TULANE TALK

December 12, 2003

Good Morning:

This week has been primarily devoted to meetings of the Board of Tulane. Four times a year the Board gathers for two-day meetings to discuss a few strategic issues and to receive updated reports on our progress in implementing the university’s strategic plan.

The first day of meetings is devoted to committee consultations covering every topic from academic and students affairs to finances and physical facilities. The second day the entire Board convenes to receive an updated report from me and to discuss a few strategic issues. Yesterday we discussed the status and future of our Capital Campaign. We also provided an overview of the capital projects we have planned in the next five to seven years.

Wednesday evening we had a special Board dinner to recognize those members who have retired from the Board in recent years. Those honored included Robbert Vorhoff, H. Mortimer Favrot Jr., Louis Frierson Sr., Sidney Lassen, Sandra Robinson, Mortimer Curran, Bill Goldring, Virginia Roddy, Jim Wilson and the late Donald Nalty.

We have always been blessed with Board members who are truly dedicated to this institution and are willing to give of themselves and their time to assist us in any way they can. On behalf of the entire Tulane community I want to thank all of our Board members, past and present, for their continued commitment.

Have a great weekend,

TULANE TALK

November 21, 2003

Good Morning:

Last week I told you about the stellar achievements of the New Orleans Center for Science and Math, a high school founded by two Tulane University faculty members. A few weeks before that I told you we were working with the New Orleans Public School system to possibly create a new high school based on the Lusher Alternative Elementary model. Now I’d like to share with you another way Tulane University is helping to improve K-12 education in New Orleans. Howard-Tilton Memorial Library has received a major federal grant to fund the Knowledge Center, an innovative program that gives New Orleans public school teachers and students access to the same databases available to university professors and students.

Educators can access a variety of library and information services for general information gathering, research projects and curriculum support at http://olkc.tulane.edu. Students can access similar databases through the Knowledge Connector at http://know.tulane.edu. Teachers are also able to communicate instantly with librarians for assistance in their research efforts. This arrangement between a major research library and
local schools is rather unique among universities.

So why all the emphasis on K-12 education? Well, improving K-12 education is a major part of our strategic plan to strengthen old and create new partnerships with educational, business and community organizations
in New Orleans. Obviously, a stronger K-12 system is beneficial to everyone. It also makes it easier for us to attract the best and brightest Louisiana high school students to Tulane.

Speaking of outstanding Louisiana students, I learned this week that Jason Mellad, a graduate of Baton Rouge Magnet High School who is now a Tulane College senior with a double major in chemistry and cell and molecular biology, has received a prestigious Marshall Scholarship. Marshall Scholarships enable young Americans to pursue graduate degrees at universities in the United Kingdom. No more than 40 scholars are selected each year for this honor. We are all proud of Jason and the distinction he has brought to our university with this award.

Since this is the last Tulane Talk before our Thanksgiving break, I want to wish all of you an enjoyable and restful time with your family and friends. We certainly have much to be grateful for at Tulane.

Have a great weekend and Happy Thanksgiving,

TULANE TALK

November 7, 2003

Good Morning:

I gave the University Senate an update this week on the final initiative of our strategic plan. This initiative focuses on Resources and Leadership and includes areas such as libraries, computer technology and the management, finances and governance of the university. Please take a moment to review the summary of our accomplishments in this and all areas of our strategic plan at http://www.tulane.edu/%7Estrplan/accomplishments.shtml.

You wouldn’t know by the weather, but we will soon be entering the holiday season and several university groups are already in the giving spirit. Teams of faculty, students and staff under the direction of Paul Whelton, who served as the vice chair of this year’s American Heart Walk, recently raised nearly $24,000 for the American Heart Association. The association funds life-saving heart research, including the work of Tulane scientists.

Book Giving Trees have also popped up around campus. The Book Giving Tree, an effort by students at Tulane, Xavier and DeLaSalle High School, ensures that New Orleans children receive a most important gift this season. Our students tutor more than 1,000 New Orleans children from pre-school to high school. They see firsthand the need and desire for students to develop the reading skills that will serve and enrich them throughout their lives. They also see, sadly, that some of these children do not have a single book to call their own. You can fix this problem by taking a gift card from one of the Book Giving Trees located in the President’s Office, the lobby of the A.B. Freeman School of Business, the University Center cafeteria, Newcomb Hall, the Medical Arts Building on Prytania, the lobby of the Tidewater Building, the School of Medicine, the JBJ Building, the Primate Center and in the PJ’s on the uptown campus.

Each gift card has the first name of a student, his or her age and reading interest. Purchase and wrap an appropriate book for the child and return it by November 19 to one of these areas: Room 103 of the Central Building, the first floor lobby of the Tidewater Building or the Center for Bioenvironmental Research, Room 260 of the JBJ Building. An enthusiastic response to this program is one of the best gifts we can give to the New Orleans community.

Have a great weekend,

TULANE TALK

October 24, 2003

Good Morning:

As you know, I have been invited to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on October 29 regarding the fairness of the Bowl Championship Series, which determines college football’s national champion. I testified on the same subject before the House Judiciary Committee on September 4. Some of you who are not sports fans may wonder why I, along with 50 plus other university presidents and chancellors, not to mention the United States Congress, believe this issue is worthy of such attention. I assure you the reasons run much deeper than rivalries, money, bragging rights, team pride or the other more visible aspects of intercollegiate athletics.

The Bowl Championship Series, a system that sixty-four universities created to crown a national champion in football, has, in effect, locked out 54 other universities and its student athletes from the chance to compete for a national title.

When you realize the negative trickle down effect this unjust system has on nearly every facet of life at universities not affiliated with the BCS, coupled with its inherent unfairness, its demoralizing impact on student-athletes and its possible illegality, you begin to understand what all the fuss is about. I urge you to learn as much as possible about this important subject by visiting http://coalition.tulane.edu/

Of course, the BCS system is just one of the many issues that needs to be addressed in intercollegiate athletics. The other key issues include the academic expectations and performance of student athletes, the increasing costs of competition and the ever-increasing commercialization of athletics. It will take a long time to effect significant change, but I am committed to that goal on the behalf of all our universities.

Have a great weekend,