Equitable Recovery or SAFER, a volunteer group started by two Tulane students to help hurricane victims rebuild their homes, is also seeking donations at http://tinyurl.com/2qyq5p
Of course, the gift of knowledge is one of the best gifts anyone can give or receive. You can help needy kids in our community discover the joy of reading by donating a book to the annual Book Giving Tree sponsored by the student-run CACTUS. To make a donation visit http://www.bookgivingtree.org/
These are just some of the worthy ways of giving both on campus and off. I know that, as always, the Tulane family will step up and make sure this holiday season is special for all of our neighbors.
Have a great weekend,
Tulane Talk November 16, 2007
TULANE TALK
November 16, 2007
Good Morning:
At this time next week we will still be enjoying a university holiday, so I want to take this opportunity to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Often as I look out of my office window or walk the halls of one of our campuses I am struck by how normal and routine everything appears as we all go about our daily work. In years past this sense of normality would not have struck me, but now it fills me with much gratitude.
But while we rejoice in this glorious fall weather and look forward to gathering with our family and friends, we should remember that for many of our neighbors in the city and region a sense of the normal and the routine has not yet returned.
For them we must continue to do whatever we can as individuals and as an institution to give them back their sense of normality and make our community truly whole again. Tulane and all of you are doing a remarkable job in helping our community to rebuild. I am extremely proud of your efforts and am most thankful to be associated with you.
Happy Thanksgiving,