Wednesday, September 01, 2021

Fwd: A Message from the President

Grant was not in NOLA when the storm hit. He had departed nearly a week prior to California. He gets more time on the west coast. Perhaps the medical students will return sooner. Who knows yet. 

Mark

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Dear Friends, We have heard from so many of our alumni and friends...
A Message from the President

Dear Friends,
 

We have heard from so many of our alumni and friends in the last few days with messages of support in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Thank you! We are grateful for your compassion and care.
 

While New Orleans and the Tulane community were impacted by Ida, our thoughts and prayers are with the many Louisianians who suffered much more devastation than New Orleans and the Tulane community. We know the recovery of some parts of our state will be long and arduous.
 

The good news for our city and university is that the many billions of dollars spent on the levee and pump systems over the last 15 years, did in fact, do their job. We did not experience serious flooding on our campuses and in our communities. Having said that, I imagine that many of you have seen that there was catastrophic transmission damage to the city power grid. As a result, all of Orleans Parish and well beyond are without power. In addition, other services associated with sewerage and water, as well as supply chain and critical labor, have been negatively impacted and may be for some time to come.
 

Due to the current lack of power, critical services in the city and damages on our campuses, we have evacuated students to Houston so they can evacuate to another location. We have closed campus and cancelled classes through Sunday, September 12. Classes will resume online beginning Monday, September 13 through Wednesday, October 6 to give the city and our campuses time to repair and reinstate power, facilities and other services. On Monday, October 11, following fall break, we will return to in-person classes on campus. If the city's return to normalcy is accelerated and circumstances permit, we may have the opportunity to bring our community back to campus sooner.
 

Our heartfelt thanks to the whole Tulane community. To our staff, we are thankful for their incredible work securing our campuses, executing evacuation, and repairing our damages. To our students, we are thankful for their patience, good humor, and cooperation under difficult circumstances. And, to our faculty we are thankful for pivoting to on-line teaching and continuation of groundbreaking research. I am so proud of how magnificently we have come through and will continue to recover from Hurricane Ida.
 

I am looking forward to coming together in person in the coming weeks. We will come back stronger than ever – we are Tulanians!!!!
 

With gratitude,

Mike Fitts

 

Tulane University

6823 St Charles Ave • New Orleans, LA 70118

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