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Tulanian

T H E M AG A Z I N E O F TULANE UNIVERSITY

SUMMER 2010

Katrina: Five
Years Gone
A look back at moments that
define the recovery.
CHIC IN THE CITY
PR maven Alison Brod
takes Manhattan.

THE DAYKEEPER’S FRIEND


Judith Maxwell treks Guatemala’s
highlands in search of sacred sites.
what’sInside

Tulanian tulane.edu/tulanian

12 Katrina: Five Years Gone by Mary Ann Travis


The storm devastated the university and the city, but amid the
adversity there was the will to survive.

22 Chic in the City by David McKay Wilson


Women run the show at the pretty-in-pink NYC public relations
powerhouse owned by Alison Brod, NC ’91.

26 The Daykeeper’s Friend by Nick Marinello


The study of language is not a cut-and-dried endeavor. Judith Maxwell, professor
of anthropology and linguistics, forms bonds with Guatemalans as she helps
preserve Mayan languages.

4 President’s Perspective
Tulane researchers engage the oil spill, doing what they
do best, which is all that we all can do, says Scott Cowen.

5 Inside Track
• Spiffed up Newcomb Hall gives nod to the past
• Time is ripe for implementation of coastal restoration plan
• Oiled birds face uncertain future
• Teaching awards
• Medical school opens training campus in Baton Rouge
• Harnessing hydrokinetic energy of Mississippi River
• More students than ever apply to Tulane
• Who’s using the new bike lanes?
• Students build health clinic in Honduras
• Men’s basketball team welcomes new coach
Workers lay boom to protect the
10 Photo Riff coast from the oil spill.
Cooling off with sno-balls is a New Orleans summer custom.

31 The Classes
Read about what your classmates and other Tulane alumni are doing.

40 Giving Back
Thanks for support after the storm. The spirit of Bobby Boudreau remembered.

The field and track team of 1947 lays claim to a high percentage of Tulane Athletics Hall of Famers.

Front cover: That was then and this is now: the flooding and the revitalization of Freret Street and Brown Field adjacent to Aron and
Willow Street residences on McAlister Extension. Photos of flood by Louis Meyer. Recovery photos by Paula Burch-Celentano.
Inside front cover: A view through the Broadway gate near Newcomb Hall. Photo by Tricia Travis (class of 2011).

VOL. 82, NO. 1 TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 | PAGE 1


Tulanian betweenThelines | backTalk
Editor
Mary Ann Travis
Watershed in time
mtravis@tulane.edu

Features Editor Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina slammed onto the Gulf Coast, massively wrecking the city of New
Nick Marinello Orleans and Tulane University. Time, for us in the region, is forever divided into “before” and
mr4@tulane.edu
“after” the storm. In “Katrina: Five Years Gone,” we look at the storm from the perspective of those
“The Classes” Editor
Fran Simon who lived through it and those who came here after the deluge. The university’s recovery would
fsimon@tulane.edu not have been possible without the resilience, determination and leadership of many people. By
Contributors a gathering of wits and marshaling of intelligence, Tulane found a way forward.
Catherine Freshley (’09)
If you’re in the neighborhood around the time of the Katrina anniversary in late August, early
Alicia Duplessis Jasmin September, you might want to stop by to see a multimedia exhibit at the Lavin-Bernick Center on
aduples@tulane.edu
the uptown campus. The presentation, designed with help from Tulanian art director Melinda Viles,
Maureen King
mking2@tulane.edu chronicles the storm and recovery with oral histories, video documentation and still photos. Also,
there’s a website, “Katrina Remembered,” worth checking out at tulane.edu/k5.
Mike Strecker
mstreck@tulane.edu Alison Brod is a 1991 Newcomb College graduate with the smarts and savvy to make a splash
Art Director in the Manhattan public relations world. In “Chic in the City,” David McKay Wilson takes us
Melinda Whatley Viles behind the scenes of her fast-paced product-placement and celebrity-endorsement world.
mviles@tulane.edu
Judith Maxwell, professor of anthropology and linguistics, knows better than most people about
University Photographer
Paula Burch-Celentano embracing different cultures and languages. In “The Daykeeper’s Friend,” Nick Marinello tells the
pburch@tulane.edu story of Maxwell’s affinity for Guatemala, where she has traveled for 37 years, documenting and
Production Coordinator preserving the Kaqchikel language and forming lasting bonds with families there.
and Graphic Designer
Sharon Freeman Enjoy! And keep your e-mails and letters coming.
sfree@tulane.edu

Graphic Designer
Tracey O’Donnell
tbodonn@tulane.edu
Mary Ann Travis
Editor, Tulanian
President of the University
Scott S. Cowen
Vice President of
University Communications
Deborah L. Grant (PHTM ’86)
Executive Director of Publications G-MEN EXPERIENCE photo]: Me: Roy Johns of Lake Charles, La.; the
Carol Schlueter (B ’99) I recognized the picture immediately [page 31, guy standing up [in the photo]: John I. “Jack”
cjs@tulane.edu
spring 2010 Tulanian, of Tulane students pick- Neel of Monroe, La.; the third student: Albert
ing up garbage during a city collectors’ strike in “Moose” Olivier of Thibodaux, La.
Tulanian (USPS 017-145) is a quarterly magazine 1946]—so will give you the details concerning Jack had served in the Army in the Battle of
pub lished by the Tulane Office of University
Publications. Periodical postage at New Orleans, LA the “G-Men” and our experience. the Bulge in Europe, Moose had served as a
70113 and additional mailing offices. Send editorial Early one morning a representative from the fighter pilot in the Air Force, and I had served
correspondence to: Tulanian, 31 McAlister Drive,
Drawer 1, New Orleans, LA 70118-5624, or e-mail Mayor’s office visited the architectural school on two years in the Pacific at sea as an Ensign and
tulanian@tulane.edu. the top floor of the Engineering Building at Lt. j.g. in the Navy.
Opinions expressed in Tulanian are not necessarily Tulane, and asked if any of the students would The three of us were given a police officer,
those of Tulane representatives and do not necessar-
ily reflect university policies. Material may be reprint- help the Mayor of New Orleans and work to and walked through a jeering crowd of pickets
ed only with permission.
pick up garbage for a day. That just about surrounding the garbage site. We came out in a
Tulane University is an affirmative action/equal
opportunity institution.
cleared out the architecture school! He also garbage truck with Moose driving and the
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Tulanian,
wanted some with military experience! police officer up front, and Jack and I hanging
31 McAlister Drive, Drawer 1, New Orleans, LA Three of us quickly gathered together and on, swinging on the rear.
70118-5624.
went to a major garbage site near downtown We were assigned the French Quarter. It was
Summer 2010/ Vol. 82, No. 1
New Orleans: The guy leaning over [in the a horrible stinking mess. Merchants at each

TulaneUniversity
backTalk

shop had placed their garbage on the sidewalk Each garbage truck had a policeman assigned Ford Meter Box still has a Ford as company pres-
in front of their shop. We proceeded to fill up the to it. Our cop had Bourbon Street as his usual ident, has sales in all fifty states and numerous
truck. Each time we cleared a sidewalk area, we beat. Accordingly, he knew all the bartenders foreign countries, and is among the largest pro-
tapped on the truck and Moose moved on to the there. When our truck got to Bourbon Street the ducers of waterworks brass in the United States.
next pile. The truck had a swinging door up high sidewalks were piled high with garbage. As we As a student at Tulane in the 1970s, it was a
on the side, which we used for loading some of picked up the first pile, our “protector” suggest- source of considerable pride to step over the
the nearby garbage. ed to the bartender in the adjoining establishment crescent box in the streets and yards of New
Near the end, after giving the usual tapping to that “his boys” be taken care of. Beer was pro- Orleans and remember that my grandfather
tell Moose to move on, we had forgotten to shut duced for the “boys” and something stronger for had a hand in building this great city. Thank you
the side swinging door. Before we could get the driver and the cop. So it went as we moved for giving me a chance to recall this aspect of my
Moose to stop, the door had decapitated three down the street. Our truck was full (as were we!) college years.
very decorative French Quarter light fixtures— by the time we were half way into the second Paul Aruffo, A&S ’80
leaving the poles still standing. The police officer block, so the driver took a side street en route to Bellaire, Texas
said, “Keep on going!” the collection depot. In those days cars were
We delivered the truckload around noon, and parked on both sides of the side streets. While PHOTO APPRECIATION
called it a day. … Later, we each received a cer- the truck did not go as fast as one would at the I just received my Spring 2010 Tulanian. The
tificate from the City saying “Thanks” for the help. Indy 500, it must have broken the speed limit for pictures on the back cover are beautiful. I am
Roy Johns, A ’48 a narrow New Orleans street—and then some. I interested in the details of the photographs; who
Monroe, La. still recall the sound of smashed fenders along took them, what camera, what lens, etc.
the way as we “boys” hung on to the rear of the James V. Reuter III, E ’78
SON-IN-LAW’S ADMIRATION truck. Baton Rouge, La.
I noted with interest the 1946 photograph of the When we arrived at the central garbage yard,
Tulane student standing next to the garbage truck the garbage in the back of our truck was ablaze,
(facing the camera): John I. Neel (A ’48). apparently caused by something smoldering in
At the time of this photograph Jack was dating one of the boxes of garbage. A fire engine was
Sophie Newcomb student Laurelle Fillmore. The called and, in due course, put out the fire.
Tulane Photo Service photograph was picked up However, that ended my Garbage Collecting
by the AP wire service and seen by Ms. Fillmore’s 101 class.
parents in the Atlanta Constitution. I think their I can also report that at no other time during
concern was that a “DKE garbage collector” my six years at Tulane was a libation offered as
wouldn’t amount to much as an architect! part of my work in class! University photographer Paula Burch-Celentano
Thankfully, Jack finished first in his class, Jack Weinmann, A&S ’50, L ’52 photographed irises on the uptown campus with
and the courtship culminated in marriage. By all New Orleans a Nikon D3 camera with a 70-200 mm lens at
accounts, Jack became a pretty good architect. ISO 200 1/500 @ f/4. We’re happy to announce
They had a beautiful daughter, Laurelle Neel CRESCENT BOX CONNECTION that Burch-Celentano has received grand gold
(NC ’73). Laurelle and I were married in ’78. Your article [page 40, spring 2010 Tulanian] on and gold medals from the Council for the Ad-
James I. M. Williams the Ford Meter Box Co. crescent box caught my vancement and Support of Education for her
Monroe, La. eye. Edwin Ford was my great grandfather on my photography, including the portrait of Tulane
Note: Jack Neel and Roy Johns established an mother’s side and I have always identified strong- professor and “American Routes” radio show
architectural firm partnership (Johns and Neel) ly with this branch of my family tree. You also founder Nick Spitzer in the winter 2009 Tulanian.
in Monroe, La., in 1952; Heuer, Johns, Neel, Rivers might like to know that Edwin Ford had five
and Webb (1971, merger); and Architecture sons, born in Indiana, one of whom died in
Plus (1983). childhood. The company was eventually estab-
Your letters are always
welcome. E-mail is the drop us
a
BOURBON STREET BEAT
For the record, I was a student [who participat-
lished in Wabash, Ind., and all of the Ford broth-
ers, including Richard V. Ford, my grandfather,
worked for the company, which continues to
best way to reach us:
tulanian@tulane.edu.
You can also write us
by U.S. mail: Tulanian,
line
ed in collecting garbage in the French Quarter produce waterworks brass, meter boxes, repair University Publications, 200 Broadway, Suite
219, New Orleans, LA 70118.
in 1946]. … clamps and numerous other products. Currently,

TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 | PAGE 3


president’sPerspective

Questions and answers with the Greater New Orleans Community Data engage these crises, each doing what we can,
Center to study employment trends in coastal we are made better by them.
It is nothing less than ironic that as New Orleans regions affected by the spill; and chemical engi-
and the Gulf Coast region come together to com- neers Vijay John and Kyriakos Papadopoulos,
memorate the landfall of Hurricane Katrina and experts in dispersants and bioremediation, are
the five years of recovery from its devastating consulting with the Louisiana Office of Coastal
impact, we now face another unprecedented Protection and Restoration Authority.
calamity. The ceaseless flow of oil into the Gulf Ky Lu and the Tulane Disaster Leadership Re-
of Mexico following last April’s explosion of the silience Academy are offering certificate training
Deepwater Horizon rig is an environmental dis- in disaster management and maintaining a web-
aster of unparalleled proportion, and among site offering comprehensive, up-to-the-minute in-
the most disturbing things about it is that we formation about the oil spill and its ramifications.
don’t yet know the scope of its impact. Toxicologist LuAnn White is an adviser to the
When I talk to people about the oil spill, what National Oil Spill Incident Command and to the
I hear from them over and over again is their Louisiana state health officer. She’s also advising
anxiety about the uncertainty of this tragic event. the federal Centers of Disease Control and
How great was the flow of the oil from the Prevention on health issues related to the spill.
seabed? What species of animals are most at risk? John McLachlan and Matthew Burrow of the
To what extent will our coastlines be affected? Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental
What does this mean for America’s energy future? Research (CBR) are leading an evaluation of the
It is in asking difficult, troubling questions and toxicity to humans of chemicals in the oil and dis-
diligently endeavoring to answer them that we persants. The CBR also is coordinating the efforts
will eventually meet the many challenges that are of university departments to test water, soil and
currently before us. air for pollutants, as well as recommend ways to
In the winter 2010 Tulanian, I wrote about the mitigate the impact on fish, birds and wildlife.
lessons learned in the wake of Katrina. Foremost Believe me, these are only a few of the many in
among those lessons was the value of careful the Tulane community who are responding to this
assessment of our situation, which was the criti- crisis, each following his or her academic interest
cal first step that put us on the road to recovery. and expertise. Individually and collectively, they
And I can tell you that any such assessment seek to deepen our understanding of what is hap-
begins with good information. pening in the Gulf and along the coast.
As an academic who has spent his life in the In doing so, they embody another important
business of creating and purveying information, lesson we learned in the aftermath of Katrina:
it is both humbling and fascinating to witness when faced with a challenge or a crisis, each
Tulane scholars and researchers engaging in of us can only do what it is in our ability to do.
myriad ways with this unfolding crisis to find But within the boundary of our abilities we must
answers to questions we never before had to ask. do all that we can to meet the challenges and
Nearly every week since the spill began ap- mitigate the crisis.
proaching the coastline, biologist Michael Blum I think of the “Cajun navy,” a flotilla of barges
and his team of postdoctoral fellows have been strung together by the residents of Grand Isle to
plying Barataria Bay waters in a skiff, tracking defend that barrier island from the oil slick, and
how microbes—the smallest of life forms along I am inspired by their resourcefulness and their
the barrier islands—are responding to the oil. willingness to do whatever it takes.
Another biologist, Caz Taylor, is sampling the I have no doubt that Hurricane Katrina
larvae of blue crabs in the estuaries and offshore made Tulane a stronger community, just as
breeding shoals in order to assess the influence it strengthened communities along the entire For more information on how Tulane is re-
of oil on population size and migration. Gulf Coast. We don’t wish for calamity to sponding to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, go to the
Geographer Richard Campanella is working come our way, but when we join together to university’s website at http://oilspill.tulane.edu.

PAGE 4 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010


inside Track
A walk through history
Photos of events and people from the history of Newcomb College hang on the newly painted
bright white and red walls of Newcomb Hall’s first floor. “The whole concept was that we would
do something with the linear space of the walls,” says Jeremy Jernegan, professor of art and
associate dean of the School of Liberal Arts, who helped design the new look. “Reflecting on the
history of the institution seemed like the natural thing to do.”
newsNotes | insideTrack

Oil turns coastal birds


into sitting ducks
Following the explosion of the Deepwater
Horizon oil rig in April, Louisiana’s coastal birds
face an uncertain future because of the oil that has
seeped into the marshes where they live. Tulane
University ecologist and conservation biologist
Thomas Sherry explains that the birds will endure
long-term effects as a result of the oil arriving
during their peak breeding season.
“When the adult birds get even a little oil on
them, it gets onto their eggs,” says Sherry. “The
tiny pores in the calcium eggshells allow carbon
dioxide out and oxygen in. Since the oil is inter-
fering with that gas exchange, the eggs will not
Crews clean up oil from the already fragile and stressed Louisiana wetlands. survive.” Even small amounts of oil can kill the
embryo inside the eggshell.
Moment of truth to work within the frameworks that we’ve Birds indigenous to the marsh encounter oil
already begun to create.” not only when it washes ashore but also offshore,
The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil Davis notes that there are processes in place when they dive below the water’s surface to
rig—killing 11 offshore workers and spewing for cleanup and restoration in the wake of an oil catch food. Once oil has coated a bird’s feathers,
millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of spill, but those processes were not designed for it is likely the bird will perish. Sherry offers the
Mexico—is an environmental and economic a spill of the magnitude and scope of the one image of a human trying to swim wearing a bul-
tragedy; it also constitutes a “moment of truth” in currently in the Gulf. ky winter coat. “It can be done, but eventually
the decadeslong effort to implement effective “It’s not going to be fixable by a handful of you’re going to get really tired.”
policies for conserving and restoring coastal projects that BP undertakes or writes checks While capturing and cleaning the birds is a
areas, says Mark Davis, director of the Tulane for,” says Davis. “The only way you are going to humane endeavor that Sherry supports, he says
Institute of Water Resources Law and Policy. heal some of this is to do the things we already the research on whether it really helps them
Since the late 1980s, federal and state officials, knew we had to do to heal the coast, and that survive after they are released is unclear.
with input from scientists and engineers, have takes you into a completely different sphere of “One of the scariest things is that the scientific
gradually developed plans for coastal restoration thinking and acting than you would normally see community doesn’t have a clue how this is going
and hurricane protection that culminated in a with an oil spill cleanup.” to affect birds and other animals and for how
master plan that was approved by the Louisiana A holistic view is one that necessarily avoids long,” says Sherry. “The one thing we know for
Legislature in 2007. Davis says that any efforts to polemics. “This isn’t a matter of nature good, oil sure is that we’ll be dealing with this for decades
remediate damage from the oil spill should bad,” says Davis, who acknowledges that oil to come.
“dovetail with the broader plans that have been exploration in the Gulf will not only continue but —Alicia Duplessis Jasmin
on the drawing boards for so long.” is likely expand in the years to come. Alicia Duplessis Jasmin is a writer in the
The broader plans to restore coastal wetlands “If we are going to do it, we have to do it in a publications office.
comprise projects diverting freshwater and sedi- way that is more clear-eyed,” he says. “We should
ment from the Mississippi River, restoring barrier do it in a way that does not subsidize those ener-
islands, and stabilizing naturally occurring ridges gy choices with environmental risks as well as
and shorelines. risks to other economies like fishing and tourism.
In the weeks and months after the blowout, “I don’t demand the state of Louisiana, the oil
Davis says his institute has advocated that in the and gas industry and everybody else have poli-
midst of this crisis state and federal officials cies I agree with,” says Davis, “but they should at
should not lose sight of the larger picture. least be understandable, they should be rectifi-
“This spill adds to the peril [for coastal areas] able and they should be based on an honest
but it is not the only threat these wetlands are assessment of risk and benefit. And that is not
facing,” says Davis. where we are.”
“Our view is you don’t need a brand new plan. —Nick Marinello
What you need is a brand new commitment and Nick Marinello is features editor of Tulanian. A baby tern is gently cleaned.

P A G E 6 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 CREW PHOTO FROM U.S. COAST GUARD. PHOTO OF BABY TERN BY JULIE DERMANSKY, NC ’87.
insideTrack | newsNotes

Professors recipients of the university’s highest honor for What I feel that we’re doing in our classes is giving
undergraduate teaching. students a conceptual language to understand
espouse confidence, The 2010 Suzanne and Stephen Weiss Presi- how film works.”
critical thinking dential Fellowships were announced in con- Critical thinking and writing are central to what
junction with the commencement ceremony Nghana Lewis teaches. Literary studies and critical
Confidence and critical thinking—these are the held in May. race theory are her areas of expertise. She is the
attributes and skills that Constance Balides and “Confidence is not something you just have,” director of the African and African diaspora stud-
Nghana Lewis say they aim to develop in their stu- says Balides, director of film studies at Tulane. ies program at Tulane.
dents. Balides, associate professor of communica- Confidence comes when you push yourself “past Lewis earned her bachelor of arts from Tulane
tion, and Lewis, associate professor of English and a limit into an unknown zone, into the next level in 1994. She attributes much of how she approach-
African and African diaspora studies, are this year’s of sophistication in your thinking.” es teaching to observations of her professors, who
The challenges that she gives her stu- in some cases are her colleagues now.
dents, Balides says, “help them develop “I’m still learning from them. What I expect of
confidence so that when they go out into my students is consistent with what was expected
the world, they’re equipped to pursue of me.”
what they want to pursue because they’ve Lewis’ goal is for her students to understand that
already had successes.” “the university is a place where we generate ideas,
Students usually come to film studies and we’re encouraged to think broadly.”
because they like to watch movies, but But creativity and free-thinking in themselves
they quickly learn in Balides’ classes that are not the end destination in education, says
film studies demands intensive reading Lewis. “The end is being able to practically take
and in-depth analysis. that knowledge and apply it to the world.”
Nghana Lewis, associate professor of English, and
Constance Balides, associate professor of commun- “Cinema matters,” says Balides, “because —Mary Ann Travis
ication, are recipients of Weiss Fellowships. it is a way that culture talks about itself. Mary Ann Travis is editor of Tulanian.

Mentors light fire in treating his students like colleagues. “I can’t support,” “insistence on sound scholarship” and
teach and not be connected with my students,” being a “trusted mentor.”
of scholarship he says, adding that his most lasting contribution “I think of this as a community award,”
Don Gaver and Larry Powell are as different as to graduate education “comes from direct men- says Gaver. “No given faculty member does it
their disciplines—biomedical engineering and his- torship of students in my laboratory.” by himself.”
tory—but they are kindred spirits when it comes to How do they define success? “When stu- —Carol Schlueter
a dedication to students. Tulane honored them dents are able to teach themselves,” says Carol Schlueter is executive director of publications.
with this year’s President’s Awards for Excellence Gaver, who often engages his
in Graduate and Professional Teaching. classrooms in collaborative
With a combined 52 years at Tulane, Powell, a learning, in which students
history professor, and Gaver, professor and chair complete group projects and
of biomedical engineering, have sent hundreds of teach their classmates.
graduate students to successful academic and For Powell, success comes
scientific careers. “when you see the disserta-
Their colleagues, as well as current and for- tion, that accomplished piece
mer graduate students, wrote commendation of work,” the result of many
letters for the university’s highest upper-level hours of guidance. “You’re
teaching award that provides to each one a medal preparing the people who will
and $5,000. replace us.”
“Teaching is not the right way to describe it,” One student says Gaver
said Powell. “It’s shepherding young historians into is successful in encourag-
being full-fledged members of our guild. You guide ing new ideas and instilling
them and hope to light some fire within them.” “a curiosity for investigat-
Don Gaver, professor of biomedical engineering, and Larry Powell,
Gaver, who also holds the Alden J. “Doc” ing.” Powell’s former stu- professor of history, are recognized for passing along their passion for
Laborde Chair in Biomedical Engineering, believes dents praise his “unflagging scholarship to their graduate students.

T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | P A G E 7
newsNotes | insideTrack

Rouge General physicians serve as Numbers game


teachers, mentors and role models at
the new campus. The program marks This year’s undergraduate application season
the first time in the Tulane medical was one for the record books. Tulane received
school’s 175-year history that it has 44,000 applications for full-time undergraduate
opened a training campus outside of admission for the 2010 academic year. That’s a
the New Orleans area. record-breaking number for the university and
“This bold and progressive initia- appears to be a greater number of applications
tive provides unique opportunities than were received by any private university in
for medical students in the state of the nation.
Louisiana, and will define our state as The high number of applicants resulted in a
The first cadre of Tulane medical students have begun their a national leader in medical educa- highly qualified applicant pool from which to
clinical rotations at Baton Rouge General’s Mid City hospital. tion,” said Dr. Benjamin Sachs, dean choose the incoming class, says Earl Retif, vice
of the School of Medicine and senior president for enrollment management.
Med school vice president of Tulane University. Admission staff members deal with competing
Dr. Floyd “Flip” Roberts, Baton Rouge General interests as they assemble an incoming class.
partners with chief medical officer, serves as regional dean for They look for students with high SAT and ACT
Baton Rouge hospital the Tulane students in Baton Rouge. While the scores and top rankings in their high schools.
program is starting with 10 students, it will enroll Good grades count, of course. But so do extra-
Tulane University School of Medicine and Baton an additional 20 during its second year. Plans call curricular activities and diversity of all sorts—
Rouge General Medical Center have entered into for it to grow to 160 students during the next geographic, ethnic and academic.
a partnership to create a satellite training campus several years. In step with the university’s commitment to
in Baton Rouge, La. Baton Rouge General Medical Center is a full- public service, students who show a dedication
Starting in May, a select group of 10 Tulane service, community hospital providing cardiolo- to community engagement have an edge on
medical students began their third- and fourth- gy, oncology, medical, emergency and surgical getting into Tulane.
year clinical rotations in Baton Rouge General’s services for adult and pediatric patients, serving “It’s like a puzzle,” says Retif. “You’re just
Mid City hospital, serving required clerkships 175,000 people each year in the greater Baton trying to put the puzzle together.”
in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pedi- Rouge area. Tulane tries to meet the financial aid needs of
atrics, family medicine, neurology, psychiatry —Mike Strecker all admitted students, says Retif. Even in the
and other departments. Experienced Baton Mike Strecker is director of public relations. uncertain economy, Tulane is doing all it can,
within reason, to help deserving, high-caliber
students attend the university.
At Tulanian press time, more than 1,600
Riversphere to explore
admitted students had sent in commitment
alternative energy sources deposits for the fall semester.
—Mary Ann Travis
The U.S. Economic Development Administration has awarded Tulane University a $3 million
grant to help build RiverSphere, a research center, education facility and business incubator
focused on water sustainability and renewable energy. The facility, located at the Robin Street
Wharf in downtown New Orleans, will include floating barges on which private companies can
test prototypes of power turbines capable of generating electricity using river currents.
The grant, which is funded through supplemental disaster appropriations from hurricanes
Katrina and Rita, will be used to convert a 22,000-square-foot warehouse into the River
Sphere campus.
“RiverSphere will focus initially on ‘in-stream’ hydrokinetic technologies that harness the
power of the Mississippi River to generate carbon-free electricity,” said Douglas Meffert,
RiverSphere executive director and deputy director for policy at the Tulane/Xavier Center for
Bioenvironmental Research. “RiverSphere will be a place to explore the most cost-effective
and environmentally safe energy solutions for New Orleans, Southeast Louisiana and similar
geographies around the world.”
RiverSphere also will house laboratories for river-related research and exhibition space. Tulane broke records for applications for full-time
undergraduate admission in 2010.

P A G E 8 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 HOSPITAL PHOTO FROM BATON ROUGE GENERAL MEDICAL CENTER. ILLUSTRATION BY TRACEY O’DONNELL.
insideTrack | newsNotes

Have lanes,
will bike?
New Orleans is gradually becoming a more
bike-friendly city. As new bike lanes are
appearing on major corridors such as St.
Charles and Carrollton avenues, the Tulane
Prevention Research Center is evaluating
their use to determine the extent of impact
from such environmental improvements.
“We will be able to determine whether
the number of people cycling increases,
and if new bike lanes attract new riders or
pedestrians to places where new lanes are
present,” says Jeanette Gustat, principal
investigator of the project.

A mission to the mountains where we’ve decided to build the


clinic,” says Tim Rinaldi, a Tulane senior and a
mountains student leader for the 2010 mission. He has
made four trips to Honduras.
In the second of two spring trips this year to the There is a critical need for the mountaintop
northwestern corner of Honduras, students medical clinic, Rinaldi says.
involved in Mission Honduras put the finishing “One thing we’ve always noticed is that if
touches on a new health clinic that will serve anyone ever needed medical attention, they
villagers in the remote and mountainous area. probably would not be able to make it down the
The mission, a student undertaking spon- mountain to get to a hospital.” Ed Conroy is the new head coach of the Green
sored by the Tulane Catholic Center, has sent There are approximately 40 families in each of Wave men’s basketball team.
students to Honduras annually since 2002. This the 13 villages situated in the El Merendon
year, students first visited the country during mountains, and most of the families do not have New coach courtside
spring break and returned after classes ended motorized transportation to make the three-hour
in May. drive into town, Rinaldi says. Ed Conroy has been named the 23rd head
“Every year we spend some time in the city While the clinic will not offer emergency coach in the 99-year history of the Tulane
of San Pedro Sula and some time up in the services, it will be staffed with nurses and a doc- men’s basketball program.
tor who will visit once per week. Conroy comes to Tulane after a four-year
Staffing is the result of arrangements stint as head coach at The Citadel. He was
made with the Catholic parish in San named 2008–09 Southern Conference
Pedro Sula. Coach of the Year and earned NABC District
Typically, students on the annual 22 Coach of the Year honors after leading
mission take part in several commu- The Citadel to a 20-13 record that included
nity service projects, visiting individ- a school record 15 conference victories.
uals who are ill and orphanages, “Ed, with his experience and history of
where they deliver supplies. turning around programs, is the perfect
The 33 students participating this coach to teach and inspire our student-
year raised more than $15,000 to athletes and return Tulane basketball to
build, staff and supply the clinic on being a highly successful program,” said
Students with the Tulane Catholic Center Mission pause from an ongoing basis. Rick Dickson, athletics director.
their work on a health clinic in the mountains of Honduras. —Alicia Duplessis Jasmin

HONDURAS GROUP PHOTO FROM TIM RINALDI. PHOTO OF COACH CONROY BY SALLY ASHER. T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | P A G E 9
photoRiff photoRiff

Sno-ball, anyone? These icy confections are for sale at a stand not far from the uptown campus—and they’re “plum” delicious.

P A G E 10 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | P A G E 1 1
Ceramic artist and professor Jeremy Jernegan (left) works in his home studio before Katrina. After the storm (center), a tangle of debris fills the studio. In his art,
Jernegan has long used water imagery. In Prescience (right) (2008), a 50-by-70-by-9-inch ceramic and stainless steel wall sculpture, he explores the conflicting
fascination with and fear of water that humans have.

JEREMY JERNEGAN took a chance two and a happen but you didn’t expect all the things that its eerily quiet surroundings.
half weeks after the storm, driving past did happen. It was horrifying. It was fascinating.” Jernegan says that early during that dark fall,
National Guard checkpoints to get into the Katrina was and is a vast collective event, he pondered the viability of New Orleans and
closed city and back to his house. experienced by thousands of people whose Tulane University.
Jernegan, professor of art and now associate lives were upended. It means different things “Even as you couldn’t believe that they
dean for finance and planning in the School of to different people. And Katrina stories with could fail, you weren’t exactly sure they would
Liberal Arts, lives in the Venetian Isles neigh- common themes of the good and the bad, the not,” he says. The fragility of the city and the
borhood in eastern New Orleans. His house is lost and the gained, will continue to fan out, university in the aftermath of the storm was
on a lovely spot on the water in an area out- reverberating through the years. sobering, says Jernegan. It seemed that one
side levee protection and, on Aug. 29, 2005, in Jernegan, a ceramics artist, lost most of his would not survive without the other.
the direct path of the eye of Hurricane Katrina. sculptures that were stored in his home studio Tulane President Scott Cowen and the Tulane
“It was astonishing,” says Jernegan of his and books, files and tools stored in his Board deserve credit for taking decisive action
first view of the neighborhood and his house office/studio at the Newcomb Art Department. to renovate and reopen the university as quick-
into which the storm surge had pushed 16 and But he, like thousands of others, set to work ly as possible, says Jernegan, echoing what
a half feet of water. immediately cleaning up and clearing out. many others have said. The swift and emphat-
“Boats were everywhere. Debris was every- During fall 2005, before moving into a FEMA ic decisions to hire Belfor, a disaster mitigation
where. The surge came in with great violence. trailer on their property in March 2006, company that zealously cleaned up the Tulane
But the house was still standing. That was the Jernegan and his wife, Vicki, lived in an campuses in time for the reopening of the uni-
BY MARY ANN TRAVIS good news,” he says. uptown neighborhood house lent to them by versity in January 2006, along with the
Waves of water, as if churned by a demon- art professor Elizabeth Boone, who stayed in December 2005 Renewal Plan that outlined a
ic washing machine, had sloshed and tumbled Washington, D.C., for the semester. major reorganization and downsizing of the
everything everywhere, making an unbeliev- Jernegan would anxiously travel back and university, “were bold and important decisions
able tangle of stuff. forth from the uptown “sliver by the river,” to make,” says Jernegan.
The transformation was dramatic, says where lights were on, through dark, devastat-
Jernegan. “You knew things could and would ed swaths of the city to work on his house in

8.27.07 EVACUATION 8.30.05 LEVEES FAIL Breaks


ORDER New student orienta- in the levee system allow flood-
The cataclysmic storm that five years ago shook tion is shortened because a
major hurricane named Katrina
8.29.05 KATRINA MAKES
LANDFALL Katrina comes
waters to inundate 80 percent
of the city. “Then all hell broke
the university and the city of New Orleans to their HOW TIME FLIES is threatening the New Orleans
area. Tulane President Scott
ashore just 30 miles east of the
city. President Cowen and emer-
loose,” says President Cowen.
“We lost power, water pressure
foundations proves to be a catalyst for change. Cowen welcomes students to
Tulane and then tells them they
gency personnel ride out the
storm on the uptown campus.
and all communications.”

will be evacuated.

PHOTOS: CENTER: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO; TOP RIGHT AND BOTTOM LEFT: LOUIS MAYER; NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGES: THE TIMES-PICAYUNE. PHOTOS: COURTESY OF JEREMY JERNEGAN.
The Wilson Athletics Center (left) and tennis courts on the uptown campus sit in Katrina floodwaters. National Guard soldiers (center) occupy Mold (left) grows profusely in French professor Elizabeth Poe’s living room in the weeks after the storm. During the lagniappe semester in summer 2006,
Gibson Hall, where they camped out in September 2005 during their deployment in the city. Trash collected during the cleanup (right) piles up in front of Poe challenged her students’ French vocabulary prowess by giving them the assignment to describe the moldy scene in French. A FEMA trailer (center) parked
Newcomb Hall in fall 2005. The EcoPavilion in City Park (below) is a Tulane City Center project built after the storm and next to a Works Progress in their yard is where Poe and her husband, classics professor Joe Poe, lived for 18 months while their house was repaired. Poe (right) says her Katrina
Administration structure (in the background) built in the 1930s, both symbols of overcoming hard times. experience confirmed that New Orleans is home. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis (below) welcomes students “home.”

some estimates put the population at 350,000. Elizabeth Poe, a French professor, vouches disaster unfold on television on CNN Interna- Senior professors like Poe had to step up to the
When accurate population figures are available for the quality of students. “We’ve always had tional. Their one-story house on State Street plate and teach more courses and different
FIRST-YEAR, FIRST-TIME, FULL-TIME from the 2010 census, Campanella is anticipating good students,” she says. “But I think that Drive flooded and they lost everything, which for courses than they had before the storm. During
UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT, a slightly lower number than the current estimates. Tulane is attracting better and better students. them was primarily books and antique furniture. the spring 2006 semester, Poe taught three cours-
BY YEAR
TRAUMATIC BLOW That is our future.” The kindness and generosity of family, friends es, including intermediate French 203, a class
FALL 2004 1,596
The city of New Orleans has suffered many other and strangers were extraordinary after the storm, that she had not taught in 20 years.
SPRING 2006* 1342
FALL 2006 882
disasters in its 300-year history. But Katrina is New PHD programs says Poe. Her undergraduate mentor at Mount Surprisingly, Poe says, she found the expe-
FALL 2007 1,324 different, says geographer Richard Campanella, inLINGUISTICS and Holyoke College, when she learned of Poe’s loss rience gratifying. “Coming back like that was
FALL 2008 1,560 author of Bienville’s Dilemma and Geographies AGING STUDIES of French literature books collected over de- absolutely the best thing for me, psychological-
of New Orleans. He is associate director of the have been initiated since 2009. cades, gave Poe her own personal library. ly and otherwise.”
FALL 2009 1,502
Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental The FRENCH The Poes returned to New Orleans in Decem- First-year students, who had only spent a few
FALL 2010 (ESTIMATED) 1,620
Research and research assistant professor of DOCTORAL program ber 2005 and lived in a FEMA trailer for 18 months hours on campus before the storm, surprised Poe
along with a CITIES,
* Spring 2006 was the semester the earth and environmental sciences. while their house was raised and renovated. the most. “The students were so happy to
university reopened after it was closed Despite the traumas caused by other serious That the population is three-quarters its pre- CULTURES AND The French doctoral program had been sus- be here,” says Poe. “They were upbeat and sup-
due to Hurricane Katrina damages for the floods, hurricanes, yellow fever and cholera Katrina size is the result of not only natives return-
COMMUNITIES pended in the Renewal Plan, which left the portive. They buoyed me and made it one of the
entire fall 2005 semester. epidemics and one war, the population of New ing but also newcomers moving in. Drawn to New
SOCIOLOGY French department with no teaching assistants. best semesters ever.”
Tulane students attended more than 600 Orleans continued to rise until 1960, when due Orleans by a fascination with its culture and a
PHD program and an The whole Katrina ordeal “confirmed that
universities during fall 2005.
to white flight and middle class exodus, the pop- desire to participate in the recovery, these non-
ECONOMICS New Orleans is our home,” says Poe. “And
Remarkably, 86 PERCENT PHD program also have
ulation slowly declined from its peak of 627,000. natives are helping the city rebuild. “Their pres- been reinstated after their then the Saints winning the Super Bowl [in
of first-year undergraduate students
“Katrina stands alone as the city’s the first ence here represents a creaming effect. They’re suspension after the storm. January 2010]. That was icing on the cake.”
who had been enrolled pre-Katrina in
fall 2005 returned to Tulane for the major catastrophe that was coupled with and self-selected; they really want to be here and be- A new French studies PhD program began
spring 2006 semester. causative of a dramatic population loss,” says come New Orleanians,” says Campanella. “That’s Poe has taught at Tulane for 33 years. She in 2009, which also gives the French depart-
Campanella. why so many post-Katrina students are extraordi- and her husband, Joe Poe, professor of classics, ment “a renewed sense of purpose,” says Poe.
In 2005, before the storm, the population of nary, and the brain gain is something to be opti- were in Germany, preparing for a sabbatical year
New Orleans was estimated at 452,170. Today, mistic about. Self-selection is a powerful force.” in France, when Katrina hit. They watched the

11.14.05 TULANE CITY


8.31.05 STUDENTS 9.07.05 ATHLETICS TEAMS CENTER OPENS The School of 1.16.06 WYNTON MARSALIS
DISPERSE TO OTHER REGROUP Green Wave base- 9.14.05 FREE CLINICS OPEN Architecture creates Tulane City SPEAKS Celebrating the 1.17.06 TULANE REOPENS
SCHOOLS The American ball team and women’s basket- Tulane physicians provide free Center—an urban outreach and 12.08.05 RENEWAL PLAN reopening of local universities, A renewed Tulane University
Council on Education encour- ball team arrive in Lubbock, medical care for New Orleans research program in which stu- ANNOUNCED President Scott 12.19.05 WTUL RETURNS New Orleans native, composer opens its doors for the spring
ages the higher education com- Texas, to attend Texas Tech citizens. Clinic locations include dents and faculty envision, Cowen and the Tulane Board WTUL-FM, the student-run alter- and jazz musician Wynton semester. “We have always
munity to house and enroll stu- University during the Katrina Harrah’s Casino, Covenant design and construct projects present the Renewal Plan, a native music station, returns to Marsalis plays the trumpet and taught history at Tulane; now
dents from storm-damaged semester-in-exile. Other athletics House in the French Quarter, to help in the rebuilding of series of broad changes that the airwaves by broadcasting delivers a powerful speech we are going to make it,” says
institutions. Eventually, 13,000 teams stay together and enroll Ida Hymel Health Center in New Orleans, especially the reorganize the university into a from a local coffee house. about the city’s cultural rebirth President Cowen.
Tulane students enroll in more in other institutions. Algiers and the University nonprofit sector. smaller, more focused institution. in McAlister auditorium.
than 600 colleges and universi- Square parking lot.
ties across the country.
PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: AP IMAGES; TOP CENTER AND RIGHT: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO; BELOW: EMILIE TAYLOR. PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF ELIZABETH POE; OTHER PHOTOS: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO.
The flooded track and football practice field (left) is a lake of destruction after the levees break. By the end of September 2005, the grounds (center) are drained In the URBANbuild program of the School of Architecture, students design and construct houses, starting from an empty lot (left) in neighborhoods such as Treme.
and designated a staging area for campus rebuilding equipment. Two and a half years later, the brand new Greer Baseball Field at Turchin Stadium (right) They learn carpentry and framing (center) and all the steps involved to complete a finished house (right), which is then sold to low-income New Orleanians.
on the same site opens as a symbol of recovery. Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush (below) address Tulane graduates in the first post-Katrina commencement ceremony.

part of that and, I think, take some pride in it.” new Tulane is more integrated into the com- Scott Bernhard, the Jean and Saul A. Mintz “The volume of things coming at us, especially He is making sure that the work that the
$650 MILLION He’s looking forward to the future. “I’m just munity. “I think there’s more of a focus on the Associate Professor in the School of Architect- at the beginning, and the lack of any guide, was School of Architecture is doing in the communi-
is the total amount of glad to be back and trying as hard as we can to individual’s place in the community, and not ture and director of its Tulane City Center, overwhelming at first,” says Bernhard. “But it was ty “connects in important ways to our curriculum
estimated financial losses suffered get this thing back to where it used to be.” just professionally, but personally, too.” which came into existence in November 2005, an opportunity to find out what can really be within the normative enterprise of educating
by Tulane University due to
Carolyn Barber-Pierre, assistant vice presi- Researchers have shifted their view of their says that the school’s applied research and done when needs are urgent.” young women and men to become architects.”
damages from Hurricane Katrina.
dent for intercultural life in the Division of work, says Mitchell. “We consider our place in outreach program was created to rise to the Now, five years after the storm, it’s time to On a personal level, Schwartz says, “I feel a
Student Affairs, spent the fall 2005 semester the local community much more seriously take a deep breath, says Bernhard, and focus sense of privilege to be here. And that’s not just
NEW NORMAL working out of her sister-in-law’s bedroom in than before.” on the next, longer phase of reconstruction. rhetoric. I felt it tangibly, palpably when I first
Before Katrina, in summer 2005, the Green Wave Hahnville, La., using her cell phone and laptop Scientists and engineers are easily collaborating Kenneth Schwartz became dean of the School came and still do.”
baseball team had been ranked No. 1 in the computer. She worked with other staff to recon- in the new School of Science and Engineering, of Architecture in 2008. He came to Tulane from
nation and made a good showing at the College nect with first-year students and helped in plac- says Mitchell. He has been working on the devel- the University of Virginia and says that the role Students in the Tulane School
World Series. ing them and other Tulane students in the more opment of new interdisciplinary PhD programs that Tulane plays in the community was a central URBANBUILD
of Architecture
But 10 days after the storm, Rick Jones, head than 500 universities that they attended that fall. in linguistics, aging studies, economics, French consideration when he and wife, Judith Kinnard, program have designed and
baseball coach, and his entire team of 37 players She also had a role in establishing the consor- studies, and cities, cultures and community. also a professor of architecture and a designer of 6 HOUSES
fully built
and assistant coaches found themselves in tium of private institutions, including Tulane, multifamily dwellings, made the decision to in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina.
Lubbock, Texas, where the student-athletes Loyola, Dillard and Xavier universities, to devel- rebuilding challenges of Katrina. A common move to New Orleans.
enrolled in Texas Tech University for the fall op support services such as housing, libraries, Tulane School of Architecture ingredient of City Center projects is that “There is no place like New Orleans post- He says that he’s on a remarkable journey
2005 semester. recreation and transportation for the reopening
has DOUBLED “Tulane architecture faculty and students are Katrina in the way in which a major research at Tulane, working closely with resilient and
its number of students in its
Today, Tulane has a new baseball stadium, of the schools in January 2006. working together to produce design and con- university is playing such a central role in dedicated faculty and students.
graduate programs since 2008.
opened in February 2008. Jones, who has been After the storm, Barber-Pierre says, “We came struction work for the benefit of the larger rebuilding and repositioning the city for its “We have many heroes here at Tulane and in
at Tulane for 17 years, says that he never con- together out of some of the darkest realities and community, especially the nonprofit area,” future,” says Schwartz. the city of New Orleans today,” says Schwartz.
sidered leaving Tulane and New Orleans, even at have moved on a positive path for the future.” Tulane is a more nimble organization since says Bernhard. But the problems of New Orleans are not “I think it’s inspiring to see what this place has
the darkest moments. “This place gets its claws in Brian Mitchell, professor of chemical and bio- Katrina, says Mitchell. “We can implement new Tulane architecture students have designed all unique. “New Orleans is a good laborato- been through in ways that are not just accom-
you. I love this city. Seeing it come back every molecular engineering and associate provost programs and steer our own ship more easily and built six houses since the storm and com- ry to address issues of national importance,” modating the challenges but using the chal-
day, a little something coming back, you feel a for graduate studies and research, says that the than other institutions.” pleted 50 other community-oriented projects. says Schwartz. lenges as springboards for excellence.”

2.14.06 TULANE 4.25.06 RESEARCH 8.22.06 CENTER FOR PUBLIC


UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL & 2.28.06 CARNIVAL ROLLS ENHANCEMENT FUND 5.02.06 QATAR KATRINA 5.13.06 FIRST POST- 7.01.06 NEWCOMB SERVICE OPENS The Center for
CLINIC REOPENS Hundreds ON SCHEDULE The first Tulane commits $20 million to FUND Tulane receives a $10 KATRINA COMMENCEMENT COLLEGE INSTITUTE OPENS Public Service begins operations, 12.6.06 LAVIN-BERNICK
of people gather outside the post-Katrina Mardi Gras establish a Research Enhance- million grant from the people of Former presidents George H. W. The H. Sophie Newcomb serving as a liaison between fac- CENTER DEDICATION A dedi-
emergency department celebration takes place, smaller ment Fund to help researchers Qatar via the Qatar Katrina Bush and Bill Clinton address Memorial College Institute ulty, students and community cation is held for the renovated
entrance to celebrate the than usual but a success in advance projects that were inter- Fund, providing scholarships for graduates at the 2006 com- opens as an interdisciplinary organizations involved in service and expanded Lavin-Bernick
reopening of Tulane University raising the spirits of citizens. rupted as a result of the storm students from Louisiana, Ala- mencement ceremony. The flood- academic center designed to learning and as a facilitator for Center for University Life, often
Hospital & Clinic—the first “Not having it would be like and to support new initiatives. bama and Mississippi affected waters “couldn’t break the spirit enrich women’s education at the new public-service gradua- described as the “heart of the
hospital to reopen in downtown not having Christmas,” says by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. of the people that call this re- Tulane and continue the legacy tion requirement. uptown campus.”
New Orleans since Katrina. Carnival expert Arthur Hardy. markable and improbable city of Newcomb College.
home,” Bush tells them.
PHOTOS: LEFT TO RIGHT: LOUIS MAYER, PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO, PARKER WATERS. PHOTOS: TOP ROW: EMILIE TAYLOR OF URBANBUILD; BELOW: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO.
Tulane medical personnel operate a free clinic (left) at Harrah’s Casino in downtown New Orleans after the storm. Dr. Karen DeSalvo (center photo, left), emerges
as a leader in community health care, commandeering Covenant House as a clinic site. DeSalvo is joined by Dr. Eboni Price and Leah Berger in running the A Tulane nurse (left) readies a patient for evacuation from Tulane Hospital in downtown New Orleans days after the storm, when airlifting was the only way out.
Tulane Community Health Center. A mobile unit (right) now travels to neighborhoods offering medical services to underserved populations. A Chinook rescue helicopter (center) approaches the hospital garage rooftop. Doctors and nurses gather (right) for the hospital reopening almost six months later.

Cell phone lines were down. Landlines were out. up. And people wandered in with mental health dean for community affairs and healthcare pol- Sachs is a newcomer to Tulane, taking his
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS
Military helicopters whirred overhead. But, issues brought on by severe distress. icy and remains chief of the section of general position in November 2007, after 29 years at
somehow, medical school residents Ben Spring- 90,000 patients have
“That was the foundation for my thinking internal medicine and geriatrics at Tulane Harvard Medical School.
received high-quality, cost-effective
gate and Anjali Niyogi reached DeSalvo on her about how important it is to have not just med- School of Medicine. As he looks back on the last two and a half
primary care and mental health services
cell phone. They had been running urgent care ical services at community health centers,” says She continues to fight for healthcare reform, years, Sachs says that he’s never seen so much
sites on the sidewalks of New Orleans, and they
8
from Tulane Community Health
DeSalvo. That the mental and social health connecting the dots between local communi- change occur so quickly for the better, any-
Centers neighborhood-based sites,
asked her to come help them. 3
including mobile units and 1 needs of people are as important as their phys- ties, government and private foundations to where. The changes at the medical school
“I thought they had lost their minds,” says school-based site. The Tulane Community ical health needs became obvious to DeSalvo. bring health care to people who need it. include stabilizing its economics, which had
DeSalvo, who had planned only to get some Health Centers grew out of the In those frantic few months after the storm, “Let’s do new think,” she says, “not old think.” been operating at a deficit; rebuilding research,
$425 MILLION clothes from her unflooded home and return to Tulane Covenant House Community DeSalvo put a stake in the ground for Tulane’s DeSalvo’s work is “a revolution,” says Ben which had been hard hit by the storm; and on
is the total amount of
Houston, where Tulane School of Medicine was Health Clinic organized by Tulane medical lead in establishing community health centers. Sachs, senior vice president and dean of the the clinical side, improving the quality of health
RECOVERY setting up shop for the year. school residents on the sidewalk She raised money, including a grant from School of Medicine and James R. Doty Professor. care. He’s also introduced innovative medical
DOLLARS from all in downtown New Orleans two weeks
sources to date received by Tulane But once DeSalvo fully understood the med- Johnson & Johnson, to keep Tulane Community school teaching approaches, including team
after Hurricane Katrina.
University to recover from Katrina ical needs of the devastated city, she never left. Health Center at Covenant House operating. learning and simulation labs.
losses. These funds include insurance She says that she realized, “We have this chance And with a grant from the Qatar Katrina Fund, $131 MILLION “People are open to change in this environ-
is the total
proceeds, federal grants, FEMA, to do this remarkable thing.” permission of the Covenant House director, Tulane supported a mobile medical unit and the ment,” says Sachs. “The men and women who
Bush/Clinton Fund, block grants, The vision came to her that there is a practi- they broke into the building and set up a clinic. expansion of services.
SPONSORED came back after the storm—the physicians
foreign contributions, etc. cal, cost-efficient way to provide high-quality, Now patients and doctors could get out of the In 2007, DeSalvo testified before the U.S.
RESEARCH and the PhDs and the nurses—are some of the
compassionate health care, she says. sun during the day and have a place to store Congress, requesting $100 million for Tulane
FUNDING received by Tulane most courageous people I’ve ever met,” says
faculty members for their scholarly
MEDICAL REVOLUTION Within a couple of days, and after impromp- supplies at night. DeSalvo and other doctors also and other healthcare providers in New Orleans work in 2008–09. Sachs. “And they are some of the most gutsy
On Sept. 12, 2005, a few days before art professor tu meetings on the ramp outside shuttered opened temporary clinics at other locations. to keep the community health centers going The funding for specific research and most determined people. All that they
Jeremy Jernegan surveyed the staggering storm Charity Hospital, DeSalvo and others comman- “We saw rashes, cuts, abrasions and tons of and expand services. projects comes from extramural sources needed was, ‘let’s go.’ ”
damage at his home, Dr. Karen DeSalvo, profes- deered Covenant House—a community center people with chronic diseases who needed their DeSalvo, who had never worked on policy, such as government agencies, nonprofit Everybody encounters adversity, says Sachs.
sor of medicine, drove back to New Orleans. on Rampart Street on the edge of the French meds for high blood pressure, diabetes and run a health center or raised money, discovered foundations and industry partners. But Tulane Medical School has developed “the
Communication was chaotic after the storm. Quarter. With the help of the police and the TB,” says DeSalvo. Also, cancer patients showed that she could move a city. She is now vice ability to turn adversity into opportunity.”

1.26.07 TULANE NATIONAL 5.23.07 FUNDS FOR 11.11.07 STREETCARS


PRIMATE RESEARCH CENTER 5.18.07 BRIAN WILLIAMS NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH 8.6.07 RECORD MEDICAL 8.20.07 HOT SCHOOL RETURN New Orleans street-
EXPANDS Work begins on a ADDRESSES GRADUATES CARE A $100 million federal CLASS The largest incoming Tulane is named one of the 25 11.8.07 CLOSING MRGO cars once again rumble past
$68 million project to expand 3.15.07 COWEN INSTITUTE “NBC Nightly News” anchor grant goes to the Louisiana medical class in the history of “Hottest Schools in America” in The Water Resources Develop- Gibson Hall with their return to
the Tulane National Primate OPENS DOORS The Scott S. Brian Williams speaks to Public Health Institute, which Tulane University School of the 2008 Kaplan/Newsweek ment Act is passed by Congress, the St. Charles Avenue route.
Research Center in Covington, Cowen Institute for Public graduates at Tulane’s 2007 supports Tulane Community Medicine—175 students— “How to get into College” guide. authorizing the Army Corps of
La. The new facilities generate Education Initiatives opens. commencement ceremony, Health Centers in establishing participates in the school’s White Tulane is recognized as the uni- Engineers to close the Mississippi
jobs and increase the develop- The center is focused on saying, “There would not be a neighborhood health care Coat Ceremony, a symbolic first versity that is the “Hottest on the River Gulf Outlet, the cause of
ment of treatments, vaccines improving the New Orleans Tulane without New Orleans, without reliance on hospital step for the students on their path Rebound” for its recovery from much flooding during Katrina.
and therapies for a variety of public education system. but I am absolutely convinced emergency room visits. to becoming physicians. Hurricane Katrina.
infections and diseases. that there would not be a
New Orleans without Tulane.”
PHOTOS: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO. PHOTOS: TOP LEFT AND CENTER: COURTESY OF DR. LEE HAMM, TULANE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE; TOP RIGHT: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO.
FIVE YEARS. Each year bringing Tulane University closer to full recov- To survive, Tulane had to “build a village,” making sure schools, retail
ery and farther away from near extinction. For President Scott Cowen, the establishments, housing and health care would all be in place.
fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina brings time for reflection. The to-do lists on the hotel ballroom walls got longer and more
Cowen recalls riding out the storm on the uptown campus and watch- complicated.
ing the water rise when the levees broke. Five days after the storm, he left With everything Tulane was facing, how could it be the same institu-
the flooded, powerless campus and went to Houston, where he led Tulane- tion, academically and financially?
in-exile for four months. “Finances were so shaky,” says Cowen. “It was unclear whether we could
He remembers that Houston hotel room, where for the first time he survive in the long term. And that’s when we began to work on a Renewal
saw televised images of the flooding and mayhem. Plan, to help us think about what Tulane ought to look like, post-Katrina.”
“I broke down and cried,” he says. “It was a combination of going The Renewal Plan took shape, focusing on two things: advancing the uni-
through a very intense week and then the versity’s academic reputation and quality,
At the Tulane vs. SMU football game (left) in Dallas on Sept. 24, 2005, a student displays a sign of the times. The football team played in 11 different reality setting in of what had happened, and and ensuring its financial viability.
stadiums during the fall 2005 season. A brass band (center) leads a parade of administrators into McAlister Auditorium at the convocation welcoming what it would mean to us.” The reorganized Tulane has thrived,
students back in January 2006. Student volunteers (right) pitch in to help out in the spirit of public service at a community food bank in fall 2005.
He pauses, reaching for a handkerchief to especially as the public-service gradua-
clean his glasses. It is one of the kerchiefs tion requirement has drawn new students

1 in 4
“Katrina was our economic slump,” says
Bernstein. As other institutions of higher edu-
enough to bring students back to the universi-
ty, says Bernstein. Tulane’s rebirth is tied to its
given to 2010 graduates, fleur-de-lis decorated,
emblazoned with “Do You Know What It
CAN DO like a magnet.
As January 2006 arrived, students already
people in the nation applying to cation are struggling with the financial storm of commitment to service learning and social Means to Miss New Orleans?” were drawn to the recovery efforts. Eighty-
medical school in 2010 applied to the current economic recession, academic offi- entrepreneurship. “It seemed so overwhelming that I didn’t six percent of full-time undergraduates
Tulane Medical School. cers at other universities ask Bernstein, “How That commitment “has enabled Tulane to know what I should do and what order I returned that semester, bringing tears of joy

RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES


did Tulane do it?” present something to a new generation of should do things,” he says. “You feel this to Cowen on opening day and making
Tulane’s coming back, in many ways even undergraduate students that is powerful,” unbelievably awesome responsibility knowing quite an impact on struggling New Orleans.
Michael Bernstein, professor of history and eco- better than it was before the storm, is “testi- says Bernstein. there is no silver bullet to make things right. Fall 2006 brought a decline in the fresh-
nomics, senior vice president of academic affairs mony to the vision of Scott Cowen, the uni- “It’s an historic time to be in this city, but it’s You have responsibility for thousands of peo- man count, “a harsh reminder that what
and provost, assumed the highest academic versity trustees, and the university faculty,” says not an easy time. It takes a particular kind of stu- ple, you have more than 170 of years of lega- happened to us would take years to over-
position at Tulane in July 2007. He came here Bernstein. It’s also the result of the extraordi- dent and faculty member to be here,” he says. cy and you’re shaking your head wondering if come,” but by 2010, undergraduate appli-
from the University of California–San Diego. nary commitment of Tulane students and the The issues that challenge New Orleans— you can lead the university through this BY CAROL J. SCHLUETER cations zoomed to a record 44,000. Cowen
“All the hardship that hit Tulane, the city and resilience of the community. including the Gulf oil spill and other environ- unprecedented crisis.” expects “a stellar incoming class of undergraduates” this fall.
the region was still on display,” says Bernstein. mental issues, infrastructure that needs to be But that night, he took the path that has always worked for him. He faced Financially, things are looking up. “We are certainly doing better than

44,000 high school


“When I came, everybody I met was in some rebuilt, public schools that are in turmoil, city the mammoth task and broke it down to its smallest steps for an action plan. we thought we would, but we’re still not where we need to be. We con-
sort of pain. You could see it in people’s faces.” finances that are compromised, healthcare It was a decisive moment. Cowen’s one-day-at-time approach, marking tinue to have an operating deficit in the budget, but it’s getting smaller
students applied for undergraduate

FALL 2010
But Bernstein came anyway. “Good oppor- delivery problems, socioeconomic inequality, successes, listing each day’s new challenges on large flip charts stuck to the every year,” says Cowen.
tunities don’t come without risks,” he says. admission to Tulane for public health issues—“all these are national walls of the Houston war room, was the means to motivate the team of admin- Katrina profoundly changed him, Cowen says. He is more focused than
Bernstein’s task was to implement the Renew- . problems,” says Bernstein. These problems istrators, all carrying their own Katrina losses, who joined him in Houston. ever on the importance of community. The experience strengthened his
Tulane had more applicants
al Plan. And in June 2010, Bernstein points to the are not unique to this city. “Don’t tell me what you can’t do, just tell me what you can do”—that was love and commitment to Tulane and New Orleans.
than any private university in the nation.
plan’s major accomplishments—financial stabi- “And to the extent we make progress here on Cowen’s Houston mantra. Cowen is full of gratitude for the support from the Tulane community.
lization and the redefinition of Tulane. these things, we’re the national leaders because With the university closed for fall 2005, the team worked toward “The fact is, it takes an army to do what we did, and we have a terrific army.
Tulane is very lean, says Bernstein. The re- we’re showing the way to their resolution.” reopening in January. But while Tulane would be ready, the rest of New We wouldn’t be here today, in the position we are, if it weren’t for them.”
configuring of the institution gives it greater Simply draining floodwaters from buildings Orleans would not be. “Despite our efforts, it could be that things out of
strength going forward. and repairing roofs would not have been Mary Ann Travis is editor of Tulanian. our control would really control our destiny,” Cowen recalls. Carol Schlueter is executive director of the Office of Publications.

5.16.09 KATRINA CLASS


5.17.08 COMMENCEMENT 1.27.09 SIM CENTER OPENS COMMENCEMENT 2.7.10 WHO DAT VICTORY
2.23.08 FIRST GAME IN RETURNS TO THE SUPERDOME The School of Medicine opens Commencement 2009 honors 10.1.09 SOCIAL The Tulane community joins
NEW BALLPARK After a The University Commencement the Tulane Center for Advanced the courageous Katrina class. ENTREPRENEURSHIP 12.11.09 WEATHERHEAD fans everywhere as the New 5.14.10 CLASS OF 2010
two-year absence, Tulane ceremony returns to the Medical Simulation and Team “In the hours and days after OFFICE OPENS Tulane launches GRANT SUPPORTS FACULTY Orleans Saints win the Super GRADUATES Anderson Cooper
baseball is back on campus Louisiana Superdome. James Training, a $3 million facility the storm, I often wondered the Office of Social Entrepreneur- The Weatherhead Foundation Bowl, defeating the Indiana- salutes the class of 2010 for
at the newly renovated Greer Carville and Mary Matalin dedicated to improving whether I would ever see you ship Initiatives to foster develop- pledges $50 million to establish polis Colts, 31-17. The team’s helping New Orleans “rebuild,
Field at Turchin Stadium. address the graduates. “It is com- patient safety and preventing again,” President Cowen tells ment of creative solutions to several University victory brings euphoria to the renew and restart.” They are
pletely and totally appropriate medical errors through the graduates. pressing social challenges. Professorships for outstanding city and is a symbol of recovery the first students to complete
that this class graduate in this comprehensive training for faculty members. from Katrina. The Tulane the university’s public-service
building,” says Carville. healthcare professionals. University Marching Band par- graduation requirement.
ticipates in the victory parade.
PHOTOS: TOP LEFT: MARY MOUTON; TOP CENTER AND RIGHT: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO. PHOTO: PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO.
PAGE 22 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 ALISON BROD IN HER OFFICE OVERLOOKING PARK AVENUE.
FROM HER OFFICES ON PARK AVENUE, PR DIVA ALISON BROD
PRESIDES OVER A FASHIONABLE EMPIRE BUILT BY GOOD INSTINCTS,
GOOD LUCK AND THE DRIVE TO SUCCEED.

BY DAVID MCKAY WILSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL JURICK, A&S ’90

AT the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2. In the digital age, she’s in constant demand and throughout the online blogosphere,
induction ceremonies, more than on her phone and e-mail—from both clients and where word can spread quickly. Using
200 reporters and photographers are friends, including several from Tulane whom she social media platforms like Twitter or
crammed in a makeshift press room at the sees in New York and reconnects with every two Facebook, she’ll also create sweepstakes or
Waldorf Astoria in New York City, waiting for years at the Jazz Fest in New Orleans. prize-giveaways to drive traffic and
the stars to emerge. Alison Friedman Brod, “I’ll e-mail her and within seconds there will attract those much-wanted clicks.
NC ’91, owner of Alison Brod Public Relations, be an answer,” says Terri Ostrow Pitts, NC ’91, “We create buzz to help sell
stops to check on her staff, which has set up who owns Ostrow Alliances and has partnered products,” says Brod.
the room, ordered platters of sandwiches for with Brod on marketing events. “She takes care “Public relations
the hungry press corps, and is in charge of the of her clients, and she takes care of her friends.”
much-desired one-on-one interviews. Her employees like working there. In 2008,
Brod, who comes to work this March evening Alison Brod Public Relations was named the sec-
dressed in knee-high black suede boots and a ond-best place to work in New York City, based
strapless black minidress with studs and a bus- on the results of a survey of 25,000 workers at
tle, has just arrived from an event she ran for the more than 300 companies. The perks at ABPR
cosmetics giant, L’Oréal. She acknowledges her are sweet—confections from Godiva and Dylan’s
biggest challenge tonight will be doling out that Candy Bar, clothing and accessory discounts of
prized time alone with the likes of rock icon Phil up to 70 percent, and freebie samples from
Collins, reggae legend Jimmy Cliff and music Estee Lauder and Laura Mercier.
impresario David Geffen, who are shielded from
the press in the adjacent ballroom. C E LEBR IT Y
“We have such a good relationship with the DR I V E BY
press, we have so many requests for inter- Brod has built her business by develop-
views, and we just don’t want to disappoint any- ing public relations strategies and pro-
one,” says Brod. moting close to 150 events a year, in
For Brod, the $1,000-a-plate gala at the Wal- venues from California to New York.
dorf is another high-profile event for her public One day there’s an intimate breakfast
relations firm that thrives at the nexus of with 20 editors from top fashion mag-
celebrity, fashion, philanthropy and pop cul- azines and actress Uma Thurman to get
ture. Brod, 40, who majored in communica- a sneak peek at the season’s newest
tion at Tulane and came to Manhattan shortly lines. Another day she’s promoting a
after graduation, now employs 50 women at concert for Victoria’s Secret that attracts
her 10,000-square-foot Park Avenue office, 15,000 fans to hear pop singer Fergie. She
which doubles as a fashion showroom and has recreated the set of Oprah Winfrey’s tel-
function hall. evision show in Godiva chocolate to show-
It’s a business that can bring case her client’s sweet-tasting confections.
Brod to two or three events each This winter, she brought actress Brooke Shields
night in Manhattan. And that to skate in Central Park for an Old Navy event
comes after she has stopped that raised money for charity.
home for dinner with her two Her promotions are geared to multi-
young children—Spencer, 4, and Austin, ple platforms—in print, on television,
today is much more than getting placement in a colorful fashions hang on racks along one wall She eyed a job at Conde Nast, which publish- executives who had earlier rejected her director of public relations for a firm that summer. Twenty Tulane alumni have
print publication. It used to be good enough to while young associates, dressed in high heels es Vogue, Vanity Fair and Glamour. But the because she lacked contacts. The executive owned several landmark New York restau- worked for her agency, including
be in Vogue. That’s still important, but it’s only and the latest fashion, work the phones in entry-level positions demanded top typing from Loving & Weintraub Public Relations was rants, which also had the food conces- three currently on staff: Julie Dim
one component of what we do. We help engage desks lined up in two rows. Seventeen canisters skills, and Brod knew she lacked the dexterity impressed, and hired her. sions at the U.S. Tennis Open and the ice Farber, NC ’99, Jayme Felson, ’07,
consumers. Our campaigns help drive sales.” with pink candy stand along one bookcase, not to pass the typing test. At a top fashion “It was a great date,” she recalls. “And I skating rink at Rockefeller Center. But after and Courtney Routt, NC ’04.
In fact, Brod says some of her fashion clients far from displays for Omega watches and advertising agency, Brod was told she worked at that agency for a year.” three years, she yearned to return to the fash-
don’t advertise at all and rely on press place- Kooba handbags. ion world, perhaps with her own KING TUT
ment to promote their products. In Brod’s office, her BlackBerry company. In the elevator one day, IS COMING
“There’s a Catch-22 you have to be aware vibrates on her desk with the steady she overheard a man talking about It’s Friday afternoon in mid-April,
of,” she warns. “If too many companies pull stream of incoming messages. Soft- how his company, Burberry, Van and Brod has assigned Routt the task of finding
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST PLACES
their ads, there won’t be as many magazine pink and orange prints of Emilio TO WORK IN NEW YORK CITY, Cleef & Arpels was about to relaunch celebrities to attend the VIP opening of the
pages to mention the products in articles.” Pucci scarf designs from the 1960s ALISON BROD PUBLIC RELATIONS its fragrance line. Her ears perked up. King Tut exhibit, which had returned to New
PROVIDES ITS ALLWOMAN STAFF
Fueling her buzz-generating campaigns are hang from the walls. Atop one dis- WITH A VIBRANT WORKPLACE They exchanged cards. They met for York City after more than 30 years. The opening
Hollywood celebrities who Brod woos to her play case are several bottles of the THAT BUZZES WITH STYLE AND drinks at the Four Seasons. for “King Tut and the Golden Age of the
YOUTHFUL ENERGY.
events, at times adorned with her clients’ wares latest fragrances by Pucci, one of He offered her an office, an assis- Pharaohs” is a week away, and not one celebri-
—be it the latest spring fashion or the newest her newest clients. tant, and a $25,000 clothes allowance ty has agreed to attend.
leather handbag. Brod’s company has a division “I was so glad when Pucci finally as part of an agreement that made his Routt works the phones assiduously the fol-
that deals exclusively with celebrities, maintain- called,” says Brod, who walks about company the first client for Alison Brod lowing week, with the celeb appearances not
ing good relationships, in part, through the office on chunky five-inch plat- Public Relations. It was just four years secured until Thursday and Friday.
her “celebrity drive-by service,” form shoes. “I’ve always loved Pucci.” since graduating from Tulane. “I’m young, so I didn’t have a heart attack,”
which allows television and movie “She has always been very ambi- says Routt. “Alison has high standards, and I
stars to stop by to sample the lat- A G R EAT DAT E tious, and very focused,” says Terri work hard to meet them.”
est clothes and accessories hanging Born on Long Island, Alison Fried- Osprow Pitts. “She knows what’s hot in By the time the doors opened, actresses
on racks at the Park Avenue office. man moved with her parents to the marketplace and is very tapped in.” Brooke Shields, Kristin Davis, Vanessa Williams
Janice Min, former editor of US Boca Raton, Fla. She attended Brod built her business as she and Edie Falco have shown up. Williams
Weekly, the popular newsstand publi- Spanish River High and learned fought her way into the highly com- arrives from Westchester County with her
cation that focuses on celebrity culture, about Tulane from counselors at petitive Manhattan public relations daughter’s friends to celebrate her birthday.
says she would often receive calls from Brod, Camp Blue Star in the Blue Ridge world, bidding for work against The celebrity press is on hand to create
seeking placement of a photo or news item Mountains of North Carolina, who huge, established firms. Soon buzz about Davis, and her new Sex in
about one of her clients. She says Brod under- encouraged her to apply. she had attracted other fra- the City movie, and Falco, and her hit
stands celebrity culture, the media that feeds off Once in New Orleans, she grance brands, as well as television show, “Nurse Jackie.”
it and the impact of a photo of a starlet wearing majored in communication while companies selling beauty Routt says she relies on charm and cheer-
one of Brod’s brands in a magazine with a cir- enjoying the city’s nightlife with products and luxury goods from ful persistence to get through to the stars. Brod’s
culation of close to two million. friends, often heading to Tipitina’s such companies as LVMH, which track record of taking good care of celebrities
“She knows who has heat at the moment and uptown to hear the Neville Brothers carries the Louis Vuitton line of helps seal the deal.
understands what it takes to get something in the or The Radiators. She had her heart handbags and luggage. Before long, “We invite the press, give them four questions,
magazine,” says Min. “She has a healthy respect set on working in the fashion adver- she had six employees. Then LVMH’s and tell them not to encroach upon the privacy
for the media landscape, she hustles, and she tising industry. During the summer president moved to The Gap, and of celebrities,” says Routt, who has worked at
seems to know everyone. “ between her junior and senior year, Brod landed that growing apparel Brod’s firm since 2006. “My job is to make the
Min says Brod wouldn’t pout if she rejected she landed an internship in New company as a client. celebrities happy. Alison keeps the press happy,
a pitch. York with an advertising agency whose clients first needed to develop contacts in the fashion She’d beat her one-month deadline and set- Brod established her own office, and her and together we keep our clients happy.”
“If someone told her no, she wouldn’t seem included Revlon and Victoria’s Secret. world before she would be hired. tled in Manhattan. She and Andy were married business began to prosper, with help from old
to care,” says Min. “Some publicists get belliger- She loved the city’s energy and lifestyle. But Then she met a good-looking guy named two years later, and the Brod family now lives and new friends from Tulane. Photographer David McKay Wilson is a freelance journalist
ent. My instinct is not to like those people. I like following graduation in 1991, the economy Andy Brod, who had found a toehold working on Manhattan’s upper East Side. They also have Michael Jurick, A&S ’90, who recalls sitting by based in New York.
Alison. She’s serious about her business, and she was slumping and jobs in the advertising indus- on Wall Street. On their third date, he took her a summer home in Bridgehampton on the Brod in a class on the history of rock ’n’ roll,
gets the whole thing.” try were scarce. Nevertheless, she headed to a fashion-industry gala where his financial South Fork of Long Island, where they travel on now shoots some events for her. Brod has a Michael Jurick, A&S ’90, is a
A walk around Brod’s office provides a north, giving herself a month to find an firm had bought a table. There, she summer weekends. college internship program that welcomes as New York-based photographer.
glimpse into her high-flying world. The latest apartment and a job. tracked down one of the ad agency She left Loving & Weintraub to become many as five Tulane undergraduates each www.jurick.net.

PAGE 24 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 | PAGE 25


The

friend

In the highlands of Guatemala,


the rocks and caves are alive.

So, too, are the indigenous


languages of the Maya.

by nick marinello

photography by javier escobar paniagua

Caught in silhouette, Judith Maxwell stands at the opening of the Nimajay cave site that is nestled in the mountains above Lake Atitlan.

PAGE 26 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 | PAGE 27


The children are (left to right) María Camila Azurdia Contreras, José Paul Figueroa Contreras,
Saúl Andrés Figueroa Contreras, Rosa Jimena Abigail Bobadilla Contreras, Francisco Gabriel Figueroa Contreras.
The Figueroa Contreras children are the sons of Maxwell’s oldest godchild in this family. The others are the daughters of two other sisters.
Poor Judith Maxwell. The “trail” was littered with pine needles and
Linguist by trade. Confined equally slippery oak leaves. Occasionally we could
to the ivory tower of acade- line ourselves up with big trees and let our- Anthropologizing’ Maxwell says she became inter-
mia, passing her days amid selves, slide, slip, fall down to the solid backstop. Head of the Interdisciplinary Linguistics Program ested in the project in the early 1990s
clouds of archival dust, parsing the At other times, there was nothing to stop an at Tulane, Maxwell also is a professor of anthro- because she felt the need to resolve the lin-
idiosyncrasies of Mayan languages, dis- uncontrolled slide. Again, I clutched at shrubs, pology, which goes a long way toward explain- guistic and cultural inaccuracies present in an promoting the coun-
secting etymologies, pairing acrolects with bushes and grasses. At times the only plants ing her Indiana Jones–like treks through the jun- earlier translation. try’s indigenous lan-
basilects, and whatever else it is that linguists do. available for handholds were stinging nettles. gle. Her scholarship at Tulane has largely focused “Part of the problem is that there is 500 years guages. She has
Ho hum. Such is the life of a scholar. Ouch. They probably don’t mention stinging on the indigenous languages of Central America, of language change going on that makes it dif- returned every year
In her spare time, Maxwell apparently finds nettles in graduate school. particularly the Maya, and she sees linguistics and ficult to interpret,” says Maxwell. “It’s like try- since then, spending
some respite from the tedium of such inquiry by As it turns out, Maxwell is down in Guatemala anthropology as disciplines that go nicely hand- ing to read Shakespeare without the CliffsNotes summers, winter breaks
tapping out a few notes for an ongoing blog that this summer on a Fulbright Scholarship, contin- in-hand. or footnotes.” and sabbatical leaves in
she’s writing from Guatemala about her ongoing uing a project begun six years ago documenting “I never quit being a linguist while I am ‘an- A large portion of the narrative follows the Guatemala, living with
research: no doubt riveting stuff about phonol- Mayan sacred sites, a job that often has her thropologizing’,” says Maxwell, her Skyped words Kaqchikel migration into the highland areas that the same family each
ogy and phonetics, syntax and semantics, mor- scrambling across the country’s diverse and slightly out of sync with her Skyped image. they currently occupy. The stories are rife with ac- on these outings is Ajpub’ Garcia Ixmata’, a time, moving with them twice, and becoming
phology and whatnot. The blog can be found on rugged landscape. In addition, she’s helping the The interrelationship between linguistics and counts of the groups they met, battles they fought researcher at Universidad Rafael Landívaras who godmother to several generations of children.
the home page of the Tulane School of Liberal country’s educational system develop method- anthropology perhaps may be best exampled in and settlements they founded, says Maxwell. also happens to be a daykeeper, a Mayan ritual My godchild, Gabriela, was over last evening,
Arts. Let’s take a peek at what she’s up to: ologies to revitalize Mayan languages. She also Maxwell’s work on the Kaqchikel Chronicles, a “All this history, replete with place names.” specialist. Before entering a site, the two ask with her three boys. The youngest, Saúl Andrés,
This morning we got up and out early to get to a each summer teaches an intensive summer project on which she collaborated with Tulane At the suggestion of Hill, Maxwell began permission from the immanent spirits to enter. is just about a month old. He was fussy, and
new-to-me altar called Pa Xilon. This altar is course in Kaqchikel language and culture. anthropology professor Robert Hill to produce a searching out these places, photographing the Unlike the world experienced in mainstream holding, bouncing, and soothing him was wear-
located in a lovely wooded glen/valley/ravine. The By the time I establish a Skype connection translation and analysis of a rare and diverse col- sites and documenting their locations. When she Western culture, the universe inhabited by the ing out successive kinfolk. Gabriela noted that
surrounding area is clean and there were fresh with Maxwell to have a conversation with her, lection of Mayan texts. can, she’ll talk to locals to gain a sense of the Maya is entirely alive. Sticks, stones, rocks, caves Saúl would tense up every few minutes, grunt,
offerings of flowers and fruit (apples and pineap- I’ve begun reconsidering my narrow view of her The Chronicles comprise two sets of docu- site’s history. —even time itself—are animated and imbued then relax or cry. Ana, the proud grandmother,
ples). The area in front of the fire circle was line of work. The fact is, far from being “book- ments, one historically known as the Annals of “The problem is that most of the sites that are with spiritual energy and the spark of the Divine. observed that babies do this for the first three
strewn with fresh pine needles. As we were ish,” Maxwell seems to have developed her the Kaqchikels and the other as the Xpantzay known to be linked to major historical events are Ask Maxwell if she accepts the Mayan cos- months of life. But the fussiness continued
preparing our offering, a hummingbird buzzed us, scholarly pursuits into a vibrant, even loving, Cartulary. Translated for first time in their sacred sites,” says Maxwell. “You can’t just walk mology, and she’ll tell you that her experiences and Cira, an aunt, declared that the child was
circled the altar and then zoomed off to suckle at relationship with an entire culture and its people. entirety, the documents present a detailed look in, take a picture and walk out.” at the sacred sites are spiritual and mystical— ojeado—“eyed.” Everyone agreed and then
the red flame shrubs that lined the ravine. We If ever there was an ivory tower, it has long at the day-to-day life of pre-contact and early Maxwell’s companion and co-investigator except for the last five minutes when she’s began discussing who should cure him, and
made our offering. Ajpub’ elaborated the parts of since receded into the green and growing sweep colonial Kaqchikel Maya who live in the high- taking pictures and GPS readings. which remedy to use. The cures getting the most
the day count that deal with travel and pilgrim- of the Guatemalan countryside. lands of Guatemala. “If I were not able to make the spiritual con- votes were the egg and black peppercorns.
age. We circled our feet, 13 times through the nections,” says Maxwell, “I would not be allowed One of the first children with whom Maxwell
flames; then we took off our shoes and circled in these places, either by the local daykeepers or established a compadrazgo relationship is Ana
them in the blessing heat. I suspect he was pro- the local practitioners, and I wouldn’t be able to Luisa, granddaughter of the couple who originally
phylaxing for our trip to tomorrow’s altar, which work successfully with Ajpub’. In a way, the rea- took Maxwell in nearly 40 years ago. Ana Luisa
he tells me is at the foot of a STEEP slope, but we son why I’m trusted with this sacred knowledge now has five children of her own, all of whom are
needed all the help we could get for this afternoon. is because I can make the spiritual connection.” Maxwell’s godchildren. Well, all but one.
Oh. Well, that doesn’t sound so… dusty. What’s “I think Paulino feels discriminated against
up with the altars and flames and pineapples? Madrina because when he introduces me to people he
Maxwell first came to Guatemala sometimes introduces me as his godmother, even
in 1973. Still in graduate
school, she was
hired by a nonprofit
organization to work as
Students encircle a fire at a ceremony a linguist training
performed to bless the class and give thanks Mayan scholars to
for their dedication to learning Kaqchikel.
In the foreground burns a fire for another develop materials Red candles and incense made of balls of copal resin and aromatic
ritual that is taking place. wood chips are among the gifts presented as ceremonial offerings.

PAGE 28 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 TULANIAN SUMMER 2010 | PAGE 29


though I am not,” says Maxwell. “Maybe when he as well as the loss to the Chuj community. Too tall
gets married I can be his madrina de matrimonia “If they are willing to put everything on the So Super Bowl Sunday… I’m at home in Antigua,
so I can be his godmother then, too.” line,” she says, “the very least you can do is give being very productive, working on revising a
If the personal relationships she has nurtured them training.” book chapter and outlining a solicited journal
during the last 37 years are one thread of conti- Following the end of hostilities in 1996, the article, but the clock ticks toward 5 and con-
nuity weaving through Maxwell’s work in government redoubled its efforts to ensure centration goes out the window. I start digging
Guatemala, another thread would be comprised that Guatemala remains linguistically and cul- through my drawer of gringo clothes. Surely
of words, particularly those of the strange and turally diverse. I have some piece of New Orleaniana with me, a
beautiful languages of the Maya. These days, “The Ministry of Education has finally gotten Fleur de Lis t-shirt, a Tulane t-shirt, even some-
much of Maxwell’s work in-country is really a on board with the idea that every Guatemalan thing that says Carnival New Orleans. But, ap-
continuation of the mission she began as a ought to be able to, if not speak a Mayan parently, I brought nothing like that with me.
graduate student: helping the Maya reclaim and language, then at least know something about But! I do have a stash of Mardi Gras beads.
reinvigorate their languages. them,” says Maxwell, whose current work in- To say that Maxwell has “gone native” would
Maxwell’s initial invitation to Guatemala in volves developing second-language teacher be imprecise because it would suggest that she
the early 1970s was a result of a burgeoning pro- methodology so that Mayan speakers can carry has abandoned her own native identity, which
Maya movement intended to reaffirm the indige- out the initiative. is not the case. It would be safe to say, howev-
nous languages and culture that been exploited “Learning another language will give you an er, that she and the Maya have over the years
and discriminated against since colonial times. understanding of not only the language but the adopted each other.
“If you look at the social and political rela- culture,” she says. “We really need to be build- There’s always, however, a “moment of adjust-
tionships in Guatemala,” says Maxwell, “the ing a kind of shared-culture platform here.” ment” when she meets new people. Wearing
country’s nonindigenous people traditional Mayan garments, Maxwell initially
have in the past—and to some presents as something of a confoundable figure.
extent still today—treated the Maya “I’m obviously not a Maya,” Maxwell quips.
not even as second-class citizens. “I’m way too tall and all the wrong colors. But as
They treat them as non-citizens. soon as they understand that I speak the lan-
They characterize the Mayan lan- guage and it’s not just a costume that I am putting
guages as animal sounds.” on but an actual commitment to a way of life,
Political oppression turned then there is a ready acceptance.”
genocidal against the Maya dur- After talking to Maxwell and reading through
ing the late 1970s and early ’80s her blog, I get the feeling that for her the scholar-
when an ongoing civil war ly stuff and the living day-to-day stuff are of one
moved into the Mayan highlands cloth. Maybe that’s why Maxwell’s views on cul-
and the Guatemalan army target- tural hegemony can manifest in an anecdote
ed Mayan communities as allies about her godson’s baptism, or why a blog about
of the leftist insurgency. a public health conference can read like a trave-
“The military believed that the logue worthy of The Lonely Planet. Perhaps that’s
indigenous population was the sea why a scholar and scientist can noncynically em-
in which the guerilla army swam,” brace the strange, complex cosmos of the Maya.
says Maxwell, who at the time was Or maybe, when it comes down to it, Judith
training linguists in the Chuj com- Maxwell simply does her own thing in her own
munity. Five of her seven trainees way, and some of that constitutes research.
were killed by the army. Some of it is education. Some of it is commu-
“By virtue of them training with nity service. And the rest of it—well, seems like
me they became targets,” says a life well lived.
Maxwell, who still mourns In any case, it’s good to be Judith Maxwell.
the personal loss,
Nick Marinello is the features editor
A quiet moment in of Tulanian.
Antigua’s central park.

PAGE 30 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010


e Classes
th

Thinclads of ’47
The 1947 Green Wave track and field team boasts having seven members in the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame,
says BOB WILLIAMS (B ’48), who shared this photo. Williams identified these “thinclads” (lingo for track athletes):
(standing, back row) (far left) coach FRITZ OAKES (M ’18), (from left, fifth through eighth) FRANK BURGE (A&S ’47,
L ’51), HUGH LILES (E ’48), WARREN PERKINS (A&S ’49) and GREEK ATHAS (A&S ’48), and (far right) coach JOHNNY
OELKERS (A&S ’34); (middle row, fourth from left) PAUL BIENZ (A&S ’50); and (sitting, front row) (far left) SPENCER
JOHNSON (A&S ’46, ’50); (from left, third and fourth) Williams and BILL HUNTER (B ’47); (from right, second) RALPH
SLOVENKO (E ’46, L ’53, G ’65). The Hall of Famers are Athas, Bienz, Burge, Johnson, Oakes, Oelkers and Perkins.
classNotes | theClasses

Medical lifetime achievement awards Newcomb Alumnae Association awards


Medical alumni Raoul Rodriguez (M ’60), left, and Alfred W. Brann At the Newcomb College Institute Under the Oaks ceremony on
Jr. (M ’60) accept lifetime achievement awards from the Tulane May 14, 2010, in Dixon Hall, the Newcomb Alumnae Association
Medical Alumni Association at the Roosevelt Blue Room on May 14, presents its awards. Berthe Lathrop Marks Amoss (NC ’46, G ’86),
2010. Rodriguez is professor and chair of the Tulane Department center, is recognized as the Outstanding Alumna. Amoss is the
of Orthopaedic Surgery. Brann is professor of pediatrics and gyne- author/illustrator of 24 picture books, including Cajun Gingerbread
cology/obstetrics at Emory University School of Medicine, with spe- Boy, and four young adult novels. Amoss has taught at Tulane, and
cialties in neonatal and perinatal medicine and child neurology. the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library houses the Amoss Collection of
Brann also is professor of global health at Emory’s Rollins School Children’s Literature. Adele Redditt Williamson (NC ’45), left, is hon-
of Public Health and director of the World Health Organization ored with the 2010 Community Service Award. And Theresa A.
Collaborating Center in Reproductive Health in Atlanta. Schieber (NC ’95), right, receives the Young Alumna Award.

1940s 1960s than 500 academic pieces about addiction


The Quest by SAM A. THREEFOOT (A&S ’43, CHARLES P. O’BRIEN (A&S ’61, M ’64, G ’66) disorders and treatments for them.
M ’45) has been published by Xlibris. received the 2010 College on Problems of
Drug Dependence Mentorship Award this WILLIAM McINTOSH III (A&S ’61) announces
MILDRED LUBRITZ COVERT (NC ’47) played the spring. The College on Problems of Drug publication of his book Indians’ Revenge:
role of an abused, elderly woman in the June Dependence is the largest and oldest organ- Including a History of the Yemassee Indian
premiere of TNT’s “Memphis Beat.” ization for the scientific study of drug depend- War 1715–1728 in November 2009. It is the
ence and addiction and the award recognizes story of how 20,000 Southeast Indians near-
1950s a person who is particularly influential in the ly destroyed the province of South Carolina.
JOAN SEIDENBACH BERENSON (NC ’53) has development of careers of young addiction- McIntosh and his wife, Suzanne, live in
been selected to receive the 2010 Kipnis- research scientists. He also received the Charleston, S.C.
Wilson/Friedland Award for her dedicated Gold Medal Research Award from the Society
service to the greater New Orleans Jewish of Biological Psychiatry this year. O’Brien is JANE WILENSKY RAVID (NC ’61) continues to
community. Presented by the Jewish Federa- the Kenneth Appel Professor at the University teach English as a second language to adult
tions of North America, the award recognizes of Pennsylvania/VA Medical Center, vice chair immigrants in Boston. She was delighted to
one woman from each of its member federa- of psychiatry at the University of Pennsyl- see professor of Italian Linda Carroll this
tions who has set a high standard for philan- vania, vice director of the Institute of Neuro- spring in Venice at the American Renaissance
thropy through volunteerism and financial logical Science and director of the Center for Society meeting, as well as to celebrate the
commitment. Berenson will receive the award Studies in Addiction. He was previously the 70th birthday of ROBERTA (BOBBIE) GORDON
at the International Lion of Judah Conference chief of psychiatry at the Philadelphia VA (NC ’61) in Cambridge, Mass., in June. Ravid
in New Orleans in November. Medical Center. O’Brien has published more is enjoying being a grandmother to Ethan, 1.

PA G E 32 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 PHOTOS: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BY PAT GARIN. NEWCOMB AWARDS BY CHERYL GERBER.
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H. KENT BEASLEY (M ’62) is a clinical profes- DONALD BOESCH (A&S ’67) was appointed by at Louisiana State University and served as
sor of mechanical engineering at the Univer- President Barack Obama as a member of the the first executive director of the Louisiana
sity of Texas. He teaches clinical cardiology National Commission on the BP Deepwater Universities Marine Consortium.
to graduate engineering students in the devel- Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Boesch
oping field of cardiovascular engineering and is president of the University of Maryland 1970s
continues his private practice in preventive Center for Environmental Science, where he STEPHEN T. MORRIS (A&S ’70) retired after 36
and noninvasive cardiology in Austin, Texas. teaches marine science. He also is vice chan- years of dental practice, 20 of which he spent
cellor for environmental sustainability for the working with his father. Morris and his wife,
BRENDA SEABROOKE (NC ’63) announces the University System of Maryland. Boesch, a Nancy, divide their time between Fort Worth,
publication of her latest book, Wolf Pie, by native of Louisiana and a biological oceanog- Texas, and Alto, N.M. Morris now spends
Clarion. The book takes readers, ages 6 to 9 rapher, has conducted research on coastal much of his time as a U.S. Golf Association
years, through the hilarious adventures of ecosystems throughout the world and is a pio- rules official.
several pig brothers after the house-blowing- neer in the study of the environmental effects
down attempt by the big bad wolf. The pigs of offshore energy development. Additionally, RANDOLPH HOWES (M ’71) lectured at the
befriend some wolves and take turns saving he has served as a science adviser to many Johns Hopkins Biennial Surgery Meeting on
each other. The book is on NewsTribune’s rec- state and federal agencies and regional, “Anti-Aging and Oxygen Radical Mythology,”
ommended summer reading list for 2010. national and international programs. Boesch at the University of Kansas Medical Center on
also chairs the Ocean Studies Board of the “The Fall of the Free Radical Theory,” and at
JIM KERWIN (A&S ’64), two-time All American National Research Council and is a member Creighton University Medical School on
in 1962 and ’63, was inducted into the of the National Academies Committee on “Antioxidant Vitamins A, C and E and Oxygen
Oklahoma Coaches Hall of Fame in June. This America’s Climate Choices. From 1980 to Free Radical Mythology.” His latest book,
induction marks his sixth hall of fame as a 1990, he was a professor of marine science Antioxidant Vitamins A, C & E in the 21st
player and a coach. He was formerly inducted
into the Tulane Athletics Hall of Fame, Tulane
Student Body Hall of Fame, Sugar Bowl Hall of
Fame, Louisiana Basketball Hall of Fame and Monty Krieger (A&S ’71) (pictured with his mother,
New Jersey Shore Hall of Fame. He is retired Mildred Levitan Krieger, NC ’44) was elected to the
and lives in Norman, Okla. National Academy of Sciences, an organization of
scholars engaged in science and engineering
JOSEPH A.WALLACE (L ’65) received the state research. Krieger is Whitehead Professor of
of West Virginia’s highest civilian award and Molecular Genetics in the biology department of
the West Virginia State Bar’s highest award. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Wallace was selected Volunteer Economic “I am truly honored and delighted by this recog-
Developer of the Year by the West Virginia nition of the outstanding efforts of a wonderful
Economic Development Council and the group of students and collaborators at MIT and
Southern Industrial Development Council. elsewhere,” says Krieger.
Additionally, he was named West Virginia Krieger’s research group studies cell surface
Entrepreneur of the Year and was a finalist for receptor biology. “We continue to study how the HDL
National Entrepreneur of the Year. Wallace co- receptor SR-BI works and what it does, its physiolog-
MONTY KRIEGER
founded mediation in the U.S. District Courts ical role and how manipulation of this receptor SCIENCE DYNAMO
in West Virginia, which was adopted in feder- might provide approaches for the treatment or
al courts throughout the country. Wallace prevention of related diseases,” he says. TULANE DEGREE:
and his son practice law throughout the state. Krieger is a member of the Tulane School of BS, chemistry
Science and Engineering Board of Advisers and, in
RESIDENCE:
EDWARD G. GINGOLD (A&S ’66) attended the 2010, received the school’s Outstanding Alumnus
Needham, Mass.
National Energy and Utility Affordability Con- award. Since his induction into NAS, Krieger has
ference in San Antonio this year, where he participated in editing its flagship journal, Pro- PROFESSION:
conducted a workshop on organizing suc- ceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Molecular geneticist
cessful fund-raising campaigns for nonprofit —Catherine Freshley QUOTABLE:
organizations. Gingold is an attorney with Catherine Freshley (’09) is a freelance writer living “Science is a multigenerational team sport.”
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in in New Orleans.
Washington, D.C.

T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | PA G E 3 3
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Century: Death in Small Doses, which is being elected a fellow of the College of Labor and Date: An Insider’s Guide to Dating After
published by Trafford, is an epic compilation Employment Lawyers. His induction later this Divorce. Bremer is a private practice psy-
of 181 scientific studies, spanning three year coincides with the American Bar Associa- chotherapist in Orange County, Calif., where
decades and including more than 8 million tion’s annual Labor and Employment Law she spends much of her time working with
participants. The studies show either no Section conference. military personnel and their families. Bremer
effect or harmful effects of these common also specializes in depression, post-traumatic
antioxidant vitamins. He has placed more EDWARD “NED” HALLOWELL (M ’78) taught stress disorder, sexual disorders and coun-
than 3,000 pages of his referenced, free a course called “Unwrapping the Gifts: A seling for singles, couples and families. Her
e-books online at www.iwillfindthecure.org. Strength-Based Approach to ADHD Across book is available at www.JodyBremer.com
the Lifespan” this summer at the Cape and at www.publishamerica.net.
TAD BOGDAN (A&S ’75) was promoted to pres- Cod Institute.
ident and CEO of Ecrio, the leading supplier
of rich communications smart phone tech- STEVEN M. ELROD (A&S ’79) is a partner in
nology. Customers include Verizon Wireless, the Chicago office of Holland and Knight
Visa and DOCOMO. law firm. He was elected to the board of
managers of the Chicago Bar Association
BRUCE SPIZER (A&S ’76, B ’77, L ’80) and was installed this spring.
received the Young Family Award for Profes-
sional Excellence from the Professional Ad- BRUCE A. GINGRAS (PHTM ’79, G ’87) was
visory Committee of the Jewish Endowment elected to a two-year term as president of
Foundation of Louisiana. The award recog- the Illinois Society for Microbiology in 2009.
nizes legal, financial and estate planning He is a senior microbiologist at IIT Research
professionals from the New Orleans Jewish Institute in Chicago.
community who demonstrate extraordinary LEE SMITHSON (A&S ’84) is command-
concern for their clients, the future of Judaism 1980s er of Task Force Vigilant Horizon, over-
and the Jewish community by encouraging HANNAH GOULD (SW ’80) is working as a seeing the Mississippi National Guard
planned giving to the foundation. A New nephrology social worker at DaVita Dialysis response to the Deepwater Horizon oil
Orleans estate-planning lawyer, Spizer is also in Oxon Hill, Md. Gould retired from the state disaster in coastal Mississippi. Smith-
the author of seven books about the Beatles. of Maryland after a career in social services son is a colonel in the U.S. Army.
and public safety and started her own busi-
PATRICIA “PATSIE” MILLER UCHELLO (NC ’76) ness, Growth Centered Therapy, which offers
showed more than 30 oils on canvas in March assessments and short-term counseling for JOHN VANSANDT (A&S ’85) is a Rule of Law
at ArtSquare, the largest art facility in Lees- criminal, juvenile and guardianship courts. adviser with the U.S. Agency for Development
burg, Va. Her work was reviewed favorably by in Washington, D.C. He currently is on a one-
both the Washington Post and Loudouni.com. MICHAEL HOGG (A&S ’80, B ’84, L ’84) has year assignment at the U.S. embassy in
In June, she participated in a two-woman been named vice president for student affairs Islamabad, Pakistan. He has been married for
show at A Show of Hands Art Gallery in Del and dean of students at Tulane. He previous- 17 years to Regan Tagawa, and the couple
Ray, the art district in Alexandria, Va. ly was the associate provost for student has two children, ages 10 and 6.
affairs. Hogg has served as a clinical profes-
LOUIS BRITT (L ’77) is a partner in the Mem- sor of business administration in the A. B. IAN BREMMER (A&S ’89) is president of the
phis, Tenn., office of Ford & Harrison and was Freeman School of Business, where he teach- global political risk consultancy Eurasia Group
es courses on insurance and risk manage- and has spoken at Tulane University’s Political
ment, business ethics, business law and the Science Week twice in recent years. Port-
G!
HOMECOMIN
business legal environment. He has received folio published his book, The End of the Free
more than 25 teaching awards, including Market: Who Wins the War Between States
Oct. 8–10 the Howard W. Wissner Award (one of the and Corporations?
ion Party Freeman School’s highest teaching honors)
All Alumni Reun
, Athletics
ombone Shorty eight times. In 2007, Hogg was named a KEITH O. WASHINGTON (SW ’89, PHTM ’93), a
with music by Tr ot ba ll Game
tion and Fo
Fund-raising Auc
“Go-to Professor” by Business Week magazine. major in the U.S. Army, has been a military
. A rm y)
(Green Wave vs clinical social worker for nearly 16 years and
out it go to: JODY SALSITZ BREMER (NC ’84) published has been deployed to Kirkuk, Iraq, and
To find out all ab
her first book, Looking for That Last First Tallafar, Iraq, in the past four years.

PA G E 34 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 PHOTO BY CASEY WARE.


theClasses | classNotes

1990s ‘shimmer and tar’ and ends in the ‘soot and world June 16, 2010. He is the youngest of
STEPHAN LEVY (A&S ’91) is a director at orange dolor’ of the California desert,” she four children. Vann is a freelance health and
Navigant Economics in Washington, D.C. writes. Black has been a Wallace Stegner medical writer based in southeast Louisiana.
Fellow at Stanford University, a National
DARREN STEELE (A&S ’91) was appointed by Endowment for the Arts fellow and a writer-in- NATHAN ZEZULA (TC ’98) and TIFFANY EIS-
the governor of Florida to serve as a county residence at the Cité des Arts in Paris. With BERG ZEZULA (NC ’00) announce the birth of
court judge for Martin County. Steele and the Fulbright award, she will explore the use their second daughter, Lily Jacqueline, on
his wife, Nereida, have two children, Lucas and disavowal of history in contemporary March 26, 2010.
and Katie. Northern Irish poetry.
SHANA BERG (NC ’99) married Ross Felix in
ANDREW MAKK (B ’92) and CATHERINE CHRISTOPHER B. HOPKINS (L ’97) moved his Santa Monica, Calif., on May 30, 2010.
NEWSTADT MAKK (N ’93) announce the birth law practice to Akerman Senterfitt, which Guests at the wedding included LISA
of Hannah Carolyn on Jan. 30, 2010. The is the largest law firm in Florida, with more GREENBAUM (NC ’99), CHRISTINE NGUYEN
Makk family lives in New York. than 500 lawyers nationwide. Hopkins is a NESSEN (B ’99), JUSTIN NICHOMOFF (E ’99),
shareholder at Akerman and a member of SARAH HEFFRON NICHOMOFF (E ’99), RACHEL
TRACEY WARREN-HEIN (NC ’95) and Denis the Florida litigation group. He continues to SISKIND (NC ’99, L ’02), LESLIE SCHWARTZ
Hein announce the birth of Gabriel Rhys on handle civil litigation and trial matters, in- KRUNTCHEV (NC ’98) and GENEVIEVE POPE
Jan. 22, 2010. Warren-Hein has retired from cluding professional liability, construction, (NC ’99). Shana Felix is a planning manager
her position as a senior database developer healthcare, probate and major injury cases. in the corporate offices of Barneys New York
at JusticeTrax to be a full-time mother. The He is a civil circuit certified mediator and a for the outlet and warehouse sales divisions.
Hein family lives in Gilbert, Ariz. qualified arbitrator. Ross Felix is the founder and CEO of
www.thedatingrevolution.com and a project
SEAN ESKER (A&S ’96) and his wife, Sabrina, MADELINE ROBERTS VANN (PHTM ’98) and manager at SONY Music. The couple lives in
welcomed Brennan Patrick on May 17, 2010. family welcomed Erik Carmichael into the New York City.
Esker recently won his 300th career high
school soccer game as a girls’ head coach.
His Mandeville High School team, from Man-
deville, La., finished the year 31-3-1, and Meria Joel Carstarphen (NC ’92) has just complet-
Esker was honored as the Division I state ed her first year as superintendent of Austin
Coach of the Year. He also coaches the girls’ Independent School District in Austin, Texas. A
tennis team, which won the 2010 Division guiding principle for her is that “there is no high-
I district and regional championships on the er calling than being an educator and ensuring
way to a runner-up finish at state. Players that all children receive a quality education.”
from his team won the state champion- Carstarphen learned “the value of education
ship for doubles and another player was the in uplifting people” while growing up in Selma,
runner-up for singles. Ala., the site of historic civil rights struggles.
Now, Carstarphen is working to ensure that all MERIA JOEL
CHRISTOPHER CROWLEY (TC ’96) won a students in Austin have access to the highest qual-
Mentor of the Year award from the SANS ity education programs. Already in her brief tenure,
CARSTARPHEN
Institute. Crowley trains security profession- more than one-third of the district’s schools have DEDICATED EDUCATOR
als in the areas of IT security, network pene- moved up one or two levels in the state account-
tration testing and ethical hacking. He lives ability rankings.
TULANE DEGREE:
in Gaithersburg, Md. Even while overseeing the improvements in BA, political science and Spanish
Austin schools, Carstarphen has found time to
REBECCA BLACK (NC ’97) is a 2010 Fulbright tutor a middle school student once a week, and RESIDENCE:
Austin, Texas
Scholar in creative writing at Queen’s Uni- she says that is her “best accomplishment” during
versity Belfast. Black is an assistant profes- the past year. PROFESSION:
sor of English at the University of North Carstarphen received a master of education School superintendent
Carolina–Greensboro. Her first book of degree from Auburn University and a master’s and QUOTABLE:
poems, Cottonlandia, won the Juniper Prize doctorate of education from Harvard University. “Education is the great equalizer.”
from the University of Massachusetts Press. —Catherine Freshley
The book “begins in the American South’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT. T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | PA G E 3 5


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SARAH BLOOMENTHAL (NC ’00) married Sam 1, 2010, in Dallas. The couple met the first
Kaplan on June 5, 2010, in Scottsdale, Ariz. day of Siegel’s freshman year and recon-
Guests at the wedding included VICTORIA nected later in Dallas. “The rest is history,”
FAIN AIKMAN (NC ’00), LAURALEE THORNTON they say. The couple lives in Dallas where
GUNBY (NC ’00), JULIE PAYNE (NC ’00), Samantha Armstrong is a licensed pro-
FELICIA RICHARDSON KEANY (NC ’01), JEN- fessional counselor working with children
NIFER GATZ FOWLER (NC ’01), SAMANTHA and families in private practice and Shae
BERG (NC ’00) and ALISON HERBERT DEJAR- Armstrong is an attorney.
NETTE (E ’00). Bloomenthal is an account
executive at the Washington Business Journal. LANDON CLARK (E ’03) and MARISSA ROSLYN
Kaplan is a lawyer with the Bureau of Alcohol, (NC ’04) were married on May 22, 2010,
Tobacco and Firearms. The couple lives in in New Orleans. JONATHAN HOBBS (E ’03)
RYAN GATCHELL (A&S ’97) was commis- Washington, D.C. and JONATHAN HIJUELOS (E ’03) were in the
sioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine wedding party. Guests included JENNIFER
Corps upon his graduation from Tulane. JEREMY GOLDSTEIN (B ’00) and his wife, PALUMBO (B ’03), DARLEEN ABADCO (NC ’03)
After eight years of active service, he left Darcy Pulitzer Goldstein, have relocated to and KIRK SOODHALTER (TC ’04). The couple
the Marines as a captain to pursue a London where Jeremy Goldstein is an execu- lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. Roslyn is a nurse prac-
career in private contracting. He recent- tive director in the securities division of titioner and Clark is a patent attorney.
ly returned from the pirate-infested Goldman Sachs.
waters of the Gulf of Aden off the coast MICHELLE HEWLETT (E ’04, G ’05) and AARON
of Somalia. Gatchell led a small team DEREK D. BARDELL (G ’01, ’02) was named a SANCHEZ (UC ’06) were married on April 17,
of former U.S. military special forces 2010 Beat the Odds Champion for Children 2010, in New Orleans. Members of the
personnel to the region to fulfill the by the Children’s Defense Fund–Louisiana. wedding par ty included PATRICK HEW-
requirements of a security contract. A LETT (E ’06), KERRY GEAR (B ’05) and TREY
logistics company hired Gatchell and CESAR GONZALEZ (L ’01) is chief of staff to BETHEA (E ’04). The couple resides in north-
his team to secure the shipping lanes congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (Florida’s ern California where Hewlett is pursuing her
for the safe passage of their crew 25th Congressional District). Gonzalez previ- PhD in electrical engineering at Stanford
and cargo. Gatchell reports that every- ously served as minority staff director of the University, and Sanchez is an IT systems
thing went well and all crew and car- legislative and budget process subcommittee analyst for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in San
go reached their destination safely. and legislative director and counsel to Rep. Jose, Calif.
Gatchell currently splits time between Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Laurel, Miss., and New Orleans, where KATHRYN SPRUILL (NC ’04, B ’07) and James
he is working to renovate a number of EDWARD BLAKE MENDEZ (B ’01) and Kelly E. Roman were married in the bride’s hometown
historic homes that were damaged by Wallis-Mendez welcomed their first child, of Carlisle, Pa., on Oct. 24, 2009. Guests
Hurricane Katrina. Edward Blaine, on June 3, 2010. The family included KATIE DOCHEN (NC ’05), MONICA
resides in Midland, Texas, with 11 rescued BERKETT (NC ’05), JESSICA EDWARDS (B ’05),
feral cats. JOSH FIELMAN (B ’06), SHANE GLASS (B ’06),
MARK OZERKIS (TC ’99) and his wife, ANUSHKA JOHNPULLE ( B ’ 0 5 ) , CASEY
Alexandra, welcomed Clara Avery on March WALTER W. BILLSON (E ’02) and his wife, McGAUGHEY (UC ’04), MAGGIE McFARLIN
18, 2010. The baby joins brother Davis. The Laurie, announce the birth of twins, Han- McGAUGHEY (NC ’05), CHRISTOPHER OTTEN (B
family lives in Princeton, N.J. nah Grace and Walter William III, on May ’05), KIMBERLYN OWENS-HUGHES (NC ’04),
21, 2010. NICOLE ROBERTS (NC ’05), JEFF SCHIFFMAN (B
2000s ’05), LIZ SEELY (NC ’04), ALEXIS LIGHT
JEFF BARON (B ’00) is operating several New HALEY BORUSZAK (NC ’02) married Shawn SHAPIRO (NC ’01), PETER SHAPIRO (B ’00,
Orleans–area restaurants: The Dough Bowl; Borisoff on May 30, 2010, in Sun Valley, ’07), BILL VANDIVORT (TC ’00), LAUREN WAG-
Huevos, a breakfast café that he operates with Idaho. Haley Borisoff is a 2010 graduate of NER (NC ’05) and ANDREA WEINBERG (B ’06).
partner chef Bart Bell; and Crescent Pie and New York University’s Stern School of Kathryn Roman, who was previously a Tulane
Sausage Co., which is also operated with Business. She works as a marketing manag- undergraduate admission counselor, cele-
Bell. Baron plans to open a new pizza restau- er for American Express in London. brated with former and current admission
rant in the fall. New Orleans Magazine recent- officers. The couple resides in Atlanta, where
ly named Crescent Pie and Sausage Co. one SHAE ARMSTRONG (B ’02) and SAMANTHA she is co-president of the Tulane Alumni Club
of the best new restaurants in the city. SIEGEL (NC ’03, G ’04) were married on May of Atlanta.

PA G E 36 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN GATCHELL.


theClasses | classNotes

BRIAN J. ROBINSON (TC ’05) announces the a master of science in biomedical sciences BENJAMIN VARADI (L ’09) is the coordinator of
publication of mADD man, a book about ADHD from Tulane in May. the J-Grad Student Retention Program. This
written from a first-person lens. He says the innovative initiative helps Jewish students
book “is a manifesto for change in the educa- MAX RASCHE (’09) is a marketing and commu- preparing to receive their terminal degrees
tional system, specifically with regard to the nications intern at the Jewish Federation of find employment and join the greater New
gifted children that are wired with alternative Greater New Orleans. He plans to pursue a Orleans Jewish community. Tulane University
brain chemistries and stigmatized with such career in graphic design, visual communica- and the Jewish Federation of Greater New
labels as ‘ADHD’ or ‘learning disabled.’” tion and digital art. Orleans are working with New Orleans Hillel
mADD man chronicles one young man’s jour- and Chabad of Louisiana to encourage Jewish
ney from his childhood suspensions and trau- students attending area universities to begin
matic experiences, to his party animal antics their professional careers in New Orleans
in college, through his almost fatal decline and help rebuild this unique community.
into existential depression, to ultimately hit- Varadi, who had a yearlong research fellow-
ting bottom. Robinson has now resurfaced as ship at the Tulane Center for Intellectual
a pioneering entrepreneur/ writer in New York Property Law and Culture, has served as a
City and continues to speak passionately to consultant and adviser to numerous ad-
anyone about the ills of the educational sys- vocacy nonprofit organizations around the
tem. country, including Common Ground Relief
and the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit
ALEX SOMERS (B ’05) and his wife, Marilyn, Organizations.
announce the birth of Alexander Hayes III
on Feb. 7, 2010. Somers graduated from 2010s
Harvard Business School this spring and JANE E. ROVINS (PHTM ’01, L ’09) was DOMINIK KNOLL (B ’10) is chief executive offi-
has returned to Houston where he is an appointed executive director of the new cer of the World Trade Center, a nonprofit infor-
investment banker with Simmons and Integrated Research on Disaster Risk mation and advocacy group with more than
Co. International. Program, which is sponsored by the 1,600 corporate and individual members that
International Council for Science, the aims to increase international trade in New
JESSICA LEVY (NC ’06) and MATTHEW BUSH International Social Science Council Orleans. Knoll was previously an assistant
(B ’06) welcomed Jameson Thomas on July and the U.N. International Strategy for and then project manager to the CEO of
15, 2009. The baby’s godparents are ELIZA- Disaster Reduction. One of her first Kronberg International Holdings, a European
BETH THRELKELD (E ’06) and JAMES SCOTT tasks will be to establish the inter- real estate company, and a joint venture part-
HESTER JR. (’07). Levy and Bush were married national program office for IRDR in ner of Pirelli Real Estate in Italy.
in Napa Valley, Calif., on Oct. 7, 2007. In addi- Beijing, China. Rovins was previously a
tion to Threlkeld and Hester, the wedding senior planner with a private-sector KIRSTEN LYERLY (PHTM ’10) is pursuing a
party included SALLY REY (NC ’06), NIKKI company providing hazards mitigation graduate degree in the Tulane School of
CATANIA (NC ’06), HAYLEY MANIN (B ’04), and emergency management train- Public Health and Tropical Medicine through
ANN DONOGHUE (B ’06) and THOMAS O’DON- ing. She has worked for the Federal the four-plus-one program. During the spring
NELL (TC ’06). Levy received a master of arts Emergency Management Agency on 2011 semester, Lyerly will travel to the
in organizational leadership from Gonzaga mitigation and responses to events International Centre for Migration and Health
University in 2008. Bush is a captain in the such as hurricanes Katrina and Ivan. in Geneva, Switzerland. While there, she will
U.S. Army, stationed at Fort Irwin, Calif. Additionally, she has lived and worked complete a practicum with MANUEL CARBALLO
in West Africa, Latin America and the (G ’70, M ’73, PHTM ’90). The center, which
QUICKSON NDLOVU (SW ’07) is working on Asia-Pacific region, and developed a Carballo established and has run for more
completing his PhD in human services while work plan for the ASEAN Regional than 15 years, is a World Health Organization
working with the Texas Department of Family Forum on disaster preparedness and Collaborating Center and nonprofit. Lyerly
and Protective Services in Austin, Texas. relief, adopted last year. Rovins also has worked as a volunteer with Humanitarian
has taught graduate and undergradu- International Services Group at the organiza-
TED KLEIN (’08) and MEGAN KILLION (’08, ate courses on risk analysis, mitiga- tion’s Global Information Center in Texas on
G ’10) were married on June 19, 2010, in tion and disaster management as an ongoing Haiti relief operations. She also
her hometown of Mobile, Ala. Klein is a associate professor at the American served a summer internship in Japan at the
member of the Tulane University School of Military University. U.S. Army’s Center for Health Promotion and
Medicine class of 2012 and Killion received Preventive Medicine–Pacific.

PHOTO BY JACINTA LEGG. T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | PA G E 3 7


Deaths | theClasses

New Orleans on Feb. 28, 2010. Pensacola, Fla, on April 27, 2009.
Jeanne Gaudet Garvey (NC ’46) of Richard F. Maxwell Jr. (E ’49) of
Metairie, La., on May 6, 2010. Catonsville, Md., on May 2, 2008.
Warren H. Higginbotham (M ’46) John F. Monroe (M ’49) of Peoria, Ill.,
Jean Danielson taught at Tulane of Houston on April 10, 2009. on Jan. 1, 2009.
from 1965 to 2004 and was an Mark R. McQuinn (B ’46) of Chicago George H. Tinker III (L ’49) of Genoa,
original organizer of women’s stud- on June 2, 2008. Ill., on April 6, 2010.
ies at the university. She was the Lloyd G. Pence (B ’46) of Baton Keene A. Watson (PHTM ’49) of
first woman to earn a PhD in polit- Rouge, La., of Jan. 1, 2008. Lexington, Ky., on Dec. 27, 2009.
ical science from the University Consuelo Faust Walk (NC ’46) of Nelson C. Boudreaux Jr. (M ’50) of
of Kansas, and the first female New Orleans on April 18, 2010. Jeanerette, La., on Feb. 8, 2010.
faculty member in the Newcomb Richard A. Barnes Jr. (A&S ’47) of Leo A. Labourdette Sr. (A&S ’50) of
JEAN DANIELSON College political science depart- Phoenix on July 24, 2008. Mandeville, La., on April 17, 2010.
Associate professor ment. As honors program director, Milton S. Holland Jr. (A&S ’47) of Herbert Arthur Otto (SW ’50) of
of political science and
she successfully guided students Shreveport, La., on Dec. 6, 2009. Alpharetta, Ga., on June 20, 2009.
director of honors program
applying for Rhodes, Marshall, Sarah Grace Hudspeth (SW ’47) Elmore F. Ruck (E ’50) of Metairie,
of New Orleans Truman and Goldwater postgradu- of Montgomery, Ala., on March La., on April 8, 2010.
on July 5, 2010 ate scholarships. 26, 2010. H. Herschel Saucier (SW ’50) of
Richard Choon B. Ko (M ’47) of Coffeeville, Miss., on Dec. 28, 2009.
Muncie, Ind., on June 13, 2008. Richard P. Sheffield (A&S ’50)
Rosalie Palter Cohen (A&S ’30) Kemah, Texas, on Oct. 10, 2008. Nathan V. O’Neal (A&S ’47, G ’50) of of Jacksonville, Texas, on March
of Cincinnati on April 7, 2010. Thomas B. Parkerson Jr. (E ’43) Port Angeles, Wash., on July 1, 2009. 17, 2009.
Elizabeth J. Dobbie (NC ’34) of Captain Cook, Hawaii, on Sept. Gustav A. Schmidt Jr. (A&S ’47, Ballard W. Tebo (A&S ’50) of
of Daytona Beach, Fla., on Jan. 24, 2008. G ’48, ’51) of South Pasadena, Calif., Metairie, La., on May 15, 2009.
23, 2010. Aldenlee Spell (G ’43) of Doylestown, on Jan. 17, 2010. Virginia Nash Weatherhead (M ’50)
Ellen Sinclair Hillyer (A&S ’35) Pa., on May 2, 2010. Joy A. Toney-Chilton (UC ’47) of of Tallulah, La., on Nov. 17, 2009.
of Pass Christian, Miss., on April Robert C. Woolley (B ’43) of Ana- New Orleans on Jan. 2, 2009. Willis P. Butler (M ’51) of Kailua,
12, 2010. cortes, Wash., on April 8, 2010. Joseph L. Utley (B ’47) of Cleveland Hawaii, on Jan. 14, 2008.
E. Spencer Lazarus Jr. (B ’35) of Charles W. Creger (A&S ’44) of on Nov. 15, 2008. Ernest G. Catlett (L ’51) of Houston
New Orleans on April 7, 2010. Cincinnati on April 2, 2010. Robert J. Adams (L ’48) of Lafayette, on April 12, 2010.
Jacques L. Fortier (E ’38) of Houma, W. Lyall Howell Jr. (A&S ’44, M La., on April 14, 2010. Joseph W. Huttner Jr. (B ’51) of
La., on May 9, 2010. ’46) of Northridge, Calif., on Feb. Jack Stanley Brown Sr. (A&S ’48) of New Orleans on April 9, 2010.
Rhett R. McMahon (A&S ’39) of 10, 2009. Florence, Ala., on March 20, 2010. Clarence S. Long Jr. (A&S ’51) of
Baton Rouge, La., on June 11, 2009. Robert M. Montgomery (A&S ’44, Mona Glasston Hirschberg (NC ’48) Carrolton, Ga., on March 10, 2010.
Frances Rollins Whitty (NC ’39, B G ’48) of New Orleans on April of Elizabeth, N.J., on April 1, 2010. Michael M. Samalin (A&S ’51)
’75) of Slidell, La., on May 8, 2010. 26, 2010. Adrian K. McInnis Jr. (M ’48) of of Palm Springs, Calif., on July
Elizabeth Bowen Lewis (NC ’40) of Betty Finnegan Vath (NC ’44) of Baton Rouge, La., on Jan. 23, 2009. 12, 2009.
Spanish Fort, Ala., on Jan. 22, 2010. New Orleans on May 6, 2010. Harry G. Popkin (SW ’48) of Atlanta James C. Atkinson (M ’52) of Baton
Naomi Hicks Paule (NC ’40) of Shirley Pic Wells (NC ’44) of on March 23, 2010. Rouge, La., on Aug. 21, 2008.
Metairie, La., on May 27, 2009. Alexandria, La., on Oct. 23, 2009. Frederick B. Berry (M ’49) of Roland, Harvey E. Austin (SW ’52) of Celo,
Lois Walton Townsend (NC ’40) of Lenore Williamson Burgess (NC ’45) Ark., on July 20, 2009. N.C., on April 5, 2010.
Palatka, Fla., on Aug. 8, 2009. of Lacombe, La., on May 15, 2010. Francis Emmett (A&S ’49, L ’51) George V. Baus Sr. (A&S ’52, L ’57)
Rodney A. Black (E ’41) of Port Elizabeth Vallas Jensen (NC ’45, of New Orleans on April 17, 2010. of New Orleans on April 1, 2010.
Charlotte, Fla., on March 27, 2010. G ’48) of New Berlin, Wis., on April John U. Hidalgo (A&S ’49, G ’51) Jacob C. Fritz Jr. (E ’52) of Falls
Leonard J. Peters (A&S ’41, G ’42, 26, 2008. of Metairie, La., on May 12, 2010. Church, Va., on March 29, 2010.
’53) of Kittery Point, Maine, on March Raymond C. Tremont (A&S ’45) of Richard G. Jones Jr. (B ’49) of St. Richard F. Hattier (A&S ’52, UC ’54)
13, 2008. Metairie, La., on April 13, 2010. Petersburg, Fla., on April 22, 2010. of Boynton Beach, Fla., on Aug.
William J. Tally (A&S ’41, M ’44) of Preston N. Comeaux Jr. (B ’46) of William O. Lavin (B ’49) of Roanoke, 23, 2009.
Greensboro, N.C., on April 27, 2009. Cypress, Texas, on Nov. 3, 2008. Va., on Feb. 4, 2010. Bernard T. Hickman (M ’52) of Jack-
Ethelyn Cousin Park (NC ’42) of Her- Cecil K. Edmonds (B ’46) of Swartz Richard P. Mansfield (B ’49) of son, Miss., on Dec. 28, 2009.
mosa Beach, Calif., on April 3, 2010. Creek, Mich., on May 4, 2009. Carriere, Miss., on Oct. 29, 2010. Maxine Kidd Jackson (NC ’52) of
Wilton K. Duckworth (B ’43) of Jocelyn Nyland Fromherz (NC ’46) of Robert G. Marchelos (B ’49) of Alexandria, La., on April 9, 2010.

PA G E 38 | T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0
theClasses | Deaths

Kenneth N. Miller (A&S ’52) of Mem- City, Calif., on Sept. 21, 2008. Emily Feinstein Mansfield (NC ’64) Redondo Beach, Calif., on March
phis, Tenn., on Sept. 19, 2008. Wim F. Van Muyden (M ’57) of of White Plains, N.Y., on Nov. 5, 2009. 22, 2009.
George W. Renaudin (L ’52) of Woodland, Calif., on Nov. 2, 2009. Gary D. Ketron (M ’65) of Santa Ana, Gloria Shedrick Calhoun (SW ’78)
Houston on April 8, 2010. John E. Wallin (B ’57) of Baton Rouge, Calif., on Dec. 22, 2008. of New Orleans on March 26, 2010.
Peter J. San Roman (UC ’52) of New La., on Sept. 14, 2008. Velma G. Schlorff (PHTM ’65) of Ashton J. Fischer Jr. (A&S ’78) of
York City on Nov. 9, 2009. William C. Chamblee (M ’58) of Atlanta on May 6, 2010. Baton Rouge, La., on May 10, 2010.
Ralph L. Sheppard Sr. (SW ’52) of Medina, Texas, on May 17, 2008. Don M. Sierra (UC ’65) of Sterling Rober t K. Miller (A&S ’80) of
High Point, N.C., on April 3, 2010. Demain Donley Whitesides (G ’58) of Heights, Mich., on May 10, 2010. Maumelle, Ark., on Sept. 7, 2009.
James P. Stewart (E ’52) of Venice, Arlington, Va., on Aug. 24, 2008. Alma Barrera Siporin (SW ’65) of Joseph S. Smyth (E ’80) of Satellite
Fla., on March 31, 2009. Haywood H. Hillyer III (A&S ’59, L ’63) McAllen, Texas, on March 9, 2010. Beach, Fla., on Nov. 1, 2009.
V. William Wood (M ’52) of Tulsa, of New Orleans on April 28, 2010. W. G r ay S m i t h J r. ( A ’ 6 5 ) o f Kathryne L. Creamer (NC ’81) of
Okla., on April 30, 2010. George C. Schlottman (M ’59) of Philadelphia on April 29, 2010. Dallas on April 21, 2009.
J. Edwin Morriss Jr. (M ’53) of Head- Macon, Ga., on June 8, 2009. Richard A. Strauss (A&S ’65) of Butler, Kelvin P. McDaniel (E ’82, M ’86) of
land, Ala., on Sept. 8, 2009. R. Faser Triplett (M ’59) of Jackson, Pa., on Feb. 18, 2008. Covington, La., on March 29, 2010.
Joe F. Robberson (M ’53) of Amarillo, Miss., on Jan. 28, 2010. Susan B. Wise (NC ’65) of Fletcher, Donna Lee Van Cott (NC ’82) of
Texas, on April 1, 2010. Robert B. Friedman (A&S ’60) of N.C., on July 22, 2009. Wayland, Mass., on Jan. 17, 2009.
Winnifred Seegers (M ’53) of Littleton, Atlanta on April 15, 2010. Eunice Pellissier Bianco (PHTM Brett D. Lafving (A ’83, A&S ’83) of
Colo., on April 22, 2010. Hugh M. Glenn Jr. (L ’60) of Metairie, ’67) of Young Harris, Ga., on April Norfolk, Va., on Nov. 17, 2008.
James D. Stokes Jr. (E ’53) of Sara- La., on May 15, 2010. 25, 2009. Ronald J. Ballestas (A&S ’84) of
sota, Fla., on March 22, 2010. Dean Malbon Lindholm (B ’60) of Nancy E. Blume (NC ’67) of Pinellas New Orleans on April 11, 2010.
Clinton E. Wallace (M ’53) of Madison, Naples, Fla., on March 8, 2010. Park, Fla., on Jan. 26, 2010. Samuel T. Emory III (A&S ’84) of
Miss., on March 6, 2010. Jane K. Roe (SW ’60) of Lexington, Ky., A. Donald Pyatt (SW ’67) of Sarasota, Fredericksburg, Va., on April 8, 2010.
Jerome F. Wenzel Sr. (A&S ’53) of New on Dec. 9, 2008. Fla., on April 27, 2009. Ibrahim A. Ibrahim (PHTM ’84) of
Orleans on April 4, 2010. John T. Seale (L ’61) of Monroe, La., on Edward A. Sexsmith (PHTM ’67) of Troy, Mich., on Aug. 2, 2008.
Arthur E. Wood Jr. (M ’53) of Jackson, Dec. 17, 2008. Nampa, Idaho, on Nov. 21, 2008. Ellsworth P. Scales III (L ’84) of
Miss., on Feb. 14, 2010. Patricia Murphy Woody (NC ’61) of Joseph F. Toms (G ’67) of Spartanburg, Mobile, Ala., on May 15, 2008.
Kenneth D. Bourgeois (UC ’54) of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on May S.C., on Nov. 20, 2009. R. Monica Moncarz Honowitz (NC
Slidell, La., on April 19, 2010. 8, 2010. Theodore Grant (B ’69) of Rancho ’87) of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on
Donald D. Chapman (A ’54) of Samuel W. Murdoch (L ’62) of Cath- Mirage, Calif., on April 25, 2008. Oct. 1, 2009.
Bainbridge Island, Wash., on March edral City, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2009. Jacqueline McIntyre Hahn (SW ’69) of Melanie Saltzman Mendelson
23, 2010. David P. Richerson (PHTM ’62) of Oklahoma City on May 14, 2010. (NC ’87) of Weston, Conn., on April
Winifred F. Wilkerson Desmond (UC Ocean Springs, Miss., on Jan. 9, 2010. Eva Black Dillard (SW ’70) of Cor- 2, 2010.
’54) of Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7, 2008. George B. Vaughan (A&S ’62) of sicana, Texas, on April 7, 2010. Joe L. Caldwell (G ’89) of Ruston,
William H. Fuhr (E ’54, ’57) of Edina, Danville, Va., on Jan. 4, 2009. Joseph Guinta Sr. (UC ’70) of New La., on March 29, 2010.
Minn., on March 17, 2010. William G. Akins Jr. (M ’63) of Edina, Orleans on April 24, 2010. Jon R. Galinson (A&S ’93, PHTM ’96)
Rose A. Harris (SW ’54) of Nashville, Minn., on July 14, 2009. Beverly Ann Weeks (G ’70) of Hon- of Berkeley, Calif., on Feb. 23, 2010.
Tenn., on Nov. 18, 2009. Fernando M. Andrade (G ’63) of Fort olulu on March 7, 2009. Susan Larsen Boerwinkle (G ’94) of
Ernest C. Miller (M ’54) of Jack- Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 15, 2009. Kathleen T. Hopkins (G ’71) of El Dorado, Ark., on Oct. 29, 2008.
sonville, Fla., on Jan. 8, 2010. James W. Bortner Jr. (A&S ’63) of Cleveland on April 1, 2009. Edward P. Cosgriff (TC ’97) of New
William S. Seamen (B ’54) of Ur- Everett, Wash., on Sept. 28, 2009. Jay Mines (SW ’71) of St. Petersburg, Orleans on March 26, 2010.
bandale, Iowa, on Aug. 7, 2008. W. C h a r l e s B r o w n ( L ’ 6 3 ) o f Fla., on April 23, 2010. John N. Miller Jr. (B ’98) of Rus-
Albert H. Silverman (G ’54) of Chicago Shreveport, La., on Jan. 29, 2008. Donald G. Paxton (G ’72) of Man- sellville, Ark. on Jan. 1, 2009.
on Nov. 17, 2008. John D. Jackson Jr. (B ’63) of El Cajon, assas, Va., on July 20, 2009. Antonio C. Phillips (B ’99) of Co-
Frederick W. Fischer (A&S ’55) of New Calif., on Nov. 24, 2009. James A. Ayers (M ’73) of Corpus lumbus, Ga., on March 11, 2010.
Orleans on April 12, 2010. Michael K. Tarver (A&S ’63, L ’66) of Christi, Texas, on May 2, 2008. Manish Jain (M ’03) of Las Vegas on
Ellery C. Gay Jr. (M ’55) of Little Rock, New Orleans on May 19, 2009. Thomas W. Mather (E ’73) of Houston April 23, 2010.
Ark., on March 14, 2010. William R. Wenneker (B ’63) of on April 15, 2010. William J. McKeown (E ’03) of Rhame,
Guy A. Guillot (E ’56) of Metairie, La., Lexington, Ky., on April 21, 2010. David E. Golia Paladin (L ’73) of N.D., on March 28, 2008.
on April 30, 2010. Thomas J. Baker Jr. (A&S ’64) of New Chapel Hill, N.C., on Feb. 23, 2010. Fredric T. Morriss (G ’05) of Ponca
William Sonnier Jr. (M ’56) of La- Orleans on April 3, 2010. Nancy Johnson Bowers (G ’75) of City, Okla., on Feb. 28, 2010.
fayette, La., on Aug. 21, 2009. Edward De La Garza (L ’64) of Miami Baltimore on Aug. 10, 2009. Jessica R. Liever (’07) of Walnut
Ulrich Toggweiler (G ’56) of Redwood on Dec. 6, 2009. Phillip C. Sokolsky (A&S ’76) of Creek, Calif., on March 17, 2010.

T U L A N I A N S U M M E R 2 0 1 0 | PA G E 3 9
givingBack

Thank you Strawberry People Reunion, Boudreau and other graduated from Tulane Law School in 1920 and
alumni and their spouses met annually for more served as governor of Louisiana in 1936–1939.
Five years ago, in the aftermath of Hurricane than 50 years, and they established the The Tulane Office of Alumni Affairs is
Katrina, Tulane University and the city of New Strawberry People Reunion Scholarship specifi- appointing a committee to receive recom-
Orleans were facing a future that was, at best, cally for students from Louisiana. mendations and to select Bobby Boudreau
uncertain. The calendar was thrown out and The Strawberry People and other friends of Spirit Award winners.
classes were cancelled for the fall semester Boudreau are behind the Bobby Boudreau —Maureen King
while plans were set in motion to begin Memorial Initiative, an endowment created to Maureen King is a writer in the Tulane
rebuilding the university. establish the annual Bobby Boudreau Spirit Office of Development.
In the wake of nature’s fury and man’s folly, Award for the alumnus who best exemplifies his
the Tulane community rose to the occasion and “roll Wave” spirit. As part of the initiative, a new AUCTION AND ALL ALUMNI PARTY
redefined itself with a remarkable response to tradition will be established and an old tradition The Helluva Hullabaloo auction will benefit
tremendous challenges and adversity. Alumni, resurrected. Tulane student-athletes for the ninth year. The
friends, administrators, board members, faculty, For decades, the Victory Bell rang out after event on Oct. 8 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. in the
staff, parents and students rolled up their sleeves Green Wave victories, but the clapper disap- Lavin-Bernick Center features Lee Zurik, WVUE-
and gave in ways they had never given before. peared years ago, rendering the bell silent. In TV anchor/chief investigative reporter, as auc-
Their hard work and valiant efforts secured the time, the Victory Bell will ring again to celebrate tioneer for a live auction. The fund-raiser also will
future of Tulane and marked the beginning of a the spirit of Bobby Boudreau. include a silent auction, and CharityBuzz hosts
new era of cooperation between the university The Boudreau Memorial Initiative will pro- an online auction Oct. 5–25. For more informa-
and the city that is its home. vide for the design, construction, relocation and tion, go to http://tulane.edu/homecoming/hul-
“Not for one’s self, but for one’s own”—the dedication of the Victory Bell. Recipients of the labaloo. Also on Oct. 8, a pep rally,
university’s motto—took on a broader meaning Bobby Boudreau Spirit Award will receive a fireworks and music by Trombone Shorty &
and context as Tulane instituted its undergradu- replica of the Victory Bell. Any gifts to the ini- Orleans Avenue will be part of the festivities
ate public-service graduation requirement. The tiative that exceed the cost of establishing the for the Wave ’10 All Alumni Reunion Party. The
rest, as they say, is history. award will be dedicated to the Strawberry classes of 1960, 1965, 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985,
At commencement ceremonies in 2007, People scholarship fund. 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005 and 2010 also have
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Brian Williams The bell was originally cast in 1825 by Atelier special reunions scheduled that weekend.
told graduates, “There would not be a Tulane de Thiac Maignan Durand for Valsin Marmillion, Go to http://tulane.edu/homecoming/reunions/
without New Orleans, but I am absolutely and was acquired by the family of Richard W. challenges.cfm to make your class gift.
convinced that there would not be a New Leche, who later donated it to Tulane. Leche
Orleans without Tulane.”
Indeed, without the generosity of countless
members of the Tulane community, there might
not be either. We can’t thank you enough!

SPIRIT OF BOBBY BOUDREAU


The late Robert J. Boudreau (B ’51, L ’53) of
Lake Charles, La., gained recognition, unoffi-
cially, as the No. 1 cheerleader for Tulane. His
quick wit and contagious passion for the
Green Wave boosted the morale of all who
were fortunate enough to cross his path.
Boudreau’s fervor for Tulane knew no off-
season, and his support for the university was
not limited to athletics. As members of the

The late Bobby Boudreau, Green Wave No. 1 fan,


poses with Tulane cheerleaders. Boudreau’s friends
have established a spirit award in his memory.

PAGE 40 | TULANIAN SUMMER 2010


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