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Regular Session, 2014
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 77
BY SENATOR LAFLEUR
SENATE. Commends President Scott Cowen and Tulane University for a tradition of
academic excellence and to designate Tuesday, April 22, 2014 as Tulane University at the
Louisiana Legislature.
A RESOLUTION1
To commend President Scott Cowen and Tulane University for a tradition of academic2
excellence and to designate Tuesday, April 22, 2014, as Tulane University Day at the3
Louisiana Legislature.4
WHEREAS, founded in 1834, Tulane University is one of the most highly regarded5
and selective independent research universities in the United States; and6
WHEREAS, Tulane traces its origins to the Medical College of Louisiana founded7
in 1834 by seven young doctors as the Deep South's second-oldest medical school, which8
by 1847 was part of the newly established public institution, the University of Louisiana; and9
WHEREAS, Scott S. Cowen is Tulane University's 14th President and he also holds10
joint appointments as the Seymour S Goodman Memorial Professor of Business in Tulane's11
A.B. Freeman School of Business and Professor of Economics in the School of Liberal Arts;12
and13
WHEREAS, TIME magazine has named President Cowen one of the nation's Top14
10 Best College Presidents and he was one of only four university leaders nationwide to15
receive the 2009 Carnegie Corporation Academic Leadership Award; and16
WHEREAS, in 2010 President Cowen was elected to the American Academy of Arts17
and Sciences, one of the world's most prestigious honorary societies. And in that same year18 SR NO. 77
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he was appointed by President Barack Obama to the White House Council for Community1
Solutions, which advised the President on ways to reconnect and empower young people2
who are neither employed nor in school; and3
WHEREAS, President Cowen is also the recipient of The Times-Picayune's Loving4
Cup, which each year honors a New Orleanian who has worked unselfishly for the5
community without expectation of recognition or material reward and has been honored by6
New Orleans CityBusiness as one of the 30 "Driving Forces" in New Orleans in the last 307
years and by Gambit as New Orleanian of the Year in 2011; and8
WHEREAS, Since President Cowen's arrival in 1998, Tulane University has more9
than quadrapled its undergraduate applications while experiencing all-time highs in student10
quality; and11
WHEREAS, President Cowen led Tulane through the most trying period of its12
history when, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans,13
flooding 70 percent of Tulane's uptown campus and all the buildings of its downtown health14
sciences campus; and15
WHEREAS, Tulane is the nation's only university with a School of Medicine, School16
of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a National Institutes of Health-funded National17
Primate Center; and 18
WHEREAS, Tulane University has provided medical care for tens of thousands of19
patients at Charity Hospital and educated thousands of future physicians through medical20
student training and residency programs at Charity and University hospitals; and21
WHEREAS, research in many disciplines has flourished at Tulane through the22
establishment of centers such as the Newcomb College Institute, the Roger Thayer Stone23
Center for Latin American Studies, the Middle American Research Institute, the Center for24
Bioenvironmental Research, the Murphy Institute of Political Economy, the Tulane Cancer25
Center, the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, and the New Orleans Center26
for the Gulf South; and27
WHEREAS, the Center for Bioenvironmental Research (CBR) is building on a rich28
history of cross-disciplinary research and service and advancing the state's capacity in29
environmental research on long-standing and emerging concerns; and30 SR NO. 77
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WHEREAS, the CBR is dedicated to realizing sustainability and creating a more1
resilient coast by fostering innovation and research; and 2
WHEREAS, Tulane is ranked by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of3
Teaching as a university with very high research activity; and4
WHEREAS, in the fall of 2006, Tulane became the first research university in the5
nation to have a public service requirement for all undergraduates; and6
WHEREAS, Tulane has been named by the Corporation for National and7
Community Service to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for8
an unprecedented seven consecutive years; and 9
WHEREAS, Tulane students have contributed 480,000 service hours to programs in10
New Orleans; and 11
WHEREAS, the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiative's AdvanceNola12
program has more than doubled the number of students taking Advanced Placement math,13
science, and English courses in high schools with more than 500 students enrolled in 2013;14
and15
WHEREAS, Tulane is New Orleans' largest private employer and a major economic16
driver in the region, accounting for approximately $920 million dollars in annual economic17
activity and directly and indirectly creating 10,600 jobs throughout Louisiana; and18
WHEREAS, the new Yulman Stadium is returning college football to campus after19
a 30-year absence, and it will be a point of pride and economic stimulus for New Orleans20
and give the Green Wave a true home field advantage; and 21
WHEREAS, President Cowen will be retiring on July 1, 2014 leaving a distinguished22
legacy that Tulane University and the State of Louisiana will be forever grateful for; and23
WHEREAS, it is appropriate to set aside a special day in celebration of President24
Scott Cowen and Tulane University.25
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana26
does hereby commend President Scott Cowen and Tulane University for a tradition of27
academic excellence and does hereby designate Tuesday, April 22, 2014, as Tulane28
University Day at the Louisiana Legislature.29
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the30 SR NO. 77
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president of Tulane University.1
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
LaFleur SR No. 77
Commends President Scott Cowen and Tulane University for a tradition of academic
excellence and designates Tuesday, April 22, 2014, as Tulane University Day at the
Louisiana Legislature.