Dear Tulane Community:
Tomorrow marks 10 years since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Even those who were not here at the time know well the destruction, devastation, recovery and rebirth that followed.
Tulane will mark this solemn anniversary in the way we know best. More than 1,500 students, faculty, staff and alumni will help clean, paint and repair sites at City Park, the New Orleans Mission and Joe Brown Park. Our efforts will join those of 10,000 volunteers who are working throughout the city during this week of remembrance. The work of the volunteers will beautify the city, lift spirits and, once again, reclaim a bit of what was lost, broken or abandoned on that awful day.
We can never forget the lives ended, the homes destroyed and the dreams swept away by Hurricane Katrina or the challenges that still remain.
Nor can we deny the incredible progress in rebuilding our beloved New Orleans. This continued effort has resulted in a renaissance of culture and a surge of innovation that inspired me and thousands of students, faculty and staff to make this city our home.
The volunteer activities on Saturday continue this process of rejuvenation, while, at the same time, they honor the memory of all that happened 10 years ago this weekend.
