all the hoopla in the public eye tidings from Not all the action takes Melissa Harris-Perry cambodia place on the court. has lots to say. A young alumna writes home.
THE MAGAZINE OF TULANE UNIVERSITY
TUlanewinter 2012
Swish! Tulane and NOLA score the 2012 Men’s
Final Four®. PAULA BURCH-CELENTANO DUCKS Students don boots to slosh their way across campus after an early morning shower in November. Rain boots have become de rigueur apparel for some at the slightest hint of rain.
Slam Dunk On the cover: Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 1 PRESIDENT’S LETTER
teaching and civic learning. Closer to home, a consortium of research Research in the Real World institutions led by Tulane University is slated to receive a $10.34 million grant from the Gulf by Scott S. Cowen of Mexico Research Initiative to help develop new dispersants that more favorably balance If you were to ask a group of university presidents to identify the mission effectiveness and toxicity in combating deep- of their institutions, most would say something along the lines of “the sea drilling accidents. acquisition, transmission and application of knowledge.” You may recall that in the wake of the Deep- Indeed, research, teaching and civic learning are central to Tulane’s water Horizon disaster in the Gulf there were mission. Of the three, the most seemingly rarified perhaps, is research. concerns regarding the environmental impact We’re all familiar with the process of teaching as all of us have been of the dispersants used to break up the oil. [See students in some capacity. And most of us have engaged in community page 6 for more about this research.] service of one form or another. Led by principal investigator Vijay John, Research, however, often takes place out of the public eye, in labo- Leo S. Weil Professor of Engineering, the team ratories equipped with mind-boggling technology. Its results are will study the role of dispersants and other sometimes understandable to only a few highly trained individuals. chemical compounds in mitigating the envi- Yet, research remains the heart of a university such as Tulane, and its ronmental impact of deep-sea drilling acci- product is much more tangible than you may imagine. dents on the marine environment. I can think of several examples of current research at Tulane that In another study related to the BP oil spill, strengthen the university’s overall mission. the Tulane University School of Public Health Just this January, Tulane received a $5 million grant from the Bill and Tropical Medicine was last summer award- and Melinda Gates Foundation that will allow us to help universities in ed $6.5 million from the National Institute of disaster-prone regions in Africa and Asia establish a network of educa- Environmental Health Sciences to study the tion and development programs in disaster resilience and leadership. potential health impacts of the disaster on THE DOOR TO Led by principal investigator Ky Luu, executive director of Tulane’s DISCOVERY pregnant women and women of reproductive Disaster Resilience Leadership Academy, Tulane will partner with re- Research creates that age living in Louisiana’s coastal parishes. gional networks representing 17 universities on two continents with most precious of Led by principal investigator Dr. Maureen resources: knowledge the goal of creating and sustaining leaders who are experts in disaster that leads to the Lichtveld, it is the first long-term study of how planning. What I like about this project is that it incorporates research, advancement of society. a major oil spill affects pregnant women. In a completely different area of research, Tulane last year received a $1.6 million grant to analyze motor coordination skills in babies during the first 18 months of life. Led by princi- pal investigator Jeffrey Lockman, professor of psychology, and using digital motion-capture technology now commonly employed in films such as Avatar and Tron, Tulane psychologists are studying the early development of hand-to- mouth coordination in infants. Hand-to-mouth transport is a critical skill for babies and adults alike, enabling individu- als to feed themselves, and early problems in this skill can compromise the quality of daily life. With the use of state-of-the art technology, researchers are assessing coordination devel- opment in a much more detailed way than has previously been done. From Africa to the Gulf, from the deep sea to the playpen, these are just a few examples of the myriad research projects at Tulane that are not only groundbreaking but are happening on the ground—in the real world. It is the kind of research that further strengthens our reputa- tion as a civic-minded, major research univer-
GETTY IMAGES GETTY sity devoted to making a difference.
2 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE TUlane CONTENTS
Air Michael Fans in the Super- dome witness Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot in the 1982 Final Four championship.
2 PRESIDENT’S LETTER Research on the ground 6 NEWS Drumming heals psyches • A better dispersant • Posse rides • Who dat? Michael White • The lure of TV • Knowl- edge is power • Value by design • Substance abuse care • Baritone • Dialing East Africa 12 SPORTS • New head football coach • A future stadium 30 TULANIANS
© BETTMAN/JERRY LODRIGUSS/COR BETTMAN/JERRY © Youth Rebuilding • Alumni survey • Bob Devlin • Rod Chapel Jr. • Jeffrey Gruen 14 All the Hoopla 32 WHERE Y'AT! Class notes After conducting a full-court press to receive the bid to host the 2012 NCAA® men’s basket- ball Final Four®, Tulane and New Orleans brace for one of the biggest sporting events of the 37 FAREWELL year. By Nick Marinello Tribute: Arthur Q. Davis Sr. 38 TULANE EMPOWERS 20 In the Public Eye Adopt a med student • Richardson renovation Amid the 24/7 slugfest of political punditry, Melissa Harris-Perry comes out swinging. • Gulf Coast music • By Mary Ann Travis Empowers progress • Home Field Advantage 40 NEW ORLEANS 24 Tidings from Cambodia Angus Lind goes fishing
Half a world away, a budding journalist writes home about her adventures. By Faine Greenwood, ’10
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 3 DORM LIFE Good times in Phelps Hall go back to 1954. The residence hall near Bruff Commons has been renovated a few times and still houses students today.
yeah, you write
THAT’S MY ROOM! as the parent of a student, it is very for the anthropologists, filmmakers nucleus of that camaraderie, but the In the “Letter from the Editor” gratifying to see some of my work still and writers who came through the memories are preserved. Wick, we miss column [fall 2011] you mention that in use and exciting to observe all the Mexican Highlands. you. There hasn’t been an accurate Irby Hall was built in 1956. Actually new projects under way. While dorm She and Frans had become the pitch count kept in the stands since Irby and Phelps were completed in life is certainly a rite of passage, with protectors of the Lacandon Indians, you left us. the summer of 1954. stories that will be shared for years, a Mayan tribe that had never been Jerald L. Album, A&S ’69, L ’73 I was an incoming freshman that I’m glad those reminiscences will con- conquered by the Spaniards and still Metairie, La. year and I arrived during the first tinue to be enjoyed at the alum events lived in a world ignorant of Colum- week of September and they were in the Bea Fields Alumni House. bus. (It is said that in the ’30s they LETTERS FAN still painting the doors on Phelps. My Karen Kersting were hunted for sport by the big-city Sometimes the letters are a lot more room was on the second floor facing New Orleans Mexicans.) The Bloms became the interesting than the original articles. the quad the second door from the guardians of their jungle home as well. “You can call me Ray or you can end of the building on the street end. ROLE OF ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL They arranged for their medical treat- call me Jay ... or you can call me Ray- You can see my room in the article As an alumnus of the Tulane School ment and brought the Lacandones jay … but just don’t call me Johnson.” [“Modern Love,”] with the picture of of Architecture, I always enjoy articles out of the jungle to stay at Na Bolom I prefer Tulanian but whatever is cool Phelps from 1961. that feature some aspect of the school while they were treated at the hospital or with-it. … Although I never took advantage of or regional architecture. Thus, I want in San Cristobal, where the Bloms had Did not read the Newt piece and al- the lack of inside halls, I understand to thank you for the well-written article found a translator. though I would never vote for the guy that a lot of guys were able to bring [“Modern Love,” fall 2011] on modern- You can imagine my enchantment I would think you could write a book their dates to their rooms in raincoats. ism and the loss of modern architec- to be seated at dinner next to people on that guy, maybe two books and not Thanks for great content. Wish ture in New Orleans. from the far-distant past, a small man wear out the subject. He is good for I could get down for homecoming Unfortunately, I think you missed in white hand-woven clothes, speak- few laughs. I had no idea he went to sometime and play in the Alumni an opportunity to illustrate the ing pre-Columbian Mayan to his tiny Tulane. Maybe that explains a lot. Band. My wife and I still play in a important role that the Tulane School wife and child who were standing We, Gail (Tulane University community concert band. We were of Architecture plays in educating the silently behind him at the table. I College for a teaching certificate and married the summer after my fresh- students and the community on the was gratified to feel that I understood teaching at Trinity School) and I had man year and the band director, value of a wide range of architecture, them, at least their familial devotion, a ball in New Orleans and almost John Morrissey, let her play in the including modern architecture indig- although I came from so far away in bought a Doublewide Shotgun up concert band with me. enous to New Orleans. It was with great time and space. This was a pure gift on Constance but instead bought a John “Pickett” Cummins, B ’58 sadness that I read that the Rivergate from the Bloms. Queen Ann Victorian in San Francisco Lawrenceville, Ga. was demolished. This building lent Roberta Gordon, NC ’61 playing “This Old House.” Seems San a sense of sculpture and grace to the Cambridge, Mass. Francisco was a better investment. MEMORY LANE riverfront site that certainly has not Chuck Desler, A ’75 Thanks for a trip down memory lane been equaled by the current Harrah’s HIP-HOP RAP Placerville, Calif. with the article about the restoration Casino. In addition, a classic modern- Great publicity you gave Rapper T.I. of the Bea Fields Alumni House and style building located on Claiborne [“Top of the Hop,” fall 2011.] We know LOUISIANA NUMBERS the photo of Phelps Residence Hall. Avenue designed by former Dean John him well in Atlanta. Was released from The Fall 2011 issue noted (on page 7) From 1982 through 1995, I worked at Lawrence has been lost to the wrecking prison and immediately rearrested that only 223 of the 1,757 new students Tulane as the campus interior designer ball. Many others have fallen to the for violating his parole. I am sure Ms. enrolled were from Louisiana. /project manager for renovation work same shortsighted thinking. Greenwald is good at her music job but I do not find that number either in almost every campus building From the very beginning of the she needs to be a better social worker! positive or encouraging. Tulane is including #2 Audubon Place. … school, the professors and students After Teach for America, she probably both a New Orleans and a Louisiana Of all the projects assigned during have focused on preservation of his- needed to go back to Tulane and get a university, and cannot maintain either my tenure, though, the challenges toric architecture—historic by National degree in social work. character with less than 13 percent of of renovating the Phelps, Irby, Register definition is any building over Ferdinand K. Levy, A&S ’50, B ’52 the new student population coming Patterson, et al. dorms were the 50 years old. Some of those buildings, Atlanta from in-state. most demanding. It was not that which have been lost, were designed Michael C. Huete, E ’76 the buildings were of questionable by Tulane professors and students, and MEMORY OF WICK Dumfries, Va. construction; rather, the changes in the school continues to be an advocate I knew him only as “Wick.” [“Quiet what students in the 1960s expected for meaningful historic architecture Man, Resounding Legacy,” fall 2011.] LOUISIANA REDUX from a dorm room versus what and quality design for new and reno- He sat directly behind me at baseball What caught my attention [“In that students of the 1980s expected from vated structures. games for years until Katrina. We Number,” fall 2011] was there were these same rooms rendered most The Tulane School of Architecture had an eclectic group in those days. as many new students from NY of these buildings woefully inad- has always played a pivotal role in the Next to Wick sat Danc’n Daryl who (212) as from LA (223). This needs to equate. Insufficient electrical service design and care of architecture in New still dances on occasion but is about change if we want to obtain the long- prevented students from plugging Orleans and it would seem appropriate 150 pounds or more lighter. In front lasting support for athletics needed in a TV and a microwave and a in future articles to address the role of of us were the LeBretons who were to support the great investment hair dryer simultaneously. Phone the Tulane School of Architecture in avid baseball supporters likely before Tulane is making. service was limited to wall-mounted this endeavor, as opposed to the build- I ever attended a game and who have We need more LA students. phones in the corridors and Internet ings themselves. unfortunately also passed away. George Rowley connections were not even a reality. Alvin J. Cox, AIA, A ’72 Also in the immediate seating New Orleans Most of these buildings did not even Louisville, Ky. area were Nancy and Bob Hallett, have sprinkler systems until the late he a Tulane Med doc and one of the 1980s! Mix in the sociological issues CASA NA BOLOM most knowledgeable baseball people of a 1980s/’90s student population I didn’t know about Frans Blom’s I ever met. In front of us sat Hank struggling to share a room (let alone a connection to Tulane [“The Maya Ex- who high-fived me so much in 2001 Drop Us a Line bathroom) for the first time with any- plorer,” fall 2011] when I stayed at Casa and 2005 our palms were blistered. E-mail us at: one, created some lively problems, Na Bolom, his house in San Cristobal I think he and his wife lost their [email protected] too. It was a time for creative thinking de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, in the Chalmette home in Katrina. Though or U.S. mail: and determined work as we only had 1960s. It was by then a guesthouse I still frequent many baseball games Tulane, University Publications, the summer months to complete run by Trudi Blom, his widow, a well- as a season ticketholder today most these dorm renovations. known documentary photographer; of those mentioned above are gone. 200 Broadway, Suite 219, As I visit the campus today, now it functioned as a community center The storm and life’s end took away the New Orleans, LA 70118
4 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Letter from The Editor
MAGAZINE TUlane Editor Mary Ann Travis
Art dirEctor Melinda Whatley Viles
FEAturEs Editor Nick Marinello
“tulAniAns” Editor Fran Simon
contributors Catherine Freshley, ’09 Alicia Duplessis Jasmin Kimberly Krupa Angus Lind, A&S ’66 Kirby Messinger Mark Miester, A&S ’90, B ’09 Arthur Nead Kathryn Hobgood Ray Ryan Rivet, UC ’02
sEnior univErsity PhotogrAPhEr Paula Burch-Celentano
sEnior Production coordinAtor
paula burch-celentano paula Sharon Freeman INK & DIGITAL/PAPER & SCREEN But before you abandon the print expe- Marshall McLuhan, famous for invent- rience, consider that the paper on which grAPhic dEsignEr ing the iconic phrase “the medium is the Tulane magazine is printed comes from Tracey Bellina message” in the 1960s, put forth the idea sustainable forests. that media are not passive channels of These forests actually are tree farms information. Media don’t merely supply in which trees used in paper manufactur- the stuff—the content—of thought; they ing are grown as a crop, much like corn or also shape the processes of thought. wheat. After the trees are harvested, new We’re about to launch Tulane magazine ones are planted. PrEsidEnt oF thE univErsity on the iPad, so we’ve been thinking about The FSC logo on the back cover of Scott S. Cowen McLuhan lately. In the iPad version of the the magazine is the stamp of approval magazine, we plan to include a couple from the Forest Stewardship Council. It vicE PrEsidEnt oF univErsity communicAtions of audio and video files and maybe some indicates that the paper used in printing Deborah L. Grant, PHTM ’86 extra photos that didn’t make it into the Tulane magazine is from environmentally print magazine. (We’ll be sending out responsible sources. ExEcutivE dirEctor oF PublicAtions notices when the iPad edition is available. And here’s another point to ponder in Carol J. Schlueter, B ’99 It will be a free download from the Apple the print vs. online debate: Research in Tulane (USPS 017-145) is a quarterly magazine published by the Tulane App Store.) 2007 by the Poynter Institute—and sup- Office of University Publications, 31 McAlister Drive, Drawer 1, New Readers have been able to electroni- ported by further research in 2011 at the Orleans, LA 70118-5624. Periodical postage at New Orleans, LA 70113 and cally scroll Tulane magazine (tulane.edu/ University of Oregon School of Journalism additional mailing offices. Send editorial correspondence to the above news/tulanian/index.cfm) for more than a and Communication—shows that print address or email [email protected]. decade. The iPad is just the latest gizmo in readers remember more of what they read Opinions expressed in Tulane are not necessarily those of Tulane publishing technology. than online readers. representatives and do not necessarily reflect university policies. Material Digital is fast. Print is gradual. Digital But more people are getting their news may be reprinted only with permission. is easily archived (and retrieved). Print is from the Internet today. Tulane University is an affirmative action/equal opportunity institution. more slowly read and savored. So download the app if you want to In the interest of saving trees, a few of take the magazine on the go with you, but POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: you have said that you’d rather view the keep reading these pages if you want to Tulane, Tulane Office of University Publications, 31 McAlister Drive, digital version only. remember why!—MARy ANN TRAvIS Drawer 1, New Orleans, LA 70118-5624.
WintEr 2012/vol. 83, no. 3
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 5 boot up The Video Game Society at Tulane, which meets weekly in Jones Hall to play games projected on a large screen, is one of the fastest-growing clubs on campus. Retro Nights are especially popular among the 286 members who play on old-school consoles like Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Atari while raising funds for the Child’s Play Charity at Tulane Hospital for Children.
NEWS Oil Breakup A consortium of research institutions led by Tulane University is slated to receive a $10.34 million grant from the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to help develop new dispersants that more favorably balance effectiveness and tox- icity in combating deep-sea drilling accidents. The group also will study the role of disper- sants and other chemical compounds in miti- gating the environmental impact of deep-sea drilling accidents on the marine environment. “The overriding objective of the work of this consortium is to address the question, ‘What needs to be done if a Deepwater Hori- zon–type spill happens again?’” says Vijay T. thinkstock.com John, Leo S. Weil Professor of Engineering in the Tulane School of Science and Engineering and principal investigator of the consortium. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the larg- est in U.S. history, resulted from an oil rig ex- DrumCircle plosion in April 2010. Walk by Fortier Park in the Bayou St. John neighborhood of New Orleans Lifting Spirits Dispersants were used to break up the on a Thursday evening, and you’ll likely notice a group of folks of all ages Communal drumming oil into small droplets that could be eaten by sitting in a circle and pounding out rhythms on congas, bongos and other coupled with talk microbes or evaporate. Concerns have been percussion instruments. It may look like fun—and it is—but it’s also a therapy diffuses anger raised, however, regarding the impact of the great way to relieve stress and tune up the psyche, says Dr. Janet Johnson, and relieves stress. dispersants on the environment. associate professor of clinical psychiatry. The research team will address fundamen- Johnson is co-founder of Project Rising Sun, a community group that tal scientific issues necessary to developing promotes mental health by organizing drum circles in a variety of settings. new, more effective dispersants, including “Drums have been a form of communication throughout history,” says mechanisms of oil breakup and droplet sta- Johnson. “It’s very primal.” bilization. All dispersants to date have been Johnson and her sister, Diane Johnson, began the drum circles after developed for surface spills. The consortium Hurricane Katrina to address “unmet community psycho-social needs.” will develop and test new, safer dispersants for Along with the community drum circles held at Fortier Park, the group deep-sea hydrocarbon releases. appears at health fairs, churches and events such as the Mid City Bayou At Tulane, four researchers in chemical and Boogaloo, a community music festival held in the spring. biomolecular engineering in addition to John “We’re very mobile,” says Johnson. “We take the drums and will be involved with the project: Lawrence go wherever.” Pratt, Hank Ashbaugh, Noshir Pesika and Kyr- Project Rising Sun also conducts drum circles with a more clinical ap- iakos Papadopoulos. The researchers possess plication. These circles comprise small groups of at-risk adolescents and a broad range of expertise including synthetic young adults and are attended by a therapist. Periods of drumming are chemistry, thermodynamics, colloid science interspersed with traditional talk therapy. and transport phenomena.—Arthur Nead “They drum while focusing on what they have just talked about,” oIL anD water says Johnson, who notes that participants are often dealing with issues MIx-up Scientists are develop- of anger. “They may discuss what to do when you feel angry and then ing better dispersants drum while trying to focus on getting rid of the anger and find positive to deal with future oil replacements.” spills in the deep sea. While she acknowledges that the idea may sound a little “flaky,” John- son says that communal drumming provides a powerful experience of social bonding. “It’s soothing. There’s a meditative feel to it,” says Johnson. “At the end of the circle something lifts and everyone is smiling and feeling better.”
—Nick Marinello hill sabree
6 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE In That Number Posse-bilities
POSSE POWER In 2008, Tulane entered into an agreement to become a partner of the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit that works with urban Oil Breakup public high schools to identify, recruit and train minority and economically disadvantaged students and send them in teams a “POSSE” fROm lOS angElES iS cuRREntly to elite universities across the country. Each student is given attEnding tulanE. a full scholarship from the partner university. The first group arrived at Tulane in fall 2009. Why are the teams called “posses?” The name comes from a comment the organization’s founder heard from a student who said that he would never have dropped out of college if he had had his “posse” with him.
The1989 yEaR the Posse Foundation was founded. courtesy the posse foundation posse the courtesy
Number of students given full tuition to tulanE through its partnership , with the Posse Foundation. The4 number of223 public high school students to be given full-tuitiOn lEadERShiP SchOlaRShiPS to partner universities. 30(and cOunting) 39 Number of majOR cOllEgES The year the first group and univERSitiES—includ- of Posse Scholars will ing Tulane—to PaRtnER with 2014 gRaduatE from Tulane. the Posse Foundation. %
Percentage of Posse scholars to 90gRaduatE fROm cOllEgE.EgE. , $ 6Number of000 POSSE alumni predicted to milliOn dOllaRS in scholarships have be in the WORkfORcE by 2020. 485been awarded by partner universities.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 7 Who Dat ? No ‘humbug fella’ harriet blum harriet
michael white For some a 23-year-old White, appears a li’l to-do for you … a church the Louisiana Endowment for time, Michael White has held with the Doc Paulin Brass Band, parade over the river a week the Humanities. a special place in the pantheon parading the grounds of the from Sunday. Be at my house And if you graduated from of traditional New Orleans jazz New Orleans Jazz and Heritage at 9 a.m. That’s black pants, a Tulane in the last 11 years, you musicians. A clarinetist, White Festival. (Also in the photo clean white shirt, clean black heard him and his Original Lib- is one of this city’s most active are Dwight Miller, sax; Dwayne shoes, solid black tie. Ya got erty Jazz Band perform at your bandleaders, purveying the Paulin, sousaphone; Darryl that? I hope you ain’t one of commencement. city’s music from coast to coast Walker, trombone; and Ricky dem humbug fellas.” “I think that all of the things and abroad. He’s also one of Paulin, snare drum.) White was Turns out, White was no I do are related under the the top scholars of New Orleans introduced to Paulin only a few humbug and was in fact the umbrella of New Orleans jazz,” jazz, an archivist of its memora- years earlier, when the vener- real deal. For his lifetime of White said, in a 2010 interview. bilia and a mentor to up-and- able bandleader was in need of work sustaining traditional New “They are all about recogniz- coming jazz musicians. a clarinetist. Orleans jazz, White was in 2008 ing, understanding, discussing, There was a time when White In a piece he wrote for the named a National Heritage Fel- performing and listening to New (G ’79, ’83), who earned a PhD in William Ransom Hogan Jazz low by the National Endowment Orleans’ great musical tradition, Spanish at Tulane, was up-and- Archive, White recalled Paulin of the Arts. In 2010, he was its possibilities and its contribu- coming, too. In this 1978 photo, telling him, “Look, White, I got named Humanist of the Year by tion to the world.”—FRaN SimON
8 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE rEForM MinDED To foster transparency and promote accountability, economics professor Aaron Schneider and law professor David Marcello launched New Orleans Satellite Govern- ment (nolasatellitegovernment.tulane.edu), a website that tracks the workings of more than 200 commissions, boards, security and improvement districts, public benefit corporations and other public bodies that spend city tax dollars, generate revenue and set policies.
NEWS KIPP Agreement
When Tulane President Scott Cowen asked tV’sallure a room full of eighth graders at a KIPP New Orleans charter school in November, “Who wants to go to college?” every student raised a hand. Through a new partnership announced by Cowen on that day, students graduating from KIPP charter schools around the nation will be eligible for 10 Tulane University schol- arships annually. What Cowen and KIPP administrators hope is that this partnership will lead to higher col- lege completion rates among KIPP graduates. KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) is “a national network of free, open-enrollment, college preparatory public schools dedicated to preparing students in underserved com- munities for success in college and in life,” according to its website. “KIPP is the highest performing charter network in the United States,” said Cowen, “and Tulane is about finding excellent stu- dents who have the potential to be extraor- dinary leaders in the world. This is a natural photo illustration by tracey bellina tracey by illustration photo partnership.” Television is the most powerful cultural medium in the world today, Status Symbol Beginning in the 2012–13 academic year, stu- says Vicki Mayer, associate professor of communication. Some observ- Around the globe, dents enrolled in KIPP’s 109 schools across the ers may say that television is over; it’s all about the Internet. But Mayer TV exerts an undi- country may apply for the Tulane scholarships. argues otherwise. “The symbolic power of being involved with televi- minished, powerful New Orleans is home to nine KIPP campus- sion is still huge cultural capital for everyone in our society,” she says. influence. es. In total, 32,000 students are enrolled in KIPP Unlike many media scholars, Mayer is not focused on what’s on schools nationally. the television screen—the content—but instead she’s interested in the Mike Feinberg, co-founder of KIPP, told “processes of production behind those contents.” the students in New Orleans in November that She says, “I’m interested in culturally, what’s in it for people who KIPP’s goal isn’t simply to get them into college, work for the television industry?” but also to make sure they finish. In her book Below the Line: Producers and Production Studies in the “We want you going to college not to take New Television Economy (Duke University Press, 2011), Mayer presents remedial classes, but to take the advanced, case studies on people involved in television production. hard classes,” said Feinberg. “We live in a society where far more people are involved in the pro- “If we prepare you now, you will shine in duction of television than we currently associate with the industry,” those classes,” he said.—Alicia Duplessis Jasmin says Mayer. “The numbers of people who are involved in television scholarship production have expanded dramatically.” opportunity The “siren song” of television lures people to work for low pay, long Students at a New hours and precarious job security, says Mayer. Orleans KIPP charter school learn about the The term “below the line” originated in the early days of film when chance to compete budget sheets categorized “above the line” costs for creative expenses, for scholarships including scriptwriters and directors. “Below-the-line people are the to attend Tulane. people who actually make it happen in production,” says Mayer, includ- ing lighting technicians and stagehand personnel. Below-the-line workers add value to the new television economy but they are often unrecognized or even completely invisible. Mayer says, “Television continues to exert its power in our soci- ety in a way that we are willing to submit or exploit ourselves for the
industry’s benefit.”—Mary Ann Travis burch-celentano paula
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 9
hpv vaccInE for all Dr. Sue Ellen Abdalian, professor of pe- diatrics, recommends that boys as well as girls receive the HPV vaccination. HPV (human papilloma virus) is contracted through sexual activity and can cause life-threatening diseases. “It’s smart to receive the vaccine well before sexual activity happens,” she says.
NEWS Volunteer Treatment At the Bridge House clinic, every Wednesday night, Tulane medical students organize a vol- unteer clinic that provides health care for resi- dents of Bridge House, a treatment center for men with long-term substance abuse problems. Working in teams, first- and second-year students meet with patients, give physicals and take patients’ medical history. Then they con- fer with third- and fourth-year students who act as mentors. The teams evaluate patients and present their findings to an attending phy- sician who is able to write prescriptions and dispense medicine. “It’s a great challenge and a great opportuni- ty to put our minds together and figure out how we can help our patients,” says Caroline Walker, Creatas a second-year Bridge House Clinic coordinator. Walker says that students relish the au- tonomy of the clinic. They are able to develop a plan, have it approved by a faculty member, IkeaEffect and start implementing their ideas on the So it turns out there’s a reason why you could never throw out that wob- DIY’s Appeal spot. “Everything I put into this, I get 10 times bly old bookcase you put together in college. Call it the Ikea effect. In an Putting something more out of it,” she says. article in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Tulane researcher Daniel together yourself, Dr. Arthur T. Fort IV, assistant professor Mochon argues that consumers value products they build themselves— whether handmade of family and community medicine, says that such as ready-to-assemble furniture from the international home prod- furniture or a YouTube students love the experience because they get video, bestows value ucts company Ikea—more than similar professionally built products. to do something meaningful for the commu- on the project. “Usually when people think of building their own furniture, they nity while still learning valuable tools. think it’s sort of foisting cost onto the consumer, and therefore it reduces Fourth-year medical student Shubho Sarkar value,” explains Mochon, assistant professor of marketing. “But what we has been involved with the Bridge House Clinic find is that people actually come to love the things they have created.” throughout medical school. He says that the In experiments, Mochon and co-authors Michael I. Norton and Dan experience has prepared him for residency Ariely asked subjects to build simple items—such as Ikea storage boxes or training next year. origami figures—and compared their willingness to pay for those items “It’s a win-win situation because the resi- to their willingness to pay for similar preassembled products. Surprising- dents of Bridge House get the care they deserve, ly, participants were willing to pay more for the items they put together. and we get this wonderful learning environ- Mochon attributes the phenomenon to what psychologists refer to as ment,” says Sarkar.—Kirby Messinger the need for effectance. brIdgE housE clInIc “People just have a fundamental need to feel like they can intervene Medical students gain in the world,” says Mochon. “By creating stuff, they have a way to signal meaningful experience by providing health to themselves and others that they can intervene.” Do-it-yourself projects care to treatment- are a way to “show you have control over the world.” center residents who The findings also help to explain the popularity of sites like YouTube, are trying to turn their lives around. which rely on user-generated content. Mochon says users get the same kind of satisfaction from uploading a self-made video that they get from assembling furniture.
“They see that badly focused video of their cat jumping on a sofa bed elentano as the most amazing thing in the world because they created it them- h- C selves,” says Mochon, who teaches social media marketing at the A. B.
Freeman School of Business.—Mark Miester bur C paula
10 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE
Gallery Baritone
large-scale sculpture weighs nearly 450 pounds. Westerlund Roosen devel- 13-foot saliences with pink Artist and sculptor, Mia West- Westerlund Roosen, born oped her own style to coun- encrusted on them,” says erlund Roosen, doesn’t shy in New York in 1942, says that terbalance the works of male Westerlund Roosen. “To me it away from the human anatomy. she is influenced by the work artists at a gallery where she was pretty obvious, but a lot of Instead, she uses body parts of Romanian sculptor Con- was the only female artist on the people didn’t see the irony.” such as “kissing” tongues and stantin Brancusi (1876–1957), roster for 14 years. Baritone was first exhibited male genitalia as inspiration. German-born American She says she wanted to prove in 2010 in New York City on Park As evidenced in Baritone, she sculptor Eva Hesse (1936– to her cohorts that her gender Avenue Mall between 52nd and uses slick finishes and curves to 1970) as well as English artist would not hinder her rightful 54th streets. It was installed on express sensuality. Henry Moore’s (1898–1986) place in the art world. the Tulane campus in fall 2011. Baritone is on display be- use of foam. “I once made these enormous —alicia Duplessis Jasmin tween Norman Mayer and Tilton halls, a stone’s throw away from Gibson quad. It is among several sculptures being exhibited for two years at Tulane. Tulane professor of art Jeremy Jernegan curated the exhibition. He says, “The goal is to bring contemporary large-scale outdoor sculpture to the campus community.” Of Westerlund Roosen’s work, Jernegan says that it “often references the body with plastic or fluid forms. Baritone is based on two organic seed-like forms and emphasizes the sug- gestion of a germinating or growing form.” Unlike the more rigid and geometric sculpture of the other artists in the exhibi- tion—Bernar Venet, Jorg Plicat, Mark DiSuvero, and Tulane professor of art Gene Koss—Westerlund Roosen’s work asserts her femininity. Her expressionistic style encourages viewers to make their own interpreta- tion of her work. Baritone may resemble tilted bowling pins to some, but when asked how it translates literally, Wester- lund Roosen chuckles and replies, “scrotum.” “I enjoy the challenge of doing something quite ordi- nary like making the object egg-shaped,” she says. “The materials used were mun- dane and gross in a way, but my goal was always to make the piece more sensual.” Baritone was created using high-density archi- tectural foam, polymerized stucco and fiberglass. Each
piece stands 10 feet tall and burch-celentano paula
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 11 Interview Laura Murphy, Global Health
In the Department of Global Health Systems and Development, Laura Murphy is Carnegie Corp. of N.Y. Professor of Social Entrepreneur- ship. She studies the impact of technologies such as mobile phones and kitchen gardens in rural Africa.
How did you first become interested in Africa? Personal connections were part of the draw to Africa—my mother was a gray-haired Peace Corps volunteer based in Nairobi—but I also wanted to work in East Africa on appropri- ate technology, development and environmental themes.
How did you come to base your research on cell phones and hand hoes? I’d been working on kitchen gardens as a response to HIV/AIDS when I no- ticed the uptake of cell phone usage. The contradiction of hand-hoe–based farming and modern digital devices was compelling. The same farming systems persist for the poorest, but communication has speeded up for everyone in just a decade.
How has cell phone technology impacted families in rural Africa? Women and men feel and truly are enjoying more freedom with cell phones—freedom to know what is happening with family and friends, to know when someone has died, to know how to sell their goods and where to get services.
What are the challenges to using cell phones in rural Africa? Cell phones require regular power supplies to be used most effectively. We see some ingenious solutions: diesel generators, a car battery hooked up to a solar panel, and the small phone-charging kiosks in market centers that people visit once or twice a week.
Do those energy solutions have a wider impact? Cell phones catalyze other innova- tions. They have spurred a digital/ electronic tipping point in power supply. The need to charge those cell phone batteries to support a host of communication needs coin- cides with demand for cleaner light- ing to replace kerosene lanterns.
—ryan rivet burch-celentano paula
12 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE CHampioN Curtis Johnson has coached two national championship teams: the New Orleans Saints and the Interview Laura Murphy, Global Health University of Miami (Fla.) Hurricanes.
SPORTS All Set for Football paula burch-celentano paula There was a liberal amount of black and gold sprinkled amid the green and blue trappings of the Wilson Athletics Center on Dec. 5 as Tulane University introduced New Orleans Saints re- ceivers coach Curtis Johnson as the new Green Wave head football coach. Johnson, who was on the sidelines when the Saints won the 2010 Super Bowl in Miami, HomeField made a promise to his new players: “I just want to say, guys, get ready. You guys are going to be Just days after hiring Curtis Johnson as its new head football coach, on On-campus champions. You will hold a trophy up.” Dec. 8, Tulane University announced Home Field Advantage, a $70 mil- Advantage A native of nearby St. Rose, La., and a lion fundraising campaign to build a new on-campus football stadium Students walking to the graduate of St. Charles High School, Johnson and provide additional support for the Green Wave football program. new outdoor Tulane is the 39th—and the first African American— (See page 39 for more about the campaign.) Stadium will add to head coach in Tulane history. He brings more Located on Ben Weiner Drive between the Reily Student Recreation game-day excitement. than 25 years of coaching experience from Center and the James W. Wilson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletics Center, both the collegiate and professional level to the new Tulane Stadium will be less than a football field away from the the Green Wave. original Tulane Stadium. Along with his family and friends, Johnson The new stadium is scheduled to open for the 2014 football season. New CoaCH received a show of support from Saints head Athletics director Rick Dickson said, “An on-campus stadium is Curtis Johnson, new coach Sean Payton and general manager Mick- the ultimate tool for recruiting the best student-athletes and coaches. head football coach, ey Loomis, who were seated in the front row. There’s nothing like it to boost the esprit de corps of a campus and com- announces an aggressive recruiting strategy for Several players from the Saints receiving squad, munity. Building a new stadium makes sense for the university in terms the best talent including Marques Colston, Robert Meachem of community bonding, athletics and financial stability.” in Louisiana. and Lance Moore, were also in attendance. In addition to being the new home field for the Green Wave, the sta- The presence of the NFL stars who have dium, with a seating capacity of 30,000, also could serve as a resource thrived with the Saints under Johnson’s tute- for the New Orleans community, including Orleans Parish public lage seemed to back up the coach’s promise to schools, New Orleans Recreation Department activities and Louisiana his new team. High School Athletics Association events. Johnson received the strongest response Tulane President Scott Cowen said, “This project will further from the crowd of Tulane constituents when strengthen the partnership with New Orleans that has defined Tulane he talked about recruiting. “Louisiana recruits,” since Katrina. It will continue our efforts to empower others to build a he announced, “we are coming to get you. This better New Orleans. doesn’t mean that we are going to stop search- “This is an ‘all hands on deck’ moment for Tulane alumni, fans, ing all over the country, but look out, because supporters and everyone who recognizes the value of athletics and you are on our radar already. This is now the community in the lives of our neighborhood children. We need every- state of Tulane.”—Nick Marinello one’s help to make the new Tulane Stadium a reality.”—N.M.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 13 courtesy ncaa courtesy
14 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE All The Hoopla
After conducting A full-court press to receive the bid to host
the 2012 ncAA® Men’s bAsketbAll
finAl four®, tulAne And new orleAns brAce for one of the biggest sporting events of the yeAr.
by Nick Marinello
Follow the Bouncing Ball the big dribble is just one of the many family-friendly events that will surround the final four. organizers in new orleans aim to have more than 3,000 kids dribbling down local streets.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 15 courtesy ncaa courtesy
In a city that has been searching for a punctuation mark to put an “Our message to the NCAA was that we were stronger, deeper and end to the long, run-on sentence written by Hurricane Katrina, there more united because we’ve been hardened by what we went through,” may be no more fitting event to do so than the upcoming NCAA Men’s says Dickson, who recalls the NCAA’s requisite of civic cooperation and Basketball Final Four championship. unity for any city to be considered as a Final Four site. The tournament, along with a myriad of fan events, will roll into “The Final Four is so big now that no one institution can really do town in March and April, returning to New Orleans for the first time what needs to be done,” says Debbie Grant, Tulane vice president for in nine years. When it does, it will not only bring to the city millions communications and marketing, who also is pitching in to provide in tourism dollars and priceless national exposure, but will culminate public relations and marketing support for the event. an effort initiated in the dark days after the storm that in many ways reflects the city’s resolve not to lose at the buzzer. Not your graNdfather’s fiNal four “We started putting together the bid in 2006, coming out of Katrina, How big is the Final Four? Next to the Super Bowl, the Final Four— so we wanted to show that New Orleans was the same city it had al- which comprises two semifinal games and one championship—is ar- ways been. That we weren’t under water,” says Vince Granito, associate guably the highest-profile sporting event in the United States and in director of Tulane Athletics and one of three co-directors of the Final the top five worldwide. And it’s growing in leaps and bounds. Four’s local organizing committee. “Today’s event is not the Final Four as we knew it,” says Dickson. As the NCAA’s host institution, Tulane was at the helm of a broad- Bill Curl, who was Tulane sports media director from 1966 to 1973 based coalition of groups—including the New Orleans Sports Founda- and subsequently public relations director for the Louisiana Super- tion and the Sugar Bowl committee—that made the pitch to bring the dome for 33 years, remembers when the tournament first came to New 2012 Final Four to the city. Rick Dickson, Tulane athletics director, was Orleans back in 1982. Up until that time, attendance numbers for the instrumental in keeping that coalition shooting at the same hoop. Final Four typically peaked at around 20,000.
16 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Final Floor Opposite page: Before it’s assembled on the floor of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the court will tour several universities as it makes its way down from the factory in Michigan. This page: Kids of all ages will enjoy a variety of fun activities at the Bracket Town fan fest.
“Our message to the NCAA was ap photo/mark humphrey photo/mark ap that we were
Curl, who had a hand in bringing the tournament to New Or- stronger, deeper leans, recalls walking through the Superdome with NCAA officials, demonstrating how the Dome could handle 20,000 to 40,000 people and more united by blocking in the court on one side and using only a portion of the Dome’s capacity. because we’ve Wayne Duke, then commissioner of the Big Ten conference, became curious about a section that was not included in the tour. “He looked to been hardened his right to the entire east terrace,” recalls Curl. “He said, ‘We can sell these tickets, too.’ And that’s when the decision was made to do 65,612 by what we went seats. We almost had a heart attack.” A new era for the Final Four was under way. In 1997, the NCAA re- through.” quired that the event be staged in domed stadiums with a minimum ca- pacity of 40,000. In 2007, that minimum was raised to 70,000, achieved —Rick Dickson, by configuring stadiums with raised courts at midfield, allowing for in- the-round seating as well as additional seating on the floor. This year, athletics director the newly renovated (and sponsored) Mercedes-Benz Superdome will be configured to accommodate 75,000 fans.
A megA hAppening Another measure of how the Final Four has grown in the past few
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 17 Big Dance The Big Dance Concert Series became part of the swirl of activity sur- rounding the Final Four in 2003, the last time the championship was played in New Orleans. Below: Basketball is not the only sport featured at Bracket Town. courtesy ncaa courtesy
The ancillary events allow for greater participation in the Final Four, says Grant. “It’s for more than the fans of four college basketball teams and corporate sponsors who pay the hundreds of dollars for game tickets and thousands of dollars in travel expenses. If people take the opportunity they can become involved in the Final Four.” Grant points to Bracket Town as such an opportunity. “There will be three-on-three basketball games, interactive sports video games, autograph sessions, memorabilia—all for 10 bucks a person.” Granito echoes this sentiment. “People think that because all the tickets are gone that there is nothing left for them in the Final Four. There will be great opportunity for the citizens of New Orleans and the region to participate in the Final Four.”
Oysters whatever As someone who has four decades of work in media relations under his belt, Curl understands the intangibles that benefit any city that hosts a large event such as the Final Four. “There are millions and millions of dollars of free exposure and publicity that you get when you have an event of this stature,” says courtesy ncaa courtesy Curl. Because tourism is such a prominent part of the New Orleans decades can be found off the court, with the carnival of attendant economy, “having an event of this stature means more to New Orleans events that now surrounds the games. than it does to perhaps to any other Final Four, Super Bowl or BCS city. Back in the day, says Curl, “The focus was all on the game. Outside “You can’t tell me that there are reporters who are covering the games of an open practice held before the semifinals, there were few extracur- and not at some point mention that, ‘Oh man, I went to the Quarter last ricular activities.” night, and it was crazy,’ or ‘I went to X restaurant and had oysters what- How things have changed. ever, it was sensational.’” “The Final Four is 15 percent basketball and 85 percent all of the While the Superdome’s capacity will top out at around 75,000, says other stuff that goes along with it,” estimates Granito. Curl, there will be tens of thousands of other folks in town to soak up What was once a three-day event coalescing around the semifinals the experience. and championship is now a seven-day mega happening. This year, the “It’s like having three conventions in town,” says Dickson. “There is happening will include the three-day Big Dance concert series; Bracket the buildup going into it and then a lot of people will leave after the semi- Town, a four-day “ultimate fan fest” that will take place on 300,000 finals and a whole other wave will come in just for the championship. square feet of the New Orleans Convention Center; the Final Four There are huge surges.” Youth Day that will introduce local youngsters to healthy eating and Organizers are estimating that these surges will ultimately put $150 living; the Final Four Dribble with 3,000 kids and their families bounc- million into the local economy. ing basketballs from the Superdome to the Morial Convention Center; “We are not that far removed from Katrina and water in the streets,” and myriad public service opportunities on Community Day. says Grant. “To think that people are investing millions and millions of “It’s so much more than three basketball games,” says Grant. “That’s dollars in us and showing faith that we can pull this off—to me it’s a heady what shocks me every time I look at my binders.” experience, and I want to make sure we do the best we can with it.”
18 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE SLAM DUNK This spring’s Final Four that is being held in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is the culmination of a three-year run of March Madness in New Orleans that began with NCAA first-and second-round tournament games held in 2010 and the Southeast Re- gional in 2011. Beyond that, the women’s Final Four is slated to return to New Or- leans in 2013. Rick Dickson recalls having conversa- tions with NCAA officials back in 2007. “I said, ‘Wouldn’t it be a great thing if my industry, the NCAA, was to serve in this rebuilding [of New Orleans] by staging a series of these championship events?’” In addition to events involving NCAA basketball, the BCS national champion- ship took place in the Superdome in Janu- ary of this year and the NFL’s Super Bowl is slated for the Dome in February 2013. “No city in the United States has ever had a run like we are having right now,” says Bill Curl. “My goodness. Back to back to back of nationally prominent, wonder- ful events.” ap photo/david j. phillip j. photo/david ap
INTRODUCING THE GREEN WAVE Representing Tulane University, the host institution for the Final Four, members of the Green Wave basketball team, along with their coach, Ed Conroy, will be intro- duced at the first semifinal game that will take place on Saturday, March 31.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 19 In the Public Eye
AMID THe 24/7 SLUGFeST OF POLITICAL PUNDITRy, MeLISSA HARRIS-PeRRy COMeS OUT SWINGING.
by Mary Ann Travis
Race, gender and politics are topics that touch nerves, ignite passions says that Harris-Perry, like Anna Julia Cooper, has the “ability to cross and make people squirm. But at the intersection of them all, Melissa disciplines and subfields.” She also has a “deep and sophisticated en- Harris-Perry is not afraid to tread. gagement with real-world politics.” “I have so much to say,” says Harris-Perry, professor of political “Melissa’s skill at bringing her social scientific expertise to bear on science at Tulane and founding director of the Anna Julia Cooper her work as a public intellectual distinguishes her from other success- Project on Gender, Race and Politics in the South at the Newcomb ful pundits,” Kenney says. College Institute. This February, Harris-Perry debuted her own weekend program for “I care about ideas,” she says. “And if I have a public voice, then I MSNBC, the cable news channel and website of NBC News. In the past, can use that public voice to influence things. I want to influence out- she’s been a guest host on the MSNBC Rachel Maddow and Lawrence comes. It’s my way of knocking on doors.” O’Donnell shows. Outgoing and friendly, Harris-Perry earned a doctorate in politi- Real-woRld politics cal science at Duke University. She is a natural public speaker. “Pub- Michael Bernstein, Tulane provost and senior vice president for aca- lic speaking is the thing I’m good at,” she says, exuding confidence demic affairs, says that what motivated him to recruit Harris-Perry and enthusiasm. from Princeton University to join the Tulane faculty in fall 2011 is that The first course she taught at Tulane in the fall was Women in she is “a senior figure in political science.” Politics and Media. And she happily reports that her Intro to African She has a “vivid public platform and she’s particularly gifted” at her American Politics course in the spring semester filled up a couple of work as a commentator and analyst, says Bernstein. Plus, “she’s wholly hours after registration opened. She laughs engaged with the research and teaching enterprise.” and says, self-deprecatingly, “At least, my rep- The Anna Julia Cooper Project is a major initiative though its name- utation isn’t, don’t take a class with her, right?” sake has been somewhat lost in intellectual history. But Harris-Perry Of course, that isn’t her reputation. She’s Up Close and wants to change that. Cooper was one of the first black women in Amer- a media star—and a serious scholar. Who Personable ica to earn a PhD. Her book A Voice From the South, published in 1892, is wouldn’t want to take her class? Her easy way and made- “the foundational 20th-century black feminist text,” says Harris-Perry. for-TV smile can be Plans are for the Anna Julia Cooper Project to invite visiting scholars Black political thought disarming, but Melissa to Tulane, initiate an endowed lecture series, offer a postdoctoral pro- Harris-Perry’s first book, Barbershops, Bibles, Harris-Perry holds no gram, sponsor student media projects and develop an academic journal. and BET: Everyday Talk and Black Politi- quarter in the arena of Sally Kenney, executive director of the Newcomb College Institute, cal Thought (Princeton University Press, public debate.
20 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE chris granger chris
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 21 Trolley Stop Harris-Perry and her husband, James, and daughter, Parker, wait for a Canal Street streetcar. Opposite page: Harris- Perry was a guest on the “Colbert Report” in January and began hosting her own MSNBC show in February. daymond gardner daymond
2004), is an analysis of the range of political views in the African Esplanade Avenue in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans. American community. Tulane, since Katrina, “has been a self-conscious university,” says She followed that book with Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Harris-Perry. And that appeals to her. “The disruption that was Ka- Black Women in America, For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Politics trina means that the whole place had to go, what are we about? What When Being Strong Isn’t Enough (Yale University Press, 2011). Sister kind of place are we going to be? That for me is exciting. That is excit- Citizen examines the “crooked rooms” into which African American ing to be at a place, on the one hand, with a long tradition, but with a women are metaphorically squeezed as they present false personas to kind of newness. the world. And it’s about what it means to be a black, woman citizen of “It seems very awake on campus,” she adds. the United States. Harris-Perry wrote most of Sister Citizen after she came to New Or- Nerd NBA leans in November 2005 while still a Princeton professor to do research Harris-Perry blogs. And she twitters. And in the rapid-fire, cyber comparing 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina as televised American disasters. world of political discourse, she is not shy about mixing it up with “They’re both moments when the reality of a contemporary disas- other pundits. ter means that we could actually watch it happening [on television] as She says that getting invited to write for The Nation, the weekly it happened. … Katrina was happening live,” says Harris-Perry. opinion magazine that is the “flagship of the left,” was “like getting Her research about Katrina led to several trips to New Orleans. drafted into the nerd NBA.” In April 2006, she met her future husband, James Perry, who ran In September, Harris-Perry wrote a column for The Nation in which for mayor of New Orleans in 2010. (They married in October she laid out the argument that if President Barack Obama loses the 2010.) James Perry, a native New Orleanian, is executive director 2012 election, the loss could be linked to white liberals’ racism. of the Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center. She has a Joan Walsh, editor at large for Salon.com—and a white liberal—re- 9-year-old daughter, Parker, and the three live in a cozy house off sponded with a lengthy post a few days later, saying that Harris-Perry’s
22 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Never wokeN up Not black Harris-Perry’s white mother and black father raised her as black child. “Being black was always my self-under- standing,” she says. “We didn’t really do biracial in Virginia in the ’70s.” Harris-Perry’s mother directed many nonprofit, com- munity organizations including work in domestic violence and low-income child care centers, and her father taught at the University of Virginia. He had three children from a previous marriage and her mother had another daugh- ter from a previous marriage. “So I’m the only child who’s interracial,” says Harris-Perry. It was a boisterous, blended family, where nobody was a wallflower. Conversations at the dinner table may have influenced her career path, she concedes. Her identity as black and female is not something she can separate into equal parts. “I have never on any day wo- ken up and not been a woman and not on any day woken up and not been black,” she says. Race, however, “impacted certain elements of my life in ways very different than gender,” she says. In her books and other writings about politics, she fearlessly, systematically and eloquently weaves in lit- erary references, psychological insights and theologi- cal perspectives (she even attended Union Theological Seminary in New York City for a time) as she discusses American politics. “piece touched a nerve.” Walsh argued that liberals are not exactly “It’s important in a post–9/11 world to recognize that our emotions abandoning Obama, but they are disappointed in him—and she do affect our politics,” says Harris-Perry. “Our grief, our fear, after 9/11 explained why. profoundly impacted the past decade and the kind of political engage- Walsh begins her article by calling Harris-Perry, “my friend.” ments that we have been in as a country.” Soon, Harris-Perry blogged that she was “taken aback” by Walsh Having her voice heard in the public arena is essential to Harris- calling her a “friend.” Harris-Perry wrote that the “I-have-black- Perry. If a hundred people see her on TV and then read her latest book, friends” claim is a strategy commonly used to discredit black com- Sister Citizen, that’s a mission accomplished. “That’s incredibly excit- mentators who “attempt to talk about historical and continuing racial ing to me that these hundred people who otherwise would never have bias in America.” read a book about black women would read this book,” she says. “It “Interracial friendship should, ideally, encourage the desire to makes a difference to me if people read my book.” investigate our own racial privilege and bias, not to use the identity of one’s friends against any claim that such bias even exists,” wrote No escapiNg Harris-Perry. Sitting in Harris-Perry’s chic and elegant living room on a weekday Harris-Perry has engaged in back-and-forth debates with other afternoon in November, a visitor can hear a rooster’s cock-a-doodle- established figures besides Walsh. doo. The rooster is among the Seventh Ward chickens freely roaming “I have debated Cornel West quite harshly in public,” says Harris- Harris-Perry’s neighborhood. Perry. “And, at no point, did I ever say, my friend, Cornel.” Two roosters, three or four chickens and numerous baby chicks live Cornel West is a leading black intellectual, the author of influen- under her house and vacant nearby buildings. “They came after the tial books on African American life, including Race Matters (1993). storm,” she says. He teaches and directs the Center for African American Studies at She’s easily fallen into the locals’ demarcation of time—before and Princeton. after Hurricane Katrina. She is a generation younger than West and Henry Louis Gates Jr., “It feels like the insistence to survive even in tough circumstances,” a professor and director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African Harris-Perry says of the “free and happy animals” in the urban setting, and African American Research at Harvard University. She sees West scrounging for food, crowing loudly. and Gates, along with female black intellectuals such as Patricia Hill Melissa Harris-Perry and James Perry have embraced the neighbor- Collins, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, and Pa- hood. “We have real goals for wanting New Orleans to be a city we can tricia Williams, a law professor at Columbia University, as “aspira- live in for the rest of our lives,” she says. “I feel a sense of commitment tional” mentors. “They are the people in whose footsteps I’m follow- to community that is beyond teaching classes.” ing,” says Harris-Perry. The Perrys campaign for their favorite local political candidates. The Anna Julia Cooper Project at the Newcomb College Institute They support community organizations that they think are doing the “has existed for 10 minutes, and the W.E.B. Du Bois Center at Harvard right work. They sit on the gracious outdoor furniture with blue and is now at least 15 years old, right?” says Harris-Perry. “So do I think that green pillows on their front porch as a way to deter crime. “We want to the Cooper project can be where the Du Bois’s center is in 15 years? see this be a thriving community for families,” Harris-Perry says. Absolutely. No doubt about it. By living in a renovated Katrina-damaged house and not escaping “In fact, if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have started it. The goal is for us the neighborhood’s problems, Harris-Perry has put her stake in the to be equally nationally recognized as the place to think about shifting ground of New Orleans. these questions.” The city is lucky to have her on board.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 23 Tidings From Cambodia
HAlF A WoRlD AWAY, A B u DDING JouRNAl IST WRITES H o ME ABouT HER ADvENTuRES.
Story and photos by Faine Greenwood, ’10
I ended up in Cambodia because my English professor put me up to it. I was about to graduate with an English degree, and I asked Thomas Beller, a former Cambodia Daily staffer, if he could help me out in journalism. “Well, I have connections in New York,” he said, thinking out loud. “And also in Cambodia.” A wild card. “Cambodia,” I answered. “Tell me more about Cambodia.” That is how I got a job as a copy editor, and later reporter, at the Cambodia Daily newspaper in March 2010, a job I would start that November after kicking around Asia for a few months. A year later, I am still here in Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, a mid-sized and vertically challenged city that is set at the wide confluence of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers. My boyfriend, Phill Dunek, graduated from Tulane with a degree in geology in May 2011 and moved out to join me in July. We live in a yellow apartment building around the corner from the evocatively named and odoriferous “Kill-Cow” open-air market, in a nicer part of the capital. Phnom Penh was established as Cambodia’s modern capital in 1866. The occupying French took this smallish city and attempted to reform it by their exacting Gallic standards into the “Paris of the East,” a tropical outpost of continental style in what was romantically called Indochina. During Cambodia’s short-lived and debat- Raid! able Golden Era of the ’50s and ’60s, some sort The bustling of newly imagined “Paris” is what this place Psar o Russei is one of was: a city of wide avenues and trees, of grace- Phnom Penh’s busiest ful white buildings with expansive porches, full markets and a place to of small cafes that served powerful coffee and buy almost anything superb baguettes. A war intervened, and with you want—including the war came the Khmer Rouge, and after the mosquito coils.
24 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 25 R&R The Buddha reclines in the central sanctum of the Angkor Wat temple complex. Opposite page: Monks walk beneath the towers of Angkor Wat.
Khmer Rouge came a slow drive toward peace and normality. Cambo- love, and decamp to a hot and impoverished little bit of Southeast Asia. dia has since the 1991 peace accords been on a slow upwards climb to There are a few other reasons, but none is all encompassing. modernity, and Phnom Penh is its most modern city. I’m a writer, and I like to think that I moved here in part for the sto- Phnom Penh has grit and dirt to it, as you’d expect from a place ries, because a range of experience makes for better material than hang- that has suffered from the depredations of a civil war and economic ing around at home—even if home is New Orleans, where the stories are collapse. It’s also on the up-and-up, a bigger economic success story better and the climate for writing them beats just about everywhere else than most people realize—or are paying enough attention to realize. on Earth. The world at one time gave up on Cambodia’s potential, but Cambodia Phill, an Iowa boy with a deep interest in most things, wanted to failed to give up on itself. come to Cambodia to break himself out of that metaphorical bubble, to The deep similarities between Phnom Penh and New Orleans are ev- toughen himself, to broaden his mind. ident, undeniable: Both are French-influenced cities where something Right now, Phill is working as an English teacher at a school on the terrible happened in the past, cities-on-a-river with a sensibility and a outskirts of town while he looks for a job in geology or environmental style that are out of all proportion to their size, cities that possess great consulting. He spends his days teaching Khmer kids grammar, proper symbolism to many people. pronunciation and as many scientific facts regarding elephants, rhino Cities that are often misunderstood. horns and climate patterns as he can sneak into the curriculum. His Since the passing of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge with him in 1998, students still adamantly refuse to believe that dragons don’t exist and Cambodia has been largely peaceful, ruled by a single and omnipotent that black dogs can’t see ghosts. party and leader. “People don’t want violence anymore” is a mantra that Phill teaches the kids basic scientific facts, and we would like to both expats and Cambodians like to repeat to each other, both because believe that Cambodia is teaching us something as well, although it’s true and because it sounds nice to say it. we probably won’t know if it actually has until much later in life. Maybe it’s this similarity that prompted me, and eventually Phill, to We try and remind ourselves how good it is to understand the magical leave the USA, our friends, our families and the language we know and value of different cultures when we are awakened by noisy, clonking,
26 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE wedding-or-funeral-we-can’t-tell-the-difference music at 6 a.m., or the best methods of laying out a newspaper page in Quark than I had when we are suffering from indescribable stomach ailments for the ever wanted to know, and getting shouted at over punctuation errors fifth time this month. more often and more colorfully than I had ever expected, I was bumped We also try to think about all the wonderful effects of mind-broad- up to reporting. ening when we are delayed on our way to the beach by a guy plodding As a green reporter, I learned to work phones and cajole people along at 5 miles an hour in a bullock cart and by someone else herding in obscure government ministries into coughing up information. I her large crowd of ducklings across the national highway during the visited a Russian warship on official business, went to talk to gar- middle of the day while we are on the way out to Siem Reap. ment-industry protesters and went to starry-eyed conferences on Convincing ourselves that embracing difference, even when it’s in- the future of technology. convenient, can be difficult when that difference proves to be flat-out One of my major duties was rewrites, where I would rework and pol- dangerous. It was hard to find an upside when Phill got in a motorbike ish Cambodian reporters’ short pieces, most under 175 words. I found crash and had his toe run over and crushed by an exceptionally large rice the briefs more interesting than the features, as I read them every day trailer. A doctor’s visit, painkillers and time have mostly healed it, and and saw the patterns beneath them. They were sad and they were hor- he’ll probably get arthritis in it later in life, but an incident that could rifying, and some were hopeful, too. have been unthinkably worse is now just a story he can tell over and over Here is 175 terse words about yet another victim of a national epi- at parties. demic of child rape. Here’s 200 on a family evicted from a fancy lake- I’ve learned the most from working at a newspaper, the old kind side development, and next door, here is 175 on someone who’s died that doesn’t have a website, the sort that relies on reporting, shouting, from drinking rice wine or rowing out into a lake in the middle of a aggressive phone-call behavior and masochistically long hours to get lightning storm. Next column: a brief on a fashion designers’ down- information out. town show, on top of a 200-word piece on a Cambodian artist gaining I started as a copy editor, as is the way of the Cambodia Daily. After a residency in America, a snippet about another year’s jump in tourism. learning more about em-dashes and the proper usage of commas and It is important for a journalist to pay attention to the good stories,
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 27 Way Cool Left: Howie Bar is a late- night spot and Phnom Penh institution. Above: The writer and her boyfriend play tourists at Angkor Wat. Opposite page: Prewar French apartment buildings in downtown Phnom Penh.
even when the bad ones threaten to take up all our attention. The mental images of that night will stay with me for life: seeing the un- I’m struck by Cambodian fashion designers and video makers and seeable is something a reporter must steel herself for, and you are never artists who are carving out a new path and a new image for a country ready when that moment comes. This is perhaps the most important that, in the eyes of many abroad, is still defined by blood and genocide. thing I have learned in Cambodia. New Orleans is not interested in being defined by Katrina and tragedy We like Cambodia, but both Phill and I are feeling a bit light-footed, and loss, and Phnom Penh isn’t either. The two cities seem to share a which is easy to say when you are 23 years old and have no possessions common philosophy about the pain of the past: It happened. We’ll bear other than ratty clothing and a few too many books to speak of. We feel witness. The past is not going to define us, and it’s not going to tear reasonably lucky to be us, to be out in the world, to not feel rooted to a us apart. single spot and role. We are both, in our ways, in pursuit of the platonic My contract at the newspaper expired a few weeks ago, and I chose ideal of a good life, and that pursuit brought us to Cambodia. not to renew it, for reasons both personal and professional. Now I am I like to think that New Orleans taught us well about a good life: that a writing as a freelancer for a bit, applying for jobs here and elsewhere— life worth living is measured more in memories, people and culture, and mostly as a social media consultant. I am glad I spent a year as a tradi- less in the plastic junk you surround yourself with or the prestige of a job. tional reporter of the old school, even if that year felt like a succession of We come from a place with heart and we moved to a place very far away highly educational ass-kickings, delivered in short succession. with its own sort of heart. Reporting, after all, isn’t easy: it’s a relatively solitary pursuit, with a If you come to Cambodia—and you should—don’t just do the Ang- steep and brutal learning curve. There is little hand-holding and a lot of kor Wat circuit and blow on through and say you’ve done it all. Come to screwing up. You figure it out or you don’t. I think I have some of it figured Phnom Penh, too, because it’s an example of what happens when a city out and the rest will come with time. that has been through hell is about halfway through picking itself up. My first year at the Daily and my first year as a working profes- You can still get a whiff of that latter-day foreign correspondent feeling sional were marked by tragedy in the form of the November 2010 here if you pick the right bar, and you’re not actually in any danger. bridge stampede, which took place during Phnom Penh’s Mardi Gras If you want to see what the cutting edge of Cambodia is, and what it is equivalent. More than 300, mostly young people lost their lives in thinking about and what it wants to do with itself, then you need to come the ensuing crush. to this capital city, which will remind you in strange and undeniable ways For reasons known only to a nascent journalist, I ran out there of New Orleans, reimagined on the other side of the planet. That’s what when the bodies were being brought off the bridge and tried to cover it, I found here, and that’s what I’m figuring out how to navigate every day although I had no idea what exactly it was I should have been doing. here. That’s the adventure.
28 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 29 RESISTANCE TO THE AXIS The National World War II Museum interviewed Erna Deiglmayr (SW ’54) about her experiences during the war. A native of Belgium who speaks German, Deiglmayr, now 98 and living in New Orleans, acted as a courier delivering money to others in the resistance movement.
TULANIANS Alumni Reply Favorably Last fall nearly 5,000 Tulane alumni and sup- porters representing different generations, regions and schools took part in an online survey, commissioned by the Tulane Alumni Association. In the survey, 90 percent of the respon- dents rated their decision to attend Tulane as “great” or “good,” and they described their student experience the same way. Close to 90 percent said their current overall opinion of Tulane is “good” or “excellent.” Learning that Tulane is attracting more highly qualified students who are making a difference in the world and that Tulane is a ojo r respected partner in the rebuilding of New Orleans as well as seeing Tulane’s name in the news influenced the respondents’ current opinion of the university, they said.
Guillermo Cabrera- Guillermo Across all eras, respondents reported that Tulane magazine, the university website, vid- eos and electronic newsletters, such “Tulane Talk” from Tulane President Scott Cowen and “Green Wave” from athletics director Rick Dickson, are important, and that the perfor- Rebuilding mance of these means of communication lives up to their importance. Post-9/11 and post-Watergate–era alumni said that email, invitations to alumni events, for Teachers communications about services/benefits and social media are important to them and that William Stoudt (’11) is the founder of Youth Rebuilding New Young Rebuilder the alumni association could do better in Orleans, an organization that is rebuilding homes for educators. William Stoudt (’11) is the these areas. Like thousands of others, Stoudt, a native New Orleanian, was founder and executive The Tulane alumni survey was the first in- displaced to Houston at the time of Hurricane Katrina. He became director of the nonprofit stance in which the Tulane Alumni Association determined to help rebuild the city. But his efforts were thwarted as Youth Rebuilding New has teamed up with Performance Enhance- he was repeatedly told that he was too young to participate in gutting Orleans. More than half of ment Group (PEG) to gauge alumni attitudes. flooded houses and other cleanup efforts. the organization’s board PEG was founded by Tulane alumnus members are 22 years old “My friends and I were anxious to get back and get involved, but Robert Shoss (A&S ’76) and has seen its or younger. organizations wouldn’t allow us to help because there could be prob- Alumni Attitude Survey completed by more lems with liability,” says Stoudt, who established YRNO in 2006. “We than 200,000 alumni at 140 universities dur- started talking about how we could make an impact, and one of our ing the last nine years. first accomplishments was organizing a neighborhood cleanup with Thank you to all who participated in the hundreds of people.” survey. We learned much from your replies What started as a small group of friends helping people get back and will use what we learned to improve in their homes is now a nonprofit that buys dilapidated homes to our communication and programs. We plan renovate and sell to middle and high school teachers. to resurvey every few years to see if the “We focus on teachers because those were the people who were needle has moved.—Charlotte B. Travieso back in the city teaching students while living in trailers,” says (NC ’64). Travieso is executive director of Stoudt. “Teachers make good neighbors.” the Office of Alumni Affairs and the Tulane Stoudt graduated with a business degree.—Alicia Duplessis Jasmin Alumni Association.
30 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Dispatch Bob Devlin nese A Cogli m A Ad
TULANE UP Horseracing Horses have been an inter- president and CEO of “brings the competitive spirit est of Devlin’s since he was American General, one of out,” says Bob Devlin (A&S an undergrad at Tulane. In his the nation’s largest financial ’64). “It’s both exhilarating junior and senior years, he services companies. and relaxing. But it also can be and his friend, Tony Cerasaro Devlin is a member of the heartbreaking. Thoroughbreds (A&S ’64), worked as ushers at Board of Tulane. He and his are very fragile.” the New Orleans Fair Grounds wife, Kate Devlin, have en- Tulane Up (No. 6, above), a Race Course. dowed scholarships, an horse owned by Devlin, won the Devlin and his son Michael internship program and the maiden special-weight 1-and- have been breeding and own- Devlin Student-Athletes for 1/16-mile race on a turf track at ing racehorses since 2004. Education Center for Leader- Belmont Park in Elmont Park, They run Curragh Stables in ship Development at Tulane. N.Y., on Sept. 17, 2011. upstate New York. In the winner’s circle, Tulane Up is a 4-year-old Curragh is an Irish word con- pictured here, Bob Devlin filly whose lineage goes back noting strength, longevity and and Kate Devlin congratulate to Secretariat, the American stability, Devlin says. jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. after Thoroughbred racehorse that Curragh also is the name of Tulane Up won the Belmont won the U.S. Triple Crown in Devlin’s private equity firm. Park race in September. 1973 and set new records. Devlin previously was —FrAN SimoN
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 31 TEAM SPIRIT William D. Postell III (UC ’90), father of William, 11, Robert, 8, and Sophie, 6, is head coach of the Green Wave, a little league football team in Houston. This season, the fourth-grade-level team posted an 8–3 record. When he isn’t coaching, Postell works for Mustang Caterpillar.
WHERE Y’AT!
1940s After teaching mathematics in Oklahoma public husband, James “Buzzy” Leithead, live in Lake ISIDORE COHN JR. (A&S ’42) celebrated his 90th schools for 41 years, MARY EVELYN ADAMS (G Charles, La., where he is an orthodontist. Their birthday on Sept. 25, 2011. ’72) is enjoying retirement. She was supervisor two sons are completing medical training and of math for Enid Public Schools and a room their daughter is an accounting analyst with 1950s is being dedicated in her honor at Enid High ExxonMobil. GEORGE BEDDINGFIELD (M ’56) notes the publica- School. Adams is active in her church and tion of his novel Unannounced. The book is a spends time volunteering. EDWARD C. BUSH (A&S ’77), vice president of medical thriller about an attempted jihadist infil- the investment firm Dorsey & Co., has been tration of U.S. hospitals. More information FRED H. SELLERS (A&S ’70) has retired from his elected to the advisory board of the Greater New is available at www.georgebeddingfield.com. position as a senior policy analyst at the U.S. Orleans Command of the Salvation Army. Department of Education after more than 38 JESSIE HEBERT HEITZMANN (NC ’56) was years of federal service. CRAIG GELPI (A&S ’78) is one of the founders of selected Outstanding Citizen 2011 by the Pass the Catalina Marine Society, a nonprofit orga- Christian, Miss., Rotary in December. DEENA GERBER (SW ’72), executive director of nization dedicated to scientific research on the Jewish Family Service in New Orleans, was marine environment of Southern California. Paintings by JOAN BERG VICTOR (NC ’58) will named a Champion of Change by the White be exhibited at the Foundation Gallery in New House’s Office of Public Engagement for her SHERRY KARVER (G ’78) had her third solo Orleans this spring. Her more than a dozen work to improve the lives of those in need. exhibition at Kim Foster Gallery in New York group and one-woman shows have included Gerber was recognized at a special White House last fall. Her work combines photo-based oil exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago and event last December and is featured on the paintings, narrative text and digital technol- New York’s Ursus Gallery, Wiseman Gallery and White House website, www.whitehouse.gov/ ogy—expanding and shifting the parameters Janet Nessler Gallery. She has been invited to champions. of traditional photography and painting. She the White House to receive the Creative Women teaches college-level ceramics in California. For in America Award and is an accomplished Nashville, Tenn., attorney MARLENE ESKIND more information, visit www.sherrykarver.com. illustrator. Her artwork can be seen at www. MOSES (NC ’72, SW ’73), founder and manager of joanbergvictor.com. Moses Townsend & Russ, has been named one JILL GEBERT KYLE (NC ’78), vice president of of the Top 50 Women Lawyers and one of the institutional advancement for Abington Health ROBERT L. HEWITT (M ’59) received the out- Top 100 Lawyers in the 2011 listing of Mid-South in the Philadelphia area, was elected to the As- standing alumnus award from the Tulane Medi- Super Lawyers. Her firm recently received a sociation for Healthcare Philanthropy’s board cal Alumni Association last fall. It is the highest first-tier ranking for family law in the U.S. News of directors as vice chair of regional affairs. award given to an alumnus. Media Group and Best Lawyers 2011–2012 “Best Law Firms” list. ERIC LEIBSOHN (A ’79) was appointed by the 1960s mayor and town council of Paradise Valley, BASIL HOFFMAN (B ’60) plays the auctioneer in DANIEL VAN BENTHUYSEN (A&S ’73), a studio art Ariz., to serve as a member of the board of the Oscar-nominated film The Artist. He also major, is now represented by Upstream Gallery adjustments for a three-year term. Leibsohn’s has a role in Geezers!, a comedy starring J.K. in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. His work also can be seen commercial architectural practice in Phoenix Simmons and Tim Allen. He’s the author of two online at UGallery.com and on his own website, recently celebrated 25 years of service. books on acting. danvanb.com. He teaches visual journalism and information graphics at Hofstra University on STEPHEN G. REICH (A&S ’79) was named the first MARY LYNN HYDE (NC ’66), a retired law librar- Long Island. Frederick Henry Prince Distinguished Professor ian, bought a small condo on St. Charles Avenue in Neurology at the University of Maryland in New Orleans. She plans to divide her time be- WILLIAM F. CARROLL JR. (G ’75), a vice president School of Medicine, where he is a professor of tween La Jolla, Calif., and New Orleans, where at Occidental Chemical Corp. in Dallas, has neurology and co-director of the Parkinson’s she and husband, Steven S. Rossi, look forward been elected chair of the board of directors, Disease and Movement Disorders Center. to spending more time with family and friends. and reelected director-at-large, of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific 1980s JOSEPH F. SACKETT (M ’66) received the distin- society. Carroll is an adjunct industrial profes- CLIFFORD M. GEVIRTZ (M ’81, PHTM ’81) re- guished service award from the Tulane Medical sor of chemistry at Indiana University–Bloom- ceived the Robert Raszkowski Hero Award from Alumni Association last fall for service to the ington. He resides in Dallas with his wife, Mary. the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medi- Tulane University School of Medicine. cal Education in recognition of his volunteer ANNE SLONIM RAFAL (A&S ’75) was promoted to service during the past 15 years. Gevirtz lives in THOMAS C. STAPLES (A&S ’68, L ’73), of Staples, coordinator of Aging Texas Well in the Texas De- Harrison, N.Y. Ellis and Associates, located in Pensacola, Fla., partment of Aging and Disability in Austin, Texas. was admitted to the Multi-Million Dollar Advo- BOB STEPHENSON (A&S ’82) concluded a five- cates Forum. He obtained the top Martindale- JAIME R. GARZA (A&S ’76) was elected president year term as chair of the Foothills Trail Confer- Hubble attorney rating of AV-preeminent and of the Texas Society of Plastic Surgeons during ence, a nonprofit group that maintains and has been a member of the American Board of its annual meeting last October. promotes Foothills Trail, a long-distance hiking Trial Advocates since 1989. trail in the Carolinas. Stephenson is assistant RICHARD D. GOLDBLATT (A&S ’76), a retired chief counsel for the South Carolina Depart- PHYLLIS ZIFF ALLTMONT (UC ’69) is president of Army Reserve lieutenant colonel, is serving as a ment of Natural Resources and an adjunct Touro Synagogue in New Orleans. contractor with the Kandahar Provincial Recon- faculty member at Southern Wesleyan Univer- struction Team in southern Afghanistan. The sity. He lives in Greenville, S.C., with his wife, 1970s team, which includes both military and interna- Weezie, and three sons, ages 17, 15 and 10. PHILIP DUBUISSON CASTILLE (A&S ’70, G ’77) is tional civilians, is working to improve provincial president of the University of Houston–Victoria, governance, services and infrastructure. DAYLA WECHSLER HANOCKA (NC ’83) is working a technology-intensive campus that is under- as a litigation paralegal for the law offices of taking significant expansion. Phil and his wife, KATIE SHIRKEY LEITHEAD (NC ’76) writes to Jacobs and Quiles in Connecticut. Her daugh- Shannon, are the parents of Edward “Ned,” who say that she has been married 29 years, has ter, Rana, will graduate in May from Rensselaer is entering preschool. three children and is “still singing.” She and her Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree
32 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Dispatch Rod Chapel Jr.
in electrical engineering. Her son, Micah, is a junior in high school. Her husband, Jacob, works as a business analyst for Yale Medical School.
The founding members of the New Orleans law firm Patrick Miller, PAT PATRICK (L ’84) and PIERRE MILLER (L ’86), announce that LAURENCE R. DEBUYS IV (L ’84) and STEPHEN E. MATTESKY (L ’81) have joined the firm.
PETER FOS (PHTM ’85, G ’89) was named president of the University of New Orleans last December. The New Orleans native was most recently a professor and program director of policy and systems management at the Loui- siana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He previously held positions at the University of Texas–Tyler and at the University of Southern Mississippi.
AMY BERGER CERTILMAN (NC ’86) has a jewelry redesign and consulting business, The Perfect Setting. For more information, visit www. theperfectsetting.com.
SCOTT A. BROWN (E ’87) is a partner with Accen- ture and leads the company’s growth and strat- egy organization. He joined Accenture (then Andersen Consulting) in 1995 after receiving his MS in management from Georgia Tech. He resides in Atlanta with his wife, Lisa, and their three children.
DANIEL L. SEGAL (A&S ’87) published his fifth professional book, Aging and Mental Health (2011, John Wiley & Sons). Segal is a geropsy- chological researcher and clinician, working primarily at the University of Colorado– Colorado Springs.
EVE BLOSSOM (A ’88) received the INDEX: Award 2011 for her book Material Change.
KIMBERLY NEIDEFFER CLARKE (NC ’88) enjoys life in Maine with her husband, Kevin, and son, EQUALITY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL “I learned about injustice at an early age, and I have Emerson. She is the sales department manager always been committed to fixing it,” says Nimrod Chapel Jr. (L ’95), who observed the at the White Mountain Hotel and Resort in difficulties his father faced as a small business owner in rural Oklahoma and whose North Conway, N.H. family was active in the civil rights movement. (Chapel is pictured with his son, Nimrod Chapel III.) In 24 hours on Oct. 30, 2011, ROBERTA L.D. “Fixing injustice” is a major undertaking, and for Chapel, heading to law school DIKEMAN (NC ’89) rowed 226,136 meters (about seemed like the most practical way to approach it. Chapel is now director of the Mis- 141 miles), setting two world records for indoor souri State Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and commissioner of the rowing in the 40–49 lightweight women’s divi- Administrative Hearing Commission. He also is president of the Jefferson City, Mo., sion. She set the record for most meters rowed chapter of the NAACP. These positions have given him opportunities to carry out his in 24 hours and the record for the longest long-standing goal, he says. continual row. Chapel’s election to president of the NAACP chapter coincided with the organization’s 100-year anniversary. He says that though much has been accomplished in the last cen- TATE WESTBROOK (A&S ’89) commands the U.S. tury, the organization is still advocating on behalf of many of the original issues. Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided- Chapel references the controversial decision last year by the state of Georgia to missile destroyer, Spruance, which was com- execute an African American death row inmate even though witnesses had recanted or missioned last October at Naval Air Station Key West, Fla. Westbrook leads a crew of 285 officers contradicted earlier testimony against him. He also points to recent attempts to revamp and enlisted personnel. Missouri state workplace discrimination laws, which would roll back decades of civil rights progress. 1990s “These are issues that America is facing,” Chapel says, explaining that the NAACP is MICHAEL D. RUBENSTEIN (B’ 90, L ’93) was not a “black organization.” “The issues that are important to the NAACP—equality and elected to membership in the American Law justice for all—are issues that are important to the country.”—CAThERINE FREShLEY Institute. Rubenstein, whose practice includes
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 33 STADIUM CHALLENGE Tom Davis, the barber who has cut hair on the Tulane campus for more than 50 years, challenges alumni to match his donation of $500 for the Home Field Advantage campaign for the new on-campus football stadium. (See pages 13 and 39 for more about the stadium and the fundraising campaign.) At press time, two customers had already matched Davis’s gift. Go to www.TulaneStadium.com for more information.
WHERE Y’AT!
business litigation, bankruptcy and government NICK PANAYOTOPOULOS (L ’93) and KATIE BATES AMBER CASSELL HOOD (E ’00) and her husband, investigations matters, is a shareholder in the (NC ’99), along with their daughter, Sofia, wel- Austin, announce the birth of Austin Brett on Houston office of Liskow & Lewis. He is the law comed Alex in February 2011. July 26, 2011. Amber Hood served seven years school representative to the Tulane Alumni in the Air Force as a biomedical engineer and Association board. TAYLOR ROOT (A&S ’93) graduated with honors recently left her position as a fulltime systems from the University of Florida’s Warrington Col- engineer with SAIC. Austin Hood, a major in JOY SHAPIRO GRAY (NC ’91) and her husband, lege of Business MBA program last spring. He the Air Force, is stationed at Langley Air Force Jonathan, announce the birth of twin girls, Bri- is the state pricing and programming manager Base as a communications officer. The family anna Lynn and Camryn Paige, on Sept. 15, 2009. for Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida. He currently resides in Yorktown, Va. They have a son, Dylan, 5. The Grays, who live in lives in Jacksonville, Fla., with his wife, Katie Bedminster, N.J., celebrated their 10th wedding Willoughby, and daughter, Maggie. The Roots SARA PADILLA (PHTM ’00) is program manager anniversary in 2011. expect another daughter in April. for the Community Food Security Coalition, a national nonprofit organization in Portland, TERRI OSTROW PITTS (NC ’91) is a founding NIC PERKIN (TC ’94) is co-founder and presi- Ore. She previously spent two years with the partner of Pitts Consultancy, which creates dent of The Receivables Exchange. Three years Peace Corps doing HIV/AIDS education with the brand partnerships and branded integrations. after its inception, the company has achieved Ministry of Health of the Dominican Republic. She has represented Disney, Sony and SEGA, an annual trading volume of nearly $1 billion, Her husband, Andrew Miller, is a fellow Peace among other brands; produced concerts for top- helping thousands of companies control the Corps volunteer. The couple has two boys, selling artists Patti LaBelle and Santana; and selection of receivables through an open online Miles, 4, and Max, 1. She reviews books for has worked in development and production for auction market. Luxury Reading and Kirkus Reviews, providing feature films. education on healthy food policies. Her blog SHANE DOUCET (TC ’95) and his wife, Heather, can be found at sunshineandsalad.com. ALEXANDRA “SANDI” STROUD (A ’91) is direc- announce the birth of a second daughter, tor of the new master of sustainable real estate Massey Elizabeth, on July 15, 2011. Massey was BRAD POWELL (UC ’00) and KELLY DONALD development program at Tulane, where she is an welcomed home by her sister, Reese Caroline. POWELL (NC ’00) welcomed Paige Tula to their adjunct associate professor of architecture. Doucet is a partner with Locke Lord Strategies family on Sept. 19, 2011. Paige joins big sister, in Washington, D.C. Emily, and big brother, Nathan. The Powells live A book by KAREN KRUSE THOMAS (NC ’91), in Pittsburgh. Deluxe Jim Crow: Civil Rights and American GIOVAN “G.” JACKSON (UC ’96), a business man- Health Policy, 1935–54, was published last fall. ager, consultant and public relations specialist ABBEY MOORE GRAF (NC ’01) and her husband, The book takes an in-depth look at the health- in the Atlanta area, launched Th!nk BigBiz! Jason, welcomed their first child, Charles Stew- care upheaval and civil rights movement in the Youth Entrepreneurs Networking Event—de- art, on Jan. 9, 2010. South. Thomas is a postdoctoral fellow at the signed to inspire and encourage youth to create Institute of History of Medicine at the Johns dream jobs through entrepreneurship—in New MICHAEL SHERMAN (TC ’01) and CAREY J. SHER- Hopkins School of Medicine. Orleans last December. She is planning another MAN (’08) were married on May 7, 2011, in New event in Atlanta in March. Jackson owns Pro- Orleans. Michael Sherman works in the New Or- DEANN BLANTON GOLDEN (NC ’92) and her hus- fessional Assistance. leans mayor’s office as director of intergovern- band, Tony, welcomed Wilson DeWitt on Nov. 1, mental affairs and executive counsel to Mayor 2011. The Goldens also have a daughter, Grace, As CEO and president of New Orleans-based Mitch Landrieu. Carey Sherman is coordinator 3. DeAnn Golden works at Prudential Georgia Theodent, ARMAN SADEGHPOUR (TC ’96, G ’07) of the Jewish Newcomers Program and the Realty in Atlanta. and his partners recently debuted a chocolate- J-Grad Student Retention Program of the based toothpaste that is a safe alternative to fluo- Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. BOB WOLFBERG (A&S ’92) completed his term as ride. The product is the culmination of 30 years chair of the Chicagoland Chapter of the Young of research, including Sadeghpour’s own doctoral HALEY BORUSZAK BORISOFF (NC ’02) and her Presidents’ Organization. He received the dissertation on the effectiveness of an extract husband, Shawn, announce the arrival of a Financial Services Provider of the Year Award of cocoa for dental hygiene. The toothpaste is daughter, Payton Gabrielle, on Oct. 18, 2011, from Financial Service Center of America. He is available at Whole Food Markets, as well as on the in London. married to Lynne and is the father of Chayla, 13, company’s website, www.theodent.com. David, 11, Eli, 7, and Zoe, 3. Variety named BEN DAVIS (B ’02), vice president RASHID ISTAMBOULI (E ’98) married Melina of scripted programming for AMC, to its list of SEAN DOUBLET (A&S ’93) received an MBA from Idarraga on Sept. 4, 2011, in Miami. RYAN “Future TV Titans.” Davis, who joined AMC seven the University of Texas–Arlington. Doublet HANSEN (E ’98) and BERNARD RHOADES (E ’98) years ago, helped develop the pilots for “The works in the corporate quality group at Mary Kay attended the wedding. Walking Dead” and “The Killing,” and is manag- in Dallas. He, his wife, and two daughters reside ing the second seasons of both shows. He is also in Arlington, Texas. PARKER LAYRISSON (TC ’99), of Parker Layrisson looking to develop “the next big unique idea.” Law Firm, has co-authored Negotiating a Plea After practicing dentistry for 11 years in Henry- Deal in DUI Cases, featuring leading lawyers RYAN RIVET (UC ’02) and LAUREN ROBINSON etta, Okla., and selling his office in 2008, JOHN from across the country and published by RIVET (NC ’02) announce the birth of Finnegan LANDERS (A&S ’93) has now entered his fourth Thomson Reuters. Scott (Finn) on Dec. 21, 2011. The baby joins year as vice president of operations for his fam- his sister, Ella Grace, almost 3. Ryan Rivet is a ily’s oil and gas production company, Landers ANDREA “ANDI” SCHIPPERT RICHARDSON (NC multimedia specialist in the Tulane Office of Oil and Gas, of Okemah, Okla. ’99) and CHRIS RICHARDSON (TC ’99), along Publications and Lauren Rivet is a dentist. with their son, Campbell, welcomed William W. BRETT MASON (L ’93), a partner at Breazeale, Camdon Fulk, on Sept. 7, 2011. MARISSA HERSHON (NC ’03) received a master’s Sachse and Wilson, was elected international degree in the history of decorative arts from the third vice president of the International Propeller 2000s Smithsonian-Corcoran College of Art + Design Club of the United States. The grassroots, non- HEATHER TASHMAN FRITTS (NC ’00) and her in Washington, D.C., in 2010. She is now the profit organization promotes all national and husband, Doug, announce the birth of a daugh- Luce Curatorial Research Fellow at the Chrysler international maritime community interests. ter, Avery Nola, on June 21, 2011. Museum of Art in Norfolk, Va., where she will
34 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Dispatch Dr. Jeffrey Gruen
be researching and writing about the glass NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND For collection for a forthcoming catalog and Jeffrey Gruen (A&S ’79, M ’81), gallery reinstallation. the “writing on the wall” is pretty clear: Fail to identify MARIA WING (L ’04) married Albert Bernell and help dyslexic students at a Motley on Nov. 26, 2011, in Philadelphia. Wing young age, and their chances is a senior associate at Stradley, Ronon, Stevens of becoming fluent readers and Young in Philadelphia. Motley is assistant director of information technology for Mastery decrease dramatically. Charter Schools in Philadelphia. “We know that early intervention—between third ALEX BOWMAN (TC ’05) married Valerie Blanco and maybe sixth or seventh on April 9, 2011, in Dripping Springs, Texas. The grade—can work. But it has wedding party included AMIT KOONER (TC ’05), to be intensive,” says Gruen, a JOHN HRYHORCHUK (TC ’05), TAYLOR GILBERT professor of pediatrics, genetics (TC ’05), and KIMBERLY FRUSCIANTE (NC ’05). and investigative medicine at The couple resides in New York where Bow- Yale University School of Medi- man is a resident in internal medicine at New cine, who has been studying the York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center genetics of dyslexia for more and his wife is a resident in pediatrics at Mount than a decade. Sinai Medical Center. Gruen explains that if a dyslexic student completes 80 SCOTT SIMON (A ’05) was reelected a representa- to 120 hours of intensive read- tive to the Louisiana legislature. ing intervention over a school year during elementary or early A one-act play, Six Dead Bodies Duct-Taped to a Merry-Go-Round, by LINDSAY MARIANNA WALK- middle school, he or she has ER (NC ’05) and Dawson Moore, was produced about a 66 percent chance of by Full Circle Theatre Company in New York reading at grade level two last fall. The play will be published in the Best years later. “But if you identify them in American Short Plays 2010–2011 anthology and lisak t has been performed in several locations across high school,” he says, “[the the country. Walker earned a PhD in creative Robe R intervention] is only about half writing from the University of Southern Missis- as effective.” sippi and teaches English at Auburn University. That’s why Gruen is working to develop a simple, presymptomatic genetic screening test for the reading disorder, which would be conducted using a sample of a student’s MICHELLE C. HASSING (B ’06, ’07) and RICHTER DNA extracted from saliva or a painless cheek swab. J. FRIDMAN (B ’06, ’07) were married on Sept. 10, Currently, his lab is engaged in several studies, most of which are directly related to 2011, at Saint Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. identifying the genes and their variants that have a positive predictive value for a child The wedding party included NICOLE MAST (B being dyslexic. ’07), STEPHANIE LEITING (B ’09), COURTNEY “The next step,” Gruen says, “would be to optimally match genetics with [types ORDONE (B ’05), CYRUS KANGA (B ’09) and RYAN of] intervention programs.” He says it’s possible that the students who don’t succeed MAST (G ’07). haven’t been matched to the optimal intervention program for their genetic makeup. —C.F. REED A. MORGAN (B ’06) is an associate in the And Gruen isn’t satisfied leaving them behind. New Orleans office of Liskow & Lewis, where she focuses her practice on business litigation. where she works in a village school-lyceum. (PHTM ’98). Levine is now director of the Jew- STEPHEN ORTEGO (A ’07) was elected a represen- She teaches English, journalism and technol- ish Service Corps AVODAH in New Orleans. tative to the Louisiana legislature. ogy to students at the primary and secondary She married her partner, New Orleans native school. Schimmer will complete her 27 months Vanessa Bridges, at Touro Synagogue in New JAYDA BATCHELDER (PHTM ’09) was named the of service this June. Orleans. The couple looks forward to building 2010 Texas alternative certification middle- their family in the Crescent City. school teacher of the year in Dallas. Batch- 2010s elder, who works with Teach for America at SCOTT BERGER (A ’10) and KEVIN MUNI (A ’10) ALAN ATKINS (’11) is a youth specialist/child and a southwest Oak Cliff middle school, led 93 collaborated with REBECCA MILLER, a fifth-year family specialist with Hathaway-Sycamores percent of her eighth-grade science students to architecture student, on Rendezvous, an inter- Child and Family Services. His job includes a commended score on the Texas Assessment of active installation in an ordinary courtyard, mental health rehabilitation and behavior mod- Knowledge and Skills exam—a rate 28 percent as part of the fifth annual DesCours art and ification. Atkins resides in Los Angeles. higher than the district average. architecture exhibit across New Orleans last December. Other spaces were transformed for AARON FRUMIN (’11) is a Teach For America JEROME MATTHEWS JR. (’08) is in the energy liti- DesCours by TRAVIS BOST (A ’10), TONY VANKY Corps member, teaching sixth- and eighth- gation and commercial litigation sections of the (A ’07), HIROSHI JACOBS (A ’03) and IGOR grade language arts at Carmel Middle School in New Orleans office of Liskow & Lewis. Matthews SIDDIQUI (A ’98). Colorado Springs, Colo. Frumin also is working served as a corporal in the U.S. Marine Corps on a pilot for a television show about the travel- from 2001–06. DANIELLE Z.S. “DANI” LEVINE (PHTM ’10) spent volunteer experience, with colleagues from his a year working as a senior mayoral fellow in previous position at New Orleans Habitat for KATE SCHIMMER (’09) is serving as a youth the New Orleans mayor’s office of coastal and Humanity. For more information, go to: www. development Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine, environmental affairs with CHARLES ALLEN III american-volunteers.com.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 35 LATIN AMERICANIST Richard Greenleaf, professor of Latin American studies, died on Nov. 8, 2011. Former director of the Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane, he was a pioneer in Latin American colonial history. His scholarship, professional leadership and mentoring of several generations of historians had a broad and profound impact.
FAREWELL
APRIL BRAYFIELD, associate professor of BARBARA STRONG HARVEY (NC ’47) of Covington, Texas, on Nov. 23, 2011. sociology, of New Orleans, on Dec. 13, 2011. La., on Nov. 16, 2011. KEITH A. GATLIN SR. (L ’53) of Rock Hill, S.C., RAYMOND A. ESTHUS, emeritus professor of WILLIAM D. THAMES JR. (M ’47) of Lufkin, on Oct. 21, 2011. history, of Sarasota, Fla., on Jan. 2, 2012. Texas, on Nov. 28, 2010. WALTER E. HARRISON JR. (M ’53) of Moultrie, THE REV. VAL AMBROSE MCINNES, chair of ANNA SCHAUBER CLARK (NC ’48) of Savannah, Ga., on Dec. 10, 2010. Judeo-Christian Studies, of New Orleans, Ga., on Sept. 30, 2011. on Nov. 22, 2011. LOUISE REISS ROGAS (NC ’53) of New Orleans PENNY DARLING FOSTER (B ’48) of Oakland, on Oct. 2, 2011. CELESTE GOFF DIBOLL (NC ’29) of New Orleans Calif., on Oct. 14, 2011. on Nov. 24, 2011. WILLIAM C. BAUMANN (B ’54) of Shreveport, HAROLD S. GREHAN JR. (B ’48) of New Orleans La., on Jan. 10, 2011. MARY HELEN DOHAN SAMSOT (NC ’34, G ’38) of on Nov. 14, 2011. Houston on Oct. 10, 2011. JOAN BURLINGAME DEVER (NC ’54) of Jackson- MILTON L. LE BLANC JR. (L ’48) of Dallas on Dec. ville, Fla., on April 23, 2010. MILDRED M. FOSSIER (NC ’35, SW ’55) of New 15, 2011. Orleans on Dec. 4, 2011. ANNE ALLEN IVANKOVICH (NC ’54) of Man- WILLIAM E. ROONEY (A&S ’48, G ’50) of Baton deville, La., on Oct. 22, 2011. DEWITT L. MORRIS SR. (E ’37) of Lake Charles, Rouge, La., on Nov. 10, 2011. La., on Dec. 8, 2011. ALLAN J. LEONARD (A&S ’54) of New Orleans MELVIN SABSHIN (M ’48) of Washington, Del., on Nov. 3, 2011. MARGUERITE VANDYKE HAMILL (UC ’40) of on June 5, 2011. Ocean Springs, Miss., on Aug. 11, 2011. PETER L. REY SR. (UC ’54) of Germantown, ROYCE P. KAUPP (B ’49) of Eden Prairie, Minn., Tenn., on Nov. 22, 2011. SARAH CORTE SAVOIA (UC ’40) of Donaldson- on Nov. 19, 2011. ville, La., on Oct. 24, 2011. RAYMOND G. BISHOP (A&S ’55) of Austin, Texas, GEORGE H. LEIDENHEIMER JR. (B ’49) of Dallas on Nov. 8, 2011. WERNER W. BOEHM (SW ’41) of New Brunswick, on Nov. 4, 2011. N.J., on Oct. 17, 2011. LESLIE A. NORMAN JR. (A ’55) of Birmingham, JACK MOORE (M ’49) of Houston on Nov. 20, 2011. Ala., on Dec. 18, 2011. JANE PERLEE MILNER (NC ’42) of Kansas City, Mo., on April 14, 2011. RENE R. NACCARI (B ’49) of New Orleans on NANCY J. PENDERGRAFT (SW ’56) of Austell, Oct. 5, 2011. Ga., on April 22, 2010. ALBERT D. CAIRE (A&S ’43) of New Orleans on Nov. 13, 2011. EMITA BENEDICT PATTERSON (NC ’49, SW ’58) ALFRED J. HERKES (E ’57) of New Orleans on of New Orleans on Oct. 16, 2011. Nov. 12, 2011. VIVIAN ESTOPINAL GATES (NC ’43) of East Chatham, N.Y., on Oct. 15, 2011. PAUL C. YATES JR. (G ’49, ’51) of Wilmington, PHILLIP B. WATERS (A&S ’57, L ’60) of Calhoun, Del., on Oct. 14, 2011. Ga., on Nov. 16, 2011. DAVID MONROE (B ’43) of Metairie, La., on Dec. 9, 2011. G. JOSEPH SULLIVAN (E ’50) of New Orleans on LEROY E. WEEKS (M ’57) of Fort Walton Beach, Dec. 17, 2011. Fla., on April 30, 2011. JOHN W. OVERSTREET JR. (M ’43, M ’49) of Houston on Nov. 22, 2011. EDWARD G. BRENNAN (A&S ’50) of Kenner, La., J. LINCOLN DEVILLIER (B ’58) of Carrollton, Ga., on Nov. 12, 2011. on Nov. 19, 2011. CHARLES J. BABINGTON SR. (E ’45, L ’48) of New Orleans on Nov. 26, 2011. GRADY C. DINWIDDIE (A&S ’50) of Metairie, La., NORMAN D. HEIDELBAUGH (PHTM ’58) of Fairfax on Oct. 11, 2011. Station, Va., on Jan. 28, 2011. ELAINE K. HEMARD (NC ’45) of New Orleans on Nov. 19, 2011. WILLIAM M. SAMMONS (M ’50) of Ashland, Ore., G. FRED LIEBKEMANN III (E ’58) of Metairie, on Dec. 1, 2011. La., on Dec. 7, 2011. BARBARA GARDNER PAYNE (NC ’45) of Pensacola, Fla., on Dec. 2, 2011. HAROLD C. BALMER (A&S ’51) of Metairie, La., LOUIS POTASH (G ’58) of Bethesda, Md., on Oct. on Nov. 26, 2011. 22, 2010. HYMAN H. RUCHELMAN (A&S ’45, M ’57) of Huntington, N.Y., on May 7, 2011. HERBERT E. COUNIHAN (A&S ’51) of Temple WALTER F. WOLF JR. (A&S ’58) of San Francisco Hills, Md., on Jan. 18, 2011. on Sept. 13, 2011. JUDSON C. GWIN (M ’46) of Jasper, Ala., on Dec. 21, 2011. DONELSON CAFFERY MCCAY (B ’51, L ’55) of THOMAS L. WEBB II (A&S ’60) of Seattle on New Orleans on Nov. 27, 2011. June 3, 2011. EDWARD G. KOSCHMANN (UC ’46, G ’49) of Cleveland on Nov. 16, 2011. DOROTHY MANESS WEBB (NC ’51, G ’53, L ’80) CHARLES H. BEARDSLEY (A ’61) of Leesburg, of Houston on Dec. 4, 2011. Va., on April 12, 2011. DON W. RIGGS (A&S ’46) of Jacksboro, Texas, on Nov. 21, 2011. THOMAS J. BROTHERS (M ’52) of Anniston, BRIAN A. LOY (A&S ’61) of Wichita, Kan., on Ala., on April 26, 2011. Oct. 9, 2011. ALBERTA AMOTT BOOTH (NC ’47) of Pelham, Mass., on Oct. 8, 2011. MARCUS W. BOWMAN (A&S ’53) of Lumberton, RICHARD L. SHENK (B ’61) of Aspen, Colo., on
36 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE Tribute Arthur Q. Davis Sr.
Oct. 20, 2011. MODERN ARCHITECTURE Arthur Q. Davis Sr. (A ’42) THOMAS L. SMITH JR. (M ’62) of Center Point, died on Nov. 30, 2011, in Ala., on July 22, 2011. New Orleans. While New Orleans loves CAROL STEINER RUBENSTEIN (NC ’63, G ’65) its past, it still is a modern of New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2011. city of cars, electronics JAMES V. WERBA (M ’63) of Orlando, Fla., on and industry. And in the Nov. 22, 2011. 1950s, when the spirit of change and optimism, JAMES H. COUTURIE (E ’64) of New Orleans fueled by the successes of on Nov. 7, 2011. World War II, swept into the city, Arthur Q. Davis JAMES E. CHAVOEN (E ’65) of Northbrook, Ill., was there. on Oct. 2, 2011. Arthur was a partner with Nathaniel “Buster” EDMUND C. DYAS IV (M ’65) of Mobile, Ala., Curtis (A ’40) in the firm on Jan. 23, 2011. Curtis and Davis. [Cur- tis, Davis and Walter J. CLARENCE J. FIOKE (G ’65) of New Orleans on Rooney Jr. (A ’50), who Oct. 4, 2011. also was a partner, are pic- tured here, left to right.] ATILANO GOMEZ (G ’65) of Metairie, La., on The Curtis and Davis June 26, 2011. firm surfaced as a lead- KENNETH P. KAUFMAN (A&S ’65) of Sylva, N.C., ing national voice in the on Sept. 29, 2011. search for an architec- ture that embodied the
ARNOLD H. KIRKPATRICK (A&S ’65) of Paris, tulane archives university new spirit and that could Ky., on Nov. 29, 2011. exploit the new materials and technical advance- GEORGE H. CHRISTIAN (M ’66) of Virginia ments in construction. [See “Modern Love” in the fall 2011 Tulane magazine.] Beach, Va., on Nov. 30, 2011. It was a moment of high drama and excitement that propelled New Orleans architec- ture into the modern world. In a series of beautiful experiments of schools, commercial VIRGINIA HAYDEN COLE (UC ’66) of San buildings, houses, libraries and other public landmarks, Arthur made us aware of the Francisco on Dec. 5, 2011. potential of architecture. In a recent lecture at Tulane, Arthur stunned the packed hall with his work—some DAN C. HINKLE (M ’66) of Cheyenne, Wyo., done 50 years before: brilliant, simple, humane, modernist solutions to projects as on Sept. 27, 2011. varied as prisons and villas. His optimism and joy were, and still are, an inspiration. And the clever buildings that ROSS J. BRECHNER (G ’67, M ’69) of Catonsville, he and his firm seemed to produce with amazing clarity and speed are still reminders of Md., on Aug. 4, 2011. an exciting past and hopeful future.—ERROl BARRON. Barron, a fellow of the American ALBERT W. DRAKE (A ’67) of McKinney, Texas, Institute of Architects, is Favrot Professor of Architecture at Tulane. on Nov. 1, 2010.
JUAN M. GARCIA-PASSALACQUA (L ’67) of San Hills, Calif., on Nov. 30, 2011. DONNA GREEN HOLDER (M ’84) of Bossier City, Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 2, 2010. La., on Nov. 18, 2011. VIRGINIA A. RISER (NC ’71, G ’75) of Metairie, MARTA FRANCISCA JORDAN (SW ’67) of Kenner, La., on Dec. 2, 2011. ELEANOR F. SHIRLEY (B ’85) of Baton Rouge, La., La., on Oct. 13, 2011. on Sept. 27, 2011. ELAINE B. WHITE (G ’72) of New Orleans on DENNIS R. SHEETS (G ’67) of Dania, Fla., on Oct. 5, 2011. JOSEPH H. SMITH (PHTM ’85) of San Diego Nov. 24, 2011. on Sept. 30, 2011. RALPH F. LINCKS (UC ’74, G ’93) of New Orleans AHMED S. CHOUDHURY (G ’68, ’78) of Destrehan, on Oct. 1, 2011. TAMMY J. SPURGEON (M ’87) of Baltimore on La., on Nov. 16, 2011. Oct. 16, 2011. BRIAN C. RYDWIN (M ’76) of Jersey City, N.J., WILLIAM M. MULVIHILL (B ’69) of Richmond, on March 15, 2011. Va., on Nov. 28, 2011. RICHARD F. MCCLOSKEY JR. (A ’78) of Metairie, RANDOLPH UMBERGER JR. (G ’70) of Chapel La., on Nov. 1, 2011. CORRECTION Hill, N.C., on Oct. 21, 2011. The hometown of TOM D. NORMAN (M ’47), who LYNNE L. ROBINSON (SW ’80) of New Orleans died June 22, 2011, was Alexandria, La. Also, CAROLINA DONADIO LAWSON (G ’71) of Bowie, on Dec. 2, 2011. HOWARD B. GIST JR. (A&S ’41, L ’43), who died Md., on March 29, 2011. Aug. 22, 2011, was from Alexandria, La. Their DIANE HAINS FABACHER (SW ’84) of Covington, hometowns were incorrectly listed in the fall 2011 SANDRA STREAM MILLER (NC ’71) of Beverly La., on Nov. 25, 2011. issue of Tulane magazine.
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 37 fOur-star charity Tulane University has received a four-star rating (the best) from Charity Navigator, a nonprofit evaluator that assesses the financial health of charities in order to aid donors in making the right charitable giving choices.
TULANE EMPOWERS Medical Needs New Orleans’ post-Katrina vibrancy and Tulane’s record of community activism sold Mike Bosworth (’09) on attending Tulane University School of Medicine. “Tulane wants you to embrace the community and become immersed in it,” he says. Originally from Massachusetts, Bosworth is a member of the Tulane undergraduate “Katrina” class—the class of 2009 that had its first semes- tulane of architecture of school courtesy ter disrupted by the 2005 hurricane and flood. Now a second-year medical student, Bos- worth says that he is studying to become a doc- tor in order to give back. He is passionate about medicine—and about creating a better world. Bosworth, along with other medical stu- Optimal dents, has helped build a community garden in New Orleans. He also spent a summer in Gua- temala learning about that country’s medical system. He is class president, participates on Efficiency the first-year curriculum committee and is an active member of the Owl Club and the Tulane Fundraising is now under way for a $23.9 million green makeover of Plans for Wilderness Interest Group. He also won the Richardson Memorial Hall, the century-old home of Tulane University Architecture Morris and Goldie Mintz Memorial Award in School of Architecture. Building Structural and Cellular Biology. “Richardson Memorial Hall is one of the most wonderful buildings Renovation Bosworth attends Tulane with scholar- for a school of architecture—central on campus, historic, stately, well- IBM in partnership with ship assistance from the Adopt-a-Student built, high ceilings, clear spans, operable windows, excellent light,” says Johnson Controls is do- program. He says that the scholarship helps Kenneth Schwartz, dean of the School of Architecture. nating the installation of him worry less about loan debt and concen- “However, it is in serious need of investment to bring it up to date in its Smart Building Tech- trate more on becoming a better physician. its building systems, lower its carbon footprint and improve overall utility, nology to the renovation of Richardson Memorial “This scholarship has allowed me the free- given the changing nature of the school’s mission today.” Hall, home of the School dom to broaden my thoughts about what field I Schwartz is leading the fundraising efforts for the project that he ex- of Architecture. The want to pursue. My focus is more on how I can pects to be completed within five years. technology allows the help patients versus what I can make.” Fundraising was kicked off with a gift from Tulane alumnus and monitoring and optimal The Adopt-a-Student program, founded board member Tim Favrot (A ’53) to develop the initial plans and a gift adjustment of water by Dr. Hyman Tolmas (A&S ’43, M ’45) two in kind from IBM in partnership with Johnson Controls to install IBM consumption, lighting decades ago to help deserving and talented Smart Building Technology. and other systems to students attend Tulane, is part of the medical In the renovation, many original building materials will be reused. lower a building’s carbon school’s annual giving campaign. More study lounges and workspaces for students will be created, and the footprint. To learn more about gifts to scholarships school’s existing shop and digital facilities expanded. and other programs, go to the Tulane Donor The architectural/engineering team for the project is led by FX- Honor Roll at tulane.edu/giving/honor-roll-of- FOWLE and el dorado architects, of which Dan Maginn (A ’89) is one of donors.cfm. —Kirby Messinger the principals.—Kathryn Hobgood Ray
38 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE The Ledger The Tally
Stepping Up $ 60% 60.2 MILLION of Goal When Andrew Fredman (A&S ’84) learned THE GOAL $100 million is the total goal for raised, to date about the expanding community-engagement the Tulane Empowers campaign. efforts at Tulane, he thought of three things: THE TALLY As of Dec. 31, 2011, the campaign had the liberal arts, the New Orleans economy and received $60.2 million toward the total goal. local schoolchildren. money raised He began negotiating with Carole Haber, dean of the School of Liberal Arts. They put the pieces together, resulting in a $100,000 gift “When he was a high school senior, Tulane offered him from Fredman’s family foundation to develop a scholarship and also gave him a job on campus, and he three undergraduate service-learning courses really appreciated that. He felt that he wanted to do what in journalism, documentary filmmaking and Joseph Kanyan screenwriting. he could to give back to Tulane.”— Two pilot courses debuted in spring 2012. — a friend of the late Irwin Frankel (e ’42), Joseph Kanyan is a trustee And in the fall, the three classes will be offered of the frankel trust. frankel died in 2010 and left an unrestricted gift when the Musical Cultures of the Gulf South of more than $2 million to the school of science and engineering. his coordinate major is launched. gift is funding two floors of laboratory space in the new flower hall. “I was looking for something that hit on those three levels while also making New Or- “We hope this will be a springboard for a complete courtesy of tulane of architecture of school courtesy leans a better place, and Carole’s ingenuity renaissance for all of Tulane athletics.”—Doug Hertz made it happen,” said Fredman, managing partner at Fir Tree Partners in Miami. “This — Doug Hertz (a&s ’74, B ’76) spoke at the november dedication of the hertz center for basketball and volleyball. the $13 million training hits all the bases.” facility is named in honor of hertz. The courses will connect Tulane undergra- duates to students at a local partner school, said Joel Dinerstein, associate professor of English and director of American Studies. “ The fact that Tulane football is He is working with artists such as “Treme” getting a brand new stadium back co-creator Eric Overmyer and Mary Blue, on campus is going to be great not professor of practice in the Department of Communication, to develop projects with only for the players but for the possible topics ranging from Mardi Gras Indi- entire program. I believe it’s go- ans to marching bands. ing to bring new excitement and “A lot of students in New Orleans don’t have enthusiasm into the players, fans a strong awareness of the history or the impor- Matt Forte tance of the cultural traditions around them,” and students as well.”— said Dinerstein. “We want to teach them the —Matt forte (B ’08) is a running back for skills to look at it and participate and add their the nfl chicago Bears knowledge to our knowledge.” Those value-added skills will distinguish Tulane students and their younger cohorts Tulane University is embarking on a fundraising campaign to usher in a new era of suc- when they search for jobs in the area’s bur- cess for its athletics programs. With multiple leadership gifts committed and other major geoning film and television industry, said gifts promised, Tulane already has raised $40 million toward the $70 million goal of the Dinerstein. Home Field Advantage campaign. (See story on page 13.) With the new Tulane Stadium Just as Fredman intended, the cours- as its centerpiece, the campaign also is raising $10 million to provide enhanced support es are a model for liberal arts in action, for Tulane’s football program. said Haber. “This is Tulane Empowers at There are several ways to support this effort, such as a gift to the Stadium Fund, Tulane its best,” she said. “Not only does it en- Athletics Fund–Home Field Advantage or restricted support for the football program, in- gage our students in service learning but cluding endowed funds earmarked for equipment and other programmatic needs. A num- it engages the high school students in the ber of naming and recognition opportunities are still available for campaign gifts, and those schools, encouraging them to step back and donors who make gifts to TAF–Home Field Advantage will have priority access to purchase see their culture and see the value of their season tickets in the new stadium. For more information, go to www.TulaneStadium.com. experience.”—Kimberly Krupa
TULANE MAGAZINE WINTER 2012 39 ShiveR me timbeRS! Headquartered on Grand Terre, a barrier island along the edge of Barataria Bay, the pirate Jean Lafitte is estimated to have had as many as 1,000 people working for him. A Place To Thrive NEW ORLEANS
the swashbuckling Jean Lafitte. And when I travel through the marshland and see all DR. IRWIN FRANKEL (E ’42) was a native New Orleanian, the cuts and inlets, canals and markers that and though his career and military service took mean something to the guide but absolutely nothing to me, I get a feeling for what it might him around the world, he never forgot the city and have been like for those rogues as they navi- the university he loved. gated these waters to dodge the authorities. But directionally, I’m challenged. Water looks like water to me, no matter where I fish— Throughout his lifetime, Frankel established a number of it could be Black Bay or Caminada Bay or Barataria Bay. You could tell me it was Tampa gift annuities supporting the School of Science and Bay and I wouldn’t know the difference. If Engineering and the Tulane Band. He also named someone said, “Biloxi is that way,” I’d say, “Did Tulane University beneficiary of several IRAs, life we miss the exit?” The guide, 56-year-old Capt. Ripp Blank, insurance policies and a trust — significant gifts is a classic Louisiana character: a storyteller that are helping fund the new $7.4 million Donna equipped with a Cajun accent, a good line of BS and a lifetime of fishing knowledge. and Paul Flower Hall for Research and Innovation. He points to a spot where some marsh grass is growing up through water and says, The new 24,000-square-foot Flower Hall replaces the “That used to be an island,” or “That used to be outdated Taylor Laboratory on the uptown campus. land where I played when I was a boy.” Hearing it from someone who has come from genera- tions of fishers and trappers on this bayou and has watched this deteriorating scene for years, “Dr. Frankel understood the need to create a research you feel like you are witnessing the effect of getty images getty coastal erosion from close up. environment where our faculty and students could thrive,” At most, I go fishing a couple times a year, says Nick Altiero, dean of the School of Science and so I’m hardly an accomplished fisherman. Engineering. “His generous bequest will help make Gone fishin’ But I like to fish for several reasons, one of them being that as with Mardi Gras, fishing is that possible.” by Angus Lind an excuse to drink beer in the morning. I look on it as a reward for having to get up so early. I could find Joe’s Landing in my sleep—and I have, many times. That’s Rod ’N’ Reel theRapy I also like to eat fish just out of the water— the marina in Barataria—about 45 minutes south of New Orleans— You may not forget all the fresh taste is unmatched. But mostly, it’s Read more about Dr. Frankel, Flower Hall from where I have fished the most. I drive there because I fish with a your troubles while about the adventure. Good fishing compan- fishing, but they will Barataria fishing guide. We catch redfish, speckled trout and flounder, ions are essential, as are fish stories. Catching and ways you can support the university you love at seem less important and he cleans and bags them for us to take home and cook. when you’re out on fish is a bonus. www.plannedgiving.tulane.edu. I also can get into some quality conversations with cigar-chomping the water. As Henry David Thoreau once observed, An accomplished clarinetist, Frankel played Joe Bourgeois and his son Sid, who run the marina and are always ready “Many go fishing all their lives without know- with the Tulane Alumni Band during the to hold court on any subject related to fishing—as well as some not re- ing that it is not fish they are after.” True homecoming halftime show in 2007. lated. There also is a predictable group of regulars hanging out inside, enough—you may not forget all your troubles, drinking everything from coffee to beer. Call it a fishing fraternity house. but they seem a lot less important when out on Sure, you have to get up in the middle of the night and drive in the the water. dark to get there. But it’s well worth it. As for technique, let’s just say I know enough There’s nothing quite like heading down Bayou Barataria toward to get by. This ain’t my first rodeo, I tell Capt. the open waters of Barataria Bay with a cool breeze in your face as you Ripp. He laughs because he’s seen me in ac- watch the sun come up. A dramatic sunrise breaking through the foggy, tion before, like when my line gets tangled or morning light that hovers over the water brings a kind of serenity you my hook gets caught on something without Your Gift. Your Way. can’t find in the city. fins. But, hey, I can bait a line, cast, reel in fish As the raw beauty of these wetlands unfolds before my eyes and I (should the moment arrive), grab the landing see pelicans, egrets and other waterfowl, I think, damn, two hours ago net, then take them off the hook. I was in my bed in Uptown New Orleans. There’s a reason “Sportsman’s Capt. Ripp has said many times, “If you Office of Planned Gifts • 504-865-5794 • toll free 800-999-0181 Paradise” is the motto on Louisiana license plates. hear somebody on the boat cursing, you don’t Bequests • Gift Annuities • Charitable Trusts • Retirement Plan Gifts • Securities Gifts • Real Estate Gifts • Insurance Gifts Barataria—the name conjures up images of the mystical, unchart- have to look for the landing net. Nobody curses ed maze of waterways once inhabited by pirates and smugglers led by when catching fish.”
40 WINTER 2012 TULANE MAGAZINE A Place To Thrive
DR. IRWIN FRANKEL (E ’42) was a native New Orleanian, and though his career and military service took him around the world, he never forgot the city and the university he loved.
Throughout his lifetime, Frankel established a number of gift annuities supporting the School of Science and Engineering and the Tulane Band. He also named Tulane University beneficiary of several IRAs, life insurance policies and a trust — significant gifts that are helping fund the new $7.4 million Donna and Paul Flower Hall for Research and Innovation.
The new 24,000-square-foot Flower Hall replaces the outdated Taylor Laboratory on the uptown campus.
“Dr. Frankel understood the need to create a research environment where our faculty and students could thrive,” says Nick Altiero, dean of the School of Science and Engineering. “His generous bequest will help make that possible.”
Read more about Dr. Frankel, Flower Hall and ways you can support the university you love at www.plannedgiving.tulane.edu. An accomplished clarinetist, Frankel played with the Tulane Alumni Band during the homecoming halftime show in 2007.
Your Gift. Your Way.
Office of Planned Gifts • 504-865-5794 • toll free 800-999-0181 Bequests • Gift Annuities • Charitable Trusts • Retirement Plan Gifts • Securities Gifts • Real Estate Gifts • Insurance Gifts MAGAZINE TUlane Office of University Publications 31 McAlister Drive, Drawer 1 New Orleans, LA 70118-5624
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