A Well-Deserved Labor Day

Dear Tulane Community:

I spent most of this week before Labor Day in conversations with hundreds of staff and faculty on our uptown, downtown and primate center campuses. I greatly appreciate and benefited from the concerns, hopes and aspirations staff and faculty members shared with me regarding Tulane's direction as we begin the new academic year and a new chapter in Tulane's history.

Labor Day is an annual tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country. The Tulane staff and faculty I met with this week and with whom I have the honor of working with every day are exemplars of the American workforce. They have my deepest gratitude for their dedicated efforts on behalf of Tulane and its students.

I hope the conversation we had this week can continue. Please email me at maf@tulane.edu if you have any additional comments or questions that were not answered at one of our meetings.

And if you are a first-year student, remember Sept. 12 is the deadline for submitting entries to the Photo Challenge I issued at Convocation. Capture your favorite scene on campus or in the city and send it to maf@tulane.edu. I will treat winning photographers and two of their friends to lunch at Commander's Palace.

There were certainly some photos taken of last night's tailgating festivities prior to the kickoff of the 2015-16 Green Wave football season. It was great to see all the students, alumni, faculty, staff and fans at the game. I like our team's fight and am looking forward to great things this season.

Have a wonderful and well-deserved Labor Day.