Tulane University President Scott Cowen addressed Tulane students, their parents and local Tulane alumni Thursday regarding the devastation, recovery and renewal of the New Orleans campus after Hurricane Katrina at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center.
BU President Robert Brown introduced Cowen as a “true inspiration” and extended his best wishes to Tulane students, who will be returning to Tulane at the semester’s end. Cowen was received with a standing ovation.
Many people said they came simply for the opportunity to hear the Tulane president speak.
“President Cowen speaks from his inner soul,” said Bill Adams, a Boston resident and father of a Tulane sophomore currently studying at the University of Virginia. “He is both eloquent and emotional, which is a great strength and gives him the ability to bring people on board with his plans.”
Tulane students and alumni, including Tulane senior Dan Shapiro, said they came to show their support for their home university, which was flooded along with much of the Gulf Coast during the first weeks of September.
“Me and my friends are seniors and we can’t wait to return,” he said. “I think this speech will hype people up about going back to New Orleans and it’s going to be a hell of a reunion there.”
Cowen began by giving the audience a detailed description of the events that occurred before, during and after the storm from his perspective as the university’s president.
At first, he said, the storm was predicted to completely miss the school, but within 24 hours, it was clear that it was going to be a direct hit. Within two days, he decided to evacuate the campus, calling his meeting with the students “the most memorable orientation [they] would ever have.”
“I said hello, delighted to see you, good-bye,” Cowen said. “But not a single student was harmed in the evacuation. The hurricane plan had absolutely no flaws in regard to the students.”
Cowen described his experience on a campus covered by “three feet of water as far as the eye can see,” no power, no sewage and no communication.
“It was like being underwater,” he said. “What I saw was so devastating, there were so many people in need, that for a moment I forgot I was the president of Tulane University and I didn’t want to leave.”
Cowen’s speech was accompanied by a slideshow of pictures illustrating the recovery effort. The restoration began the first week after the storm and involved gutting and rebuilding the first floors of all the buildings to pumping air inside the buildings to combat mold, he said.
“Restoring the buildings – that was the easy part,” Cowen said.
What was not easy was recreating the unique Tulane community within the vibrant city of New Orleans, Cowen said.
The first thing he did was charter the Lusher School, a kindergarten through 12th grade school for the sons and daughters of the faculty of not only Tulane, but also of the faculty of Dillard University, Loyola University of New Orleans and Xavier University. Cowen also helped form the Tulane-Xavier-Dillard-Loyola Partnership, a program designed to help other colleges in their recovery efforts.
“I believe we have an obligation to reach out to as many people as possible to help New Orleans grow stronger, faster,” he said. “I also think universities should be leading lights in dealing with racial and poverty issues. This program will serve as an example of how blacks and whites can work together to the rest of the country.”
Cowen’s commitment to New Orleans was a relevant part of his speech to many members of the audience, including Anthony Massari, who graduated from Tulane in 1994.
“You can’t live in New Orleans and not love it,” he said. “It’s devastating to see it in this kind of situation and Cowen’s dedication to making Tulane an anchor for the city is admirable.”
Cowen addressed the alumni in the audience and asked them not only for financial assistance, but for assistance in helping recruit new students and spread the story of Tulane’s recovery.
“I’ve been financially involved with recovery efforts, but it feels kind of hollow,” 1996 Tulane alum Gretchen Effgin said. “Initially, I thought I would get in the way by going to New Orleans to help. I’m glad he brought up other ways for alumni to contribute.”
There are still a number of issues facing Tulane, one of which is the issue of student housing. More than 1,000 students do not know whether their off-campus housing will be ready for them when they return in the spring. Cowen came up with several solutions, including modular housing, leasing apartments, renting hotel rooms and even a ship.
“We leased a cruise ship,” he said. “It’s called The Dream Princess. It can accommodate 1,000 students and will be anchored next to a parking lot, where transportation to campus will be arranged.”
Next, he said, he faced the task of mobilizing the 13,000 Tulane students who were scattered across the country at 590 different universities.
“I’m happy to say that we believe the return rate of students will be at least 90 percent,” Cowen said. “The vast majority remember New Orleans as more than a place – a state of mind and a state of heart.”
There is also an expected return rate of 80 percent of this year’s freshman class, including current BU student Jacob Thomas.
“I was only there for five hours, but I’m definitely going back,” he said. “It’s where I want to be and I think things are going to be a lot better than people expected. You can’t kill the spirit of New Orleans.”
Sophomores Carolyn Campbell and Rooney Wilus, who are both studying at BU this semester, said they would return without a doubt.
“I would canoe to class if I had to,” Campbell said.
Cowen addressed a number of questions from the audience regarding housing, physical and environmental safety and why parents should send their children back to Tulane.
“The city is safer right now than it was before the storm,” he said, “and your children have the opportunity to be a part of the largest recovery effort in American history. Education is more than what goes on inside the classroom, and I would dare to say that right now, Tulane can offer the best total education in the country.”
Cowen then explained his plan to not only rebuild Tulane into the university it was before the storm, but to make it a more focused institution with “world-class educational and research programs.”
Some other additions to the Tulane mission would be dedicating more funds to “student-centric” activities such as club sports, initiating a “domestic semester abroad” exchange program for students of schools that housed Tulane students this semester and requiring Tulane students to participate in community service.
Cowen also said he planned to use New Orleans to show how a university and a community can work together.
“If we can pull this off,” he said, “imagine what we can do for other communities in the world.
“Tulane was on its way to becoming a great institution, but then Katrina happened and bang – we stopped,” Cowen said. “I have a nobler goal now – to recover not only a great institution, but a great city as well. It’s in my DNA – I can not stand by and watch this city be neglected.”