Dear SoPA students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters,

It is with mixed emotions that I write to you today with news of my departure from Tulane and the School of Professional Advancement. As you may have read in the message from President Fitts and Provost Forman distributed moments ago, I have accepted an offer to serve as interim president of Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, New York beginning later this month.

I am appreciative of your role in supporting our school’s success. There is so much for all of us to be proud of. The letter from the president and provost makes reference to transformation; that is precisely what we undertook. Collectively, we created a paragon of a successful academic community: where faculty share their knowledge and learn with and from students; staff support students and faculty in an effective and highly functional fashion; and students are able to learn deeply, gain valuable credentials and connections, and use their educations to positively transform their lives, better support their families and improve their communities. I’d like to think I played a key role in making this possible, but what I did was just one component of the overall effort. The trajectory of this amazing school is set and the critical work of providing access, fostering knowledge and increasing opportunity for generations of intelligent, driven and diverse students will continue.

I came to Tulane from a position overseeing programs serving many tens of thousands of students and likely will spend the rest of my career at institutions of similar scale. There have been so many upsides to leading a relatively small school, the greatest for me personally being relationships with individual students and alumni. Thank you for the privilege you bestowed upon me, letting me into your lives so that I could experience your victories alongside you and witness the transformative (that word again!) impact of your education. You are living manifestations of “tikkun olam”, which means healing or repairing the world, and is the fundamental motivation for my own work. I will always think of you gratefully and of the example you have set for me.

One alum said to me yesterday, “New Orleans has gotten into your blood.” It is true. Many have described, more eloquently than I, how the city carries forward its history, culture and geography in ways that make it both deeply flawed and magical. Its culture of welcoming and of pleasure has made me into a better and more joyful person. Each year, when I sat on the stage at Tulane’s unified commencement and the Michael White band and Topsy Chapman launched into “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?”, I would cry in the beauty and pathos of the moment. As the song says, I have left my heart here, and I look forward to returning to it frequently.

Read the Tulane announcement here.

With great love,