Dear Tulane Community:
Hello, Tulanians!
I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to greet so many of you personally as the new academic year gets underway. Whether or not we’ve spoken in person, let me welcome you to a new year that promises to be both meaningful and memorable.
Last week I stopped by the Tulane University Marching Band’s “band camp,” where members spend two intensive weeks learning a full repertoire of songs and routines. At the start of this year’s camp, half of the members were new. But by the time I visited, they were playing and marching in perfect unison.
I had a similar sense on Sunday at Convocation for the Class of 2027. These 1,850 or so new Tulanians had known each other for just a few days. Yet the bonds they forged during Hullaballoo Hello were evident in their smiles, their roaring Roll Wave! and their first second-line.
Hailing from 49 states and 35 countries, the members of our most academically accomplished and diverse first-year class ever are beginning their Tulane journey at a time of incredible momentum. Our reputation as a leading institution of interdisciplinary learning and discovery continues to grow, as do our physical campuses.
The uptown campus kicked off the year with the opening of River and Lake residence halls, which offer multi-functional living, learning and gathering spaces and house nearly 700 students. In a few short months, Steven and Jann Paul Hall will come online as the new state-of-the-art home of the School of Science and Engineering. We are also celebrating the newly reopened natatorium at Reily Student Recreation Center; the new TUPD station on the corner of Broadway and Zimple; the ongoing progress on the top-to-bottom renovation of Richardson Memorial Hall, home of the School of Architecture; and the return of the 1834 Club, the popular dining lounge for faculty and staff.
Our downtown campus is bustling as well. A major renovation of the School of Medicine’s research labs in the Hutchinson Building is well underway, and the university’s most ambitious project to date — the rebirth of the iconic Charity Hospital building — is moving forward. As the anchor tenant occupying one-third of the million-square-foot space of Charity – as well as the redevelopment of the Tulane Downtown Hospital complex – we will bring a long-abandoned block back to vibrant life with several Tulane schools, a new nursing program, and the Innovation Institute alongside apartments, retail and restaurants that will welcome and engage the community. This transformation, along with our recent partnership with LCMC Health and expansion to East Jefferson General Hospital, will establish New Orleans as a hub of bioinnovation and Tulane as a nationally recognized academic medical center for destination health care.
We begin this academic year with exciting new leadership, including alumna Mollye Demosthenidy (L*07, PHTM*07) of the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine as the newly appointed dean of Newcomb-Tulane College and Lindsay Cronk, an expert in scholarly communication strategies, as dean of Tulane University Libraries.
We are also making historic investments in data science that will position us to effectively leverage the recent leaps in AI technology. This includes a transformative gift from longtime supporters Libby and Robert Alexander establishing the Connolly Alexander Institute for Data Science.
Heading into our first season following the Green Wave’s historic Cotton Bowl victory, Tulane’s football team is ranked 24th in the AP Preseason Poll. I can’t wait to see the sea of green and blue in Yulman Stadium for our home opener against the University of South Alabama on September 2nd.
As a final note, I also hope to see many of our students tomorrow morning at Outreach Tulane, a beloved annual tradition where we will channel our incredible Tulane energy into volunteering with a variety of community partners.
There is so much to be excited about as we begin the academic year and get to know the many new faces on our campuses. Together, we will achieve new breakthroughs, discover new innovations and gain new insights. Each and every one of you will contribute your own ideas, your own vision and your own voice to create the singular magic of Tulane.
Roll Wave!
