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December 12, 2005

Justin - Superb

Excellently said by the president of the Owl Club, the group that does most of what student governments do at other schools.

All-

I am assuming that many of you are as crestfallen as I am with the recent news of Dr Taylor's resignation and the mass layoffs of our faculty. Clearly we are all hungry for information as to the future of our school and the committment of Tulane University to the School of Medicine.

I had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Dr Taylor today about these recent unfortunate events. I think it is important for all of us to know that his first question for me was in regards to the status of the student body- "How are they holding up?"

This is the man that led a group of administrators, faculty and students to Houston and succeeded in reconstituting the medical school in a matter of weeks- in talking with him, he is now clearly saddened to see his medical school face yet another challenge. I think it is important for everyone to know that he has not "jumped ship" and abandoned us, and I hope most of you will be able to see his resignation in the context of the current situation.

I think it is also important for all of us to realize that everyone at the medical school is in the same boat- students, faculty & staff. We are all upset, concerned with the future of the school, and wanting answers to our questions.

I strongly encourage you all to attend the informational meeting to be held on Thursday (I do not know the time or place), and be prepared to ask the tough questions that are in all of our heads. Drs Taylor and Whelton will be present, as well as Kahn and Krane. We all have exams that we are worried about, but we are at a crossroads and need to speak up for the best interests of our school.

We as the student body should be organized and show up to have our questions answered and make it clear to the University that we are unsatisfied with the decisions that have been made. Your class may be interested in getting together beforehand and organizing your questions so that you can have a unified voice and have your various issues addressed. I suggest you contact your class officers if you are interested in doing so- the T3's have already initiated this process.
I would not expect to be given any miracle answers to our questions on Thursday. However I am expecting that you all will rise to the occasion and ask enough good questions that the University will have to respond.

I will not pretend to be unwaivering in my optimism, but I think it is important that we stand up together to speak out for the future of our school, faculty and administration.

Justin Lafreniere
President, Owl Club

Posted by Niels Olson at December 12, 2005 11:10 PM

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