August 18, 2024
My fellow Tulanians—
Welcome to the most dynamic university in the United States…
Welcome to Tulane!
I’m so excited that you can join me for my favorite time of the year.
Each August, every year, I get to see a new beginning—
Full of promise and potential, apprehension and opportunity.
It’s a clean sheet of paper, a fresh canvas, a wide-open highway with no speed limit.
And you’re in the driver’s seat.
Class of 2028, your beginning starts today.
Now, I know you’re excited about the start of your Tulane journey.
Let’s face it: you might also feel a little anxious.
Or you might even feel a little bit lost—both literally and figuratively.
But the feeling of being new doesn’t last forever. After all, you’re only a first-year student once.
And though it may feel impossibly far away now, there will come a day when you’ll know every corner of this campus.
You’ll have a favorite study spot, a favorite professor, and favorite classmates.
You’ll remember this day, and you’ll marvel about how much you’ve learned—
About your chosen field, about the world… and especially about yourself.
I hope today is the beginning of many “firsts” at Tulane.
To celebrate this milestone, I want to share with you the words of one of the great thinkers of this generation—
A writer, performer and entrepreneur whose incisive clarity breaks through the “lavender haze.”
A record-setting artist who knows rebirth and re-invention “all too well.”
A cultural juggernaut who’s “enchanted” audiences worldwide—
My fellow Pennsylvanian, Taylor Swift.
At this point, you may be thinking:
“Is the president of my university really talking about Taylor Swift at Convocation?”
I’ll admit: this is not a typical convocation speech.
But Tulane is not a typical university.
And that’s why you’re here—right?
In all honesty— I have had tremendous respect for Taylor and her music since the beginning of her career.
As you may know, she is currently in London with her “Eras” tour.
So, no, we do not have an extra-special guest waiting in the wings!
Whether or not you’re a fellow Swiftie, I’m here to tell you:
When it comes to navigating the transitions, chapters, and seasons of your life…
Taylor Swift has a few lessons for all of us.
So even though Taylor can’t join us today, I wanted to offer some advice from the world’s most famous “tortured poet”—
As you begin this exciting new era of your own.
Taylor’s first lesson comes from her Lover album. That lesson is “be authentic.”
[audio clip plays from “Me!”]
So much of Taylor’s success is based on her ability to make individual experiences feel universal.
That means grasping deeply human emotions and speaking to shared experiences.
So often, those experiences are quirky, messy, chaotic, and dynamic.
But like Taylor, we can turn them into something powerful—a point of connection between people.
We can do that through our actions and our words,
By being true to ourselves—
By embracing authenticity.
Tulane is a place where you can be unapologetically yourself.
It’s a place where you can discover who you are, both academically and socially.
That’s where Newcomb-Tulane College comes in.
The college brings together ambitious scholars from all over the world, with an immense variety of backgrounds and interests.
N.T.C. offers each of you an endless combination of academic specialties and interdisciplinary exploration.
If something interests you, here’s your chance to pursue it.
You have the flexibility to customize your educational experience— and make it authentically your own… like stringing beads onto a friendship bracelet.
Tulane is a place where people find themselves—through exploring interests, asking questions, and—yes—even making mistakes.
As you meet your fellow classmates, living and learning side by side, don’t be afraid to share your whole, authentic, complex self.
…which leads me to Taylor’s second lesson, from her 1989 album.
That lesson is: “find your commonality.”
[audio clip plays from “Welcome to New York”]
Welcome to… Tulane!
You’ve already heard about your class’s diversity and your accomplishments.
You might find yourself looking around, trying to figure out where and how you measure up.
You might even wonder if anyone else has the same interests, the same experiences, or the same feelings as you.
Being in a crowd of thousands can feel awfully lonely.
But here’s a trick—you already have at least one thing in common with every other person in this room.
You all chose Tulane!
Something about this school, and something about this city, spoke to you.
You recognized our relational culture, how we bring people together in a one-of-a-kind way.
You “wanted something more”— something you could only find here.
Maybe you’re passionate about the environment, and you were drawn to Tulane’s research opportunities on coastal erosion.
Maybe you fell in love with the music of this city, and wanted to be part of its living history.
Maybe you were excited by the mentorship opportunities afforded by small classes, or wanted to explore becoming an entrepreneur.
There are as many reasons to choose Tulane as there are students who chose it—but the end result is the same.
In choosing, you become a community.
Now it’s up to you to build and shape this community with your own unique contributions.
So, ask your fellow Tulanians—what brought you here?
What are you excited to learn, or what have you always wanted to try?
You might find a common interest—or you might discover a new one.
And that brings me to Taylor’s final lesson.
For this one, we’re taking it way back to the Speak Now album—Taylor’s version, of course.
And that lesson is: embrace every era. Don’t be afraid of something new.
[audio clip plays from “Long Live”]
Taylor’s career is a story of evolution.
What started with country songs transformed into folk music, dance tracks—and even arena rock.
Exploring new sounds and new topics for songs doesn’t make the old ones disappear.
Instead, every experience builds on the previous ones.
In other words, it’s okay to change, grow, and evolve.
It’s okay to try new things, start new routines, or explore a new interest.
After all, we’re in New Orleans—where we literally start with something “new.”
Here is the place and now is the time to explore everything Tulane and New Orleans has to offer—if you have the courage to claim it.
Because it takes courage to say, “I don’t know.”
It takes courage to say, “let me try.”
It takes courage to seek out classmates whose backgrounds and views are vastly different from your own.
So ask your professors the tough questions.
Take a class in a subject you know nothing about.
Join a club whose members challenge your perspective—and learn to debate in a civil way.
You’ll learn to think and reason, to solve the hardest problems, to find your purpose and make a difference far beyond yourself.
As Taylor said, this is the start of an age. Now is the time to seize every opportunity.
That’s what your Tulane era is all about.
This is an era of Book Fests and Crawfests, and friends from all around the world.
This is an era of authenticity, commonality, and new beginnings.
This is an era that will become part of who you are—for the rest of your life.
It’s your “Roll Wave” era. And it starts now.
My fellow Tulanians, welcome to a new era and welcome to your new home!
[audio clip plays from “Long Live”]
Long live the Tulane University class of 2028!
