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Chance to Meet the Board

 
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doreilly



Joined: 30 Dec 2005
Posts: 27

PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2006 3:51 pm    Post subject: Chance to Meet the Board Reply with quote

This is from Tulane Daily News:

When the Tulane Board of Administrators announced the end of the coordinate college system as part of the Renewal Plan, a task force was put in place to decide how the legacies of Newcomb and Tulane colleges would be preserved.

The panel is now seeking your ideas.

The Newcomb/Tulane Task Force will hold an open forum at 2 p.m. on Friday (Jan. 27) in Dixon Hall to hear suggestions on how to best use the names and endowments of Newcomb and Tulane colleges to enhance and improve the undergraduate experience at the university. The task force also is monitoring a Web log where more than 300 students, alumni, parents and friends have submitted messages, including dozens of suggestions.

The task force will present recommendations to the full board in mid-March.

Led by co-chairs Darryl Berger, a 1972 graduate of Tulane Law School, and Linda Wilson, a 1957 Newcomb alumna, the task force is composed of the following alumni (colleges and class years in parentheses): Carol Cudd (Newcomb, 1959); Sybil Favrot (Newcomb, 1956); Matthew Gorson (College of Arts & Sciences, 1970); Jay Lapeyre (Business School, 1978, Law, 1978); Jeanne Olivier (Newcomb, 1975); and Richard Schmidt (Engineering, 1966, Graduate School, 1967).

This may be a good place to show our commitment to engineering. Richard Schmidt is in fact an engineer. I know I don't have to say it, but be nice and respect the loses of Newcomb and Tulane college if you attend the meeting.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 5:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I went there. Wow, the Newcomb students and alumni are PISSED! They accused the Newcomb alumns who voted for the plan of being traitors. Sybil and another Newcomb alumn (name?) pointed out that the plan was presented as a package deal and the administration browbeat them into accepting the whole thing. They weren't happy about it, but they did vote unanimously for it. You could tell that Sybil and the other lady was sickened and ashamed by what they did.

The Administration didn't even extend them the courtesey of a Q&A Session (probably because it was such a disaster with the engineering students). Hey Cowen, that's really courageous. Isn't it funny how he'll meet with the engineering students, but he runs from the Newcomb women? The Board members came expecting some flak, but mostly suggestions to save the traditions of Newcomb. Instead, they were roasted and you could tell they HATED being in the spotlight.

Let's keep it up! The pressure is starting to show.
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Clay Kirby
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 8:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When it comes to Cowen, I would have skipped out on that meeting if I were him, too. Don't EVER get between the Newcomb Alumni and their college.

The Board members were very clear that they were presented with the plan as a package deal and couldn't "line item veto" a single thing on the plan. They weren't really given a choice other than accepting the whole package. When one of the Newcomb students called them traitors to Newcomb, you could tell the Newcomb alumni on the Board were fighting away tears. They said the entire Board had violated their fundamental job; as trustees, they betrayed their community.

Yvette Jones was dumb enough to actually tell the alumni the decision to axe Newcomb was "strategic and not financial." You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that one didn't go over well. They tore into the Board members and Yvette Jones on such a personal level it was astonishing to watch.

The best news of all is they pounded on the fact that the Renewal Plan was based on a set of assumptions we now know are false. Why not reevaluate the decision with more input and time? Their responses were wholy innadequate.
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bethmcardle



Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 24
Location: Huntsville, AL

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2006 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow. I really do wish they would admit that the decisions came too fast, and too rashly. But I don't know if we'll ever see that. Alienating so much of the alumni base is going to haunt them for many many years to come.
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AKManepalli



Joined: 30 Dec 2005
Posts: 8

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 3:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

can somebody put up an audio file or something of the newcomb town hall meeting with the task force?
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gwlaw88



Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 12

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the audio of the meeting is now on the tulane renewal website. Their admission that the decision to dump Newcomb had little or nothing to do with Katrina-related financial problems was very disturbing. I listened over the internet, but it came across as very 'uncomfortable' toward the end, after the panel kept getting questions seeking specific numbers to show the decision was necessary, and when they started to ask the Newcomb alums directly how they could agree to such a thing. Sounded to me like panel members did not agree with the plan at all. Pathetic that Cowan didn't show up but instead sent others to take the flack for him.
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cenla alum



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 5:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It has been confirmed the Newcomb decision has NOTHING to do with finances. In fact, Newcomb could survive operationally on tuition and the interest off the endowment. (And yes, I know this site is monitored from Gibson.) These are facts Members of the Board have been able to state very clearly.

They - those representing the administration - even admitted this apparently at the meeting. The Newcomb decision was "strategic." Funny, if you read Tulane's Strategic Plan prior to Katrina, no where did it mention the combining of Tulane College with Newcomb. No where did it mention trashing 120 years of tradition and women's education. No where did it speak of abandoning a commitment made to women by the first Administrators of the Tulane Educational Fund.

Makes you wonder what strategic plan they were following.
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mollyzogirl



Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Posts: 93
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:37 pm    Post subject: diappointing Reply with quote

That is very sad.

I have been very angry towards the board and the administration, and all of the factors involved with cutting the engineering departments, and all of our wonderful faculty members, but that news about Newcomb is just depressing. There are Women's Colleges all over the country that are modeled after Newcomb. Several members of my family are Newcomb grads, and it will be a shame if the administration gets away with this.

Someone needs to make sure that every Newcomb student is aware of those money facts. Many of them think that Newcomb was a burden on Tulane, and thats why it had to change. If they knew differently, they may start fighting harder.
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cenla alum



Joined: 25 Dec 2005
Posts: 36

PostPosted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 9:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Trust me on this - we're making sure they know. Tulane has in fact been "stealing" Newcomb money since the early 1900s when they began charging a "fee" per student for the graduate system - something the original gift intended all along.

We've done our history homework, have reviewed every legal opinion handed down to the board regarding the money given to the school from day one and are no means as blind as those who fought and gave up our faculty in 1987.
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://arco.vo.llnwd.net/o2/cust5/tulane_01272006/index.html

That's the link for the audio. A transcript should be posted within a week.
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Mechanical Engineering Class of '06
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wckirby



Joined: 10 Dec 2005
Posts: 355
Location: New Orleans

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 6:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Transcript has been posted.

http://renewal.tulane.edu/traditionsforumtransc_012706.pdf

Here's one thing that stuck out:

"
Participant 5: Hopefully it's not much of a comment and more of a question. First, let me reassure you I did get calls for donations and I did say I'll wait and see if there's a Newcomb. (INAUDIBLE). That's where my heart is. [Applause] That is what I have always given. My husband is an A&S grad and like Brenda, I am a 1991 third-generation Newcomb graduate. My nieces are not going to be afforded the opportunity that I had to attend Newcomb College. So when you say to us, “We're not eliminating anything, we want to make it better,” you're patronizing us
and you're minimizing (INAUDIBLE). [Applause] I understand that you don't intend it that way. I do. But that's how it feels. My question is, you're all on the board, all voted for this plan. I would like to hear just a little bit from Carol and Sybil who led the charge in 1987 about your understanding of this (INAUDIBLE).

Carol Cudd: It's a very good question. It's one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. And I would not have done it had it not been for very compelling reasons. It was a total package that was presented to the board. There was no line item veto there. It was given at a time when the administration was still domiciled in Houston, when it was first presented. I hope you know every Newcomb alum who is at this table is passionate about Newcomb, as Darryl mentioned. Newcomb has been my baby and I sort of feel like Newcomb's been thrown out with the bathwater just a little bit on this. But I'm hoping that this committee can do something that's very, very positive. One thing that I've been so interested and thrilled to hear is the passionate support from the students and alumni since '87, because when we fought to try to keep the Newcomb faculty separate and we were not able to do that. We were
able to set up a structure for Newcomb College and Tulane College, A&S at that time, that shared a faculty and Newcomb College had a student body, a student government, had a dean and had a sense of place and it had student programming, it had student fellows. All of these things had to be put in place and were put in place by a series of absolutely wonderful deans that Newcomb College has had through this time. But we were very skeptical at the time, we alums, about whether this could possibly be effective, whether these alums after '87, that these students
and alums could possibly have had an experience that would have approximated our own. It has been overwhelming to find out how much Newcomb has meant to those of you who do fall within that time period. And I pray that we'll have some sort of wisdom imparted to us and we're certainly listening to all the wisdom we can get from you all, that maybe we can come up with some kind of structure here that will afford students here and whether we call it a Newcomb Center, a Newcomb Institute, a Newcomb Foundation, but hopefully we can preserve what's precious
to you. And that's what we're trying to do, not only to honor Mrs. Newcomb's legacy, which is something we certainly want to do, but to preserve everything that's living and wonderful about Newcomb College. And that's, as I said, that's what everyone on this committee is striving to do.

Sybil Favrot: Carol has said in the main--exactly my feelings. It's been a long road with Newcomb. This task force has been the hardest issue that I have faced and been involved with in my adult career. As Carol stated, we have been given this task as a package. (INAUDIBLE)

Participant 5: (INAUDIBLE). I do. (INAUDIBLE)

Sybil Favrot: I can't tell you that. That's beyond our (INAUDIBLE)--we are policymaking and the president works the policy through--in this administration. So this has come from the administration. It's so overwhelming to hear from you women who make a difference now and will continue to make a bigger difference. I am convinced that Newcomb is as much alive today as it was when I graduated in '56 and my mother went there in the '20s and my aunt and my mother-in-law and on down the family line, that Newcomb entrusted us with the belief that we can
make things better. And I don't mean not to answer your question but I can pledge you my utmost intentions to make as much of a difference as I can with my being on the task force. Somehow I would hope that that Newcomb that is so special will always be special. And how we come about that, I ask for divine guidance but I also ask for
your trust. [Applause]

"

Sybil and Carrol Cudd were parked in a corner hoping they wouldn't have to talk. When they did, you could tell they were fighting back tears. They know they stabbed all of us in the back.
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Clay Kirby
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perturbed1



Joined: 12 Jan 2006
Posts: 87

PostPosted: Sun Feb 19, 2006 8:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If I read that right BuRP was presented to the board on a take it or leave it basis at a time when the administration was still in Houston. The administration moved back to NOLA in Novenber if I am not mistaken, at least Scott moved back in November. That leads to the question of exactly how early on he devised BuRP.

BTW -I can tell you that if I sat on a board and the guy I hired to run things presented me with a take it or leave it plan instead of options he would be the one leaving after we managed to extract my boot from his rectum. Don't know what kind of folks Tulane has on its board but they need to develope some backbone.
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dhendric



Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 12
Location: Berkeley, CA

PostPosted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 1:02 am    Post subject: Out here in Sunny California Reply with quote

I don't know about you guys, but I have taken the semester off from Tulane and am enjoying my employment at a US Department of Energy facility out here in California. I seriously think all of these legal questions, health issues(Katrina cough, etc), and administrative follies have already written the death sentence on the entire Tulane University system. I think that after everything is said and done the only thing that will exist will be a very small liberal arts college. If the charter has been fundamentally violated and fundraising money is being spent in other areas not intended by the donor then the university will have a massive flight of capital and will not have a leg to stand on.

I think the whole "Save Tulane Engineering" mission has changed into an allied front with Newcomb College, Tulane Medical School, and the City of New Orleans. Here are a few things that I find are particularly interesting:
* Scott Cowen "flattening" the organizational structure of the University which gives him more direct control of every entity of the university.
* The Tulane University hospital is 80% owned by an insurance company and Mayor Ray Nagin goes out of his way to thank an INSURANCE company for its efforts to keep the hospital operational while Tulane does not receive a mention.
* Scott Cowen not commenting about the nation wide power that Newcomb College has and has not thanked the institution for more than one hundred years of service to the education and mentoring of young women from across the country. I personally thank Newcomb College for all their contributions to society and know that their efforts will not be forgotten nor will Scott Cowen's cowardly attempt to disband this prestigious organization go unpunished.
* Resumes from Science Faculty appearing at other departments at other schools. Whether or not they will accept the offers extended to them, this will certainly put more pressure on Scott Cowen to boost morale and properly address faculty concerns.
* Scott Cowen's improper removal of faculty with Tenure and improperly placing untenured faculty above tenured faculty even in a crisis. There has been no effective forum on such an issue and the faculty with tenure that have been "left behind" by the renewal plan will have to sue - they have no other choice.
* The agreements made with the federal government and university associations accross the country. What exactly was stipulated in these agreements and does Tulane University have a legal responsibility to compensate the institutions that absorbed students and faculty into their system? Does Tulane University have the right to keep federal monies paid to them from student aid for the fall semester? Finally, how will Tulane handle illegally charging for services not rendered this fall semester? You can not charge to transfer in credits from another institution even if the other institution does not charge tuition. An agreement can not be made without every student's signature to agree to pay for a "visiting semester". No such agreement was made by paper contract, tacitly, or otherwise.
* UNO's and Loyola's decision to expand their role into engineering while they have harsher financial constraints post-Katrina than Tulane University.
* Tulane lying about financial numbers and other logistical numbers to the national media and to students, faculty, and donors. To Scott Cowen: how many professors were let go again? And what EXACTLY was the damage sustained to the campus? 100 million? 150 million? 200 million? The last time I checked, one did not fib damage estimates to insurance agencies as this is fradualent and is a strong reason why Tulane will not exist after Lagniappe. And what if Tulane's finances have been illegally handled? Is this the reason why they have not opened up the books?
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