May 13, 2016
Dear Tulane Community,
Where does commencement weekend include chargrilled oysters, Big Sam's Funky Nation, Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band, Hoda Kotb, a second-line parade, confetti cannons and Mardi Gras beads? Only at Tulane, only in New Orleans, right? Or should I say, "Yeah, you right?"
But it's not just the oysters, jazz and beads that make Tulane's commencement the most unique anywhere. It's our more than 3,000 graduates who, on average, traveled farther than any other students in the country to learn in a city unlike any in the world.
Our graduates not only studied liberal arts, science, engineering, architecture, business, law, social work, medicine and public health and tropical medicine, they also discovered where these fields intersect and intertwine – where boundaries between them collapse, where scholars from different disciplines collaborate, where true knowledge flourishes and where solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems are found.
A Tulane education has prepared our graduates for a world that desperately needs their ideas, energy, knowledge and hope. My goal for tomorrow's commencement is to convey this, along with the pride, joy and love we feel for our graduates as they begin the journey of a lifetime.
