TSA Alumni Reception

Thursday, April 30 5:30 – 7:30 PM

AIA Convention in San Francisco
The City Club of San Francisco – Library Room
155 Sansome Street

You may download an invitation to this event from the TSA website, and we would ask that you rsvp to Wendy Sack by April 15 (so we can get a good feel for the numbers in advance – wdsack@tulane.edu).  This should be a fantastic event in an historic downtown club, hosted TSA alumni Kathy and Graham Green (TSA ’78 & ’79) and Laura and John Williams (TSA ’79).  For those who attend this reception, please join me in thanking the Greene’s and Williams’ for their generosity in bringing us all together.

TSA Board of Advisors & New Orleans Alumni

We held the second TSA Board of Advisors meeting of my tenure as dean on Friday, April 17 - with an expanded board.  I have recruited a number of new members who add to the already strong contingent working on behalf of the school.  At the bottom of this newsletter, I am taking the opportunity to introduce you to the board.  I also want to thank them for their generosity and dedication.  We will all begin to see the results of a newly energized board working to advance the School of Architecture at several levels.

TSA Alumni Reception at #2 Audubon

Friday, April 17, 2009

We held a major New Orleans area TSA alumni reception at President and Mrs. Cowen’s house, and it was a tremendous success.  With over 200 people in attendance, President Cowen offered wonderful words of support and conveyed his enthusiasm for the exciting future ahead at TSA.  He has been a strong supporter of the school throughout his tenure as president, and I am honored to be working closely with him on a number of initiatives. This event was co-hosted by Judith Kinnard FAIA and me along with the TSA Board who funded the event through their generosity.  The alumni who were brought together were very grateful for this opportunity to reconnect with each other, the school, and university.

Alumni Giving

Part of my report to the TSA Board of Advisors involved a snapshot of my first nine months at Tulane and the state of “development” at the school.  I recently learned the precise percentage of alumni who gave to the school last year – 5.3% of the 2361 living alumni.  I know that this very low percentage reflects an absence of consistent contact by us in the past, but I also hope that alumni already see my commitment to communications, outreach, and constructive engagement.  We are beginning to see the results of my efforts in this regard, and we hope to see a broadened base of support for the school going forward.

We need to see significant improvement in the percentage of alumni giving to the school on a yearly basis.  I will need to be able to point to alumni interest and support when I approach foundations and individuals for major gifts.  Without this, there will be questions about the level of support from the group that is presumably most interested in the health and success of their alma mater.

Every gift counts!  The economy is challenging for many (including Tulane University), and we are perfectly happy with small gifts as long as alumni recognize that we are hoping that this will become a yearly commitment going forward.  I have received gifts as low as $50, and I am pleased to receive these for the school.  They are put to good use in support of our students and faculty, and slowly we are building the percentage of “participation”.

The following is an abbreviated version of the report I gave to the TSA Board.

Restricted and unrestricted gifts to TSA

Amount raised for TSA to date 09:  $207,000                                           Number of donors:  287 (up 77%)

Within this total we have the Annual Fund donors and dollars directed specifically to TSA

Amount raised for TSA to date 09:  $95,361 (up 3.8%)                                  Total Number of donors:  263 (up 38%)                                                      Alumni donors:  $52,445                                                                                     % of alumni giving:  6.3% compared with 5.3% at this time last year

ALL of the money that comes in to the Annual Fund, designated for TSA, comes to us.  This is also true for restricted funds (the other $112,000) as well.

You may donate directly from this website http://tulane.edu/giving/. 

TSA Board of Advisors 2009

New members are indicated with an asterisk, and as you will see, they add substantially to our diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity, geography and professional involvement.  The new members are all Tulane alumni, with one joining us from Arts & Sciences (Albert Small, Jr.) given his strong involvement with real estate and his significant support already extended to the Tulane City Center.

Lee Askew AIA TSA ‘66, Memphis, TN

Gerald Billes AIA TSA ‘70, New Orleans

Melissa Brandrup AIA* TSA ‘97, El Paso, TX

Mary Lou Christovich A&S '49 Newcomb '49, New Orleans

Felipe Correa* TSA ’00, Cambridge, New York, originally from Equador

Collette Creppell AIA, New Orleans

Arthur Davis, Sr. FAIA TSA ‘41, New Orleans

Bea de Paz* AIA TSA ‘96, Gensler DC, originally from Puerto Rico

Robert Dean* AIA TSA ’68, Atlanta, GA

Allen Eskew, New Orleans

Stewart Farnet TSA ‘55 Mandeville, LA

H. Mortimer Favrot, Jr. AIA TSA ‘53, New Orleans

Kathryn Greene* TSA ‘78, Dallas, TX

Michael Howard AIA TSA ’74, New Orleans

Robert Ivy, Jr. TSA ‘76, New York

Michael Kelly, Washington, DC

William Raymond Manning AIA, New Orleans

Saul A. Mintz TSA ‘53, Monroe, LA

Martin Moeller TSA ‘84, Washington, DC

Angela O’Byrne TSA ‘83, New Orleans

Casius Pealer III TSA ‘96, Washington, DC

Gray Plosser FAIA, TSA ’68, Birmingham, AL

Richarson K. Powell TSA ‘77, Kansas City, MO

Lloyd (Sonny) Shields TSA ’74, New Orleans 

William (Billy) Sizeler TSA '65, New Orleans

Albert Small, Jr.* A&S ’79, Washington, DC

Lawrence Speck FAIA, Austin, TX

Carol Swedlow AIA* TSA ‘94, New York

Peter Trapolin AIA TSA ‘77, New Orleans 

Robert Walker IV AIA TSA'92, Birmingham, AL

John Williams AIA TSA ’79, New Orleans 

Marcel Wisznia AIA TSA ’73, New Orleans

Other News

TSA Thesis Exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art               May 6-13, 2009                                                                                            Opening Reception & Commentary by distinguished visitor                        Friday May 8  6:00 – 8:00 PM (download invitation)                                        Billie Tsien, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, New York                           Mack Scogin, Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, Atlanta

Commencement 2009                                                                                   May 16, 2009

I am pleased to report that an architect will be receiving an honorary doctorate from Tulane University.  William McDonough FAIA will be awarded this honor in recognition of his leadership in sustainability and his work in New Orleans with Brad Pitt and the Make it Right Foundation.  I was very pleased that the university recognized the value of my nomination, and our graduating students will have an opportunity to speak with Mr. McDonough during the reception at Richardson Memorial Hall following the ceremonies on the afternoon of May 16.

Other Receptions coming up

Tuesday, June 16, 2009                                                                        Chicago, Illinois                                                                                          Location to be announced

Wednesday, September 16, 2009                                                                  New York City                                                                                               Location to be announced

Homecoming 2009                                                                                      October 9-10, 2009

Please mark your calendars!

Alumni Newsletter                                                                                               I will be starting a yearly print version of an alumni newsletter.  If you have news to report and/or an image to include, please send these to Natalie Williams at natalie@tulane.edu.  Your JPG's should be 300 dpi. My goal is to keep in touch with you – in person, via email newsletters (as I have done throughout this first year) and in print medium as well.  I have heard a number of alumni who wish to see more consistent contact from the school.  I trust that everyone sees that we are making great progress in this regard.

Alumni Travel in my first year

New Orleans

Atlanta

Washington, DC

New York 

Boston

San Juan 

Savannah

Los Angeles

Portland, Oregon

San Francisco (4/30)

Miami (5/27)

Washington, DC (6/4)

Chicago (6/16)

New York (6/23-26)

New York Alumni Reception 09 (9/16/09)

More to follow!

Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA                                                                                 Dean