TULANE TALK

May 10, 2013

Good Morning:

While most of the university is busy with finals or making preparations to honor our graduates at next week’s Commencement, our Office of Admission is working on the Class of 2017. And what a class it will be! Selected from more than 30,000 applications, the 1,575 members of the class of 2017 are the best of the best. In fact, the mean SAT score of these students and their high school class rankings are on par with the record-breaking first-year classes we have been welcoming in recent years.

The incoming class is also diverse, representing minority groups and communities from throughout the country. This includes students from the Posse Foundation, which recruits and prepares talented public high school students from New Orleans and other urban areas to attend highly selective universities like Tulane. And speaking of selectivity, this year we accepted only 26 percent of students who applied to Tulane. This is an area of great growth and pride for the university. For instance, in 2003 our acceptance rate was 55 percent; in 2000, it was 73 percent. Not only are our incoming students great scholars, they also excelled at public service during their high school years and are now excited to put civic engagement at the heart of their education. In other words, they are true Tulanians.

Students are willing to travel a long way for a Tulane education, too. The typical member of the class of 2017 will travel an average of 923 miles to attend Tulane. While the largest percentage of our new students continues to come from the Northeast, we are increasingly attracting more students from the country’s western regions. In fact, nearly 17 percent of our incoming class hail from the Mountain West or Pacific West. Attracting these intelligent, energetic and accomplished young people, many of whom stay to live and work in New Orleans after graduation, is one of Tulane’s many contributions to our hometown. In addition, spending by prospective students and their parents, who visit Tulane on their tour of the nation’s best schools, is equivalent to a major convention returning every year to New Orleans. Then again, almost 200 members of the new class won’t have to travel that far at all since they come from right here in Louisiana.

Now you know some of the facts about our new class. It will be August before you can meet them and learn more. I, for one, can’t wait.

Have a great weekend,

TULANE TALK

April 26, 2013

Good Morning:

Much of this week was devoted to ensuring that Tulane is prepared in the event of extreme weather, fire, laboratory accident, hazardous materials release, violence, terrorism or any other threat to its community or operations. Though this week’s focus on emergency management was in the works for a long time, the recent tragedy in Boston gave it new relevance and urgency.

Top administrators and representatives from schools and departments across the university were involved in half-day emergency planning activities, which included a table-top exercise to introduce the all-hazards emergency operations plan for Tulane. The Office of Emergency Management, Tulane University Police Department, the Office of Insurance and Risk Management and the Office of Environmental Health and Safety also hosted a risk and safety summit for departmental safety representatives, who are the emergency response contacts for their offices and departments.

All of our emergency planning has three main components: to identify and prioritize risks, to formulate a plan for each risk and to integrate risk management into the overall culture and strategy of the university. The most important goal of our risk management system is the safety of our students, faculty and staff.

I am confident Tulane is well-prepared when it comes to emergency planning and even ahead of our peer institutions in many respects. But we always can and always must do more. The key is for us to learn from our prior experiences and the experiences of others to continually improve our policies and procedures. Even though we have dealt with several emergency situations, there are other scenarios we have not yet encountered and I pray never will. But our university leaders are devoting the necessary time and resources to plan for all possible risks. While our emergency managers, responders and departmental safety representatives play vital roles, we all need to be involved in emergency planning and prevention. This means following established safety protocols while performing our jobs and reporting any hazardous situations or suspicious activities or persons to the Tulane Police Department or other appropriate offices.

Together, I know we will continue to keep Tulane safe.

Have a good (and safe) weekend,

TULANE TALK

April 16, 2013

Dear Tulanians,

Along with rest of the world, we are closely watching the tragic news from Boston and trying to make sense of a tragedy that has touched all of us. Our thoughts and prayers go out to our fellow citizens in Massachusetts and to the families and victims impacted by this horrific event.

For the past 24 hours, the images of chaos and courage, heartbreak and heroism, have flowed across our television and computer screens. Like all of you, my first thoughts, and prayers, turned to the victims.

We know that a few members of our Tulane community were at the Marathon, but thankfully they were not physically injured. We continue to assess whether the explosions impacted any Tulanians and, if so, how we might assist them. Please let us know if someone needs our help.

As we have learned, these tragic events test our resilience. We also know that healing and recovery begin when our communities come together to mourn. Leaning on and drawing strength from one another leads to the renewal of the human spirit.

We will help in any way we can.

TULANE TALK

April 5, 2013

Good Morning:

The excitement is building for what promises to be one of our most memorable commencements ever. You already know that our keynote speaker, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Allen Toussaint, Dr. John and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will each receive honorary doctorates at Commencement 2013, right? Well, that is just the beginning of a day of recognition, honors and fun.

Medical degree candidate Jonathan D. Santoro will represent the class of 2013 as the keynote student speaker. Jonathan can speak with authority about the Tulane experience. He has been enrolled here since before Katrina, earning his bachelor’s, master’s and medical degrees from Tulane.

This Commencement we will also recognize several faculty members who have helped so many Tulane students reach their potential and achieve the dream of earning a Tulane degree. Latha Rajan, associate professor of clinical tropical medicine, and T.R. Johnson, associate professor of English, will receive the Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellows Awards for their excellence in undergraduate teaching, student advising and instructional development. They will each receive a medallion, a cash award of $5,000 a year for four years and the title of Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow.

Elma Ireland LeDoux, associate professor of medicine, and Gabriel A. Feldman, associate professor of law, will receive the Tulane President’s Awards for Excellence in Professional and Graduate Teaching for their continued commitment to educational excellence at the graduate level. Elma and Gabe will each receive a $5,000 cash award and a special medallion designed by Professor Emeritus Franklin Adams.

Commencement is the pinnacle of the academic calendar and this year we are reaching new heights in honoring our graduates and sending them off in true Tulane and New Orleans style.

Have a great weekend,