Cathy Pierson, left, chair of the Board of Tulane, discusses the decisions of the board at Thursday's meeting with Linda Wilson, board member and co-chair of the Newcomb/Tulane Task Force.

As Tulane University implements its Renewal Plan in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Board of Tulane approved a sweeping set of recommendations on Thursday (March 16) to preserve some of the university's most time-honored traditions. It renewed its historic ties to Paul Tulane and H. Sophie Newcomb by naming the university's new undergraduate college the Newcomb-Tulane College.

"The creation of the undergraduate college is a major substantive move forward for women's education," said Linda Wilson, the 1957 Newcomb alumna and Tulane board member who co-chaired the task force along with board member Darryl Berger. "Every one of our undergraduates--men and women--will be together and will have an overarching administration that needs to make each of them succeed."

It was the first of many recommendations by the Newcomb-Tulane Task Force, a group of alumni that board members charged with identifying ways to preserve the rich histories of Newcomb and Tulane colleges. A brief description of the recommendations is here.

The board also established The H. Sophie Newcomb Memorial College Institute, which will draw women students and all faculties from across the university in a dynamic, interdisciplinary program designed to enhance women's education and continue to enrich the women's community at Tulane. The Newcomb College Institute will be housed on the Newcomb campus and will be headed by an executive director who will also be the holder of a newly created Newcomb College Endowed Chair.

"The institute is designed to be an academic center with the purpose of advancing women's education," said Wilson. "It will have a clear focus and will draw women from different disciplines and schools."

The Renewal Plan, approved by the Board of Tulane last December, offers a strategy to rebuild and renew Tulane University academically, physically and financially in a post-Katrina environment. A critical aspect of the Renewal Plan is the creation of a single undergraduate college to substantially increase the visibility and importance of undergraduate education at Tulane, enhance the quality and impact of the undergraduate experience through co-curricular programming for all students and streamline the university's organizational structure while reducing administrative costs. Prior to this reorganization, undergraduate students could enter the university in one of seven different schools and colleges, including Newcomb and Tulane colleges, resulting in significantly different student experiences.

Cathy Pierson, chair of the Board of Tulane, noted that today's recommendation was in keeping with the university's Renewal Plan, which itself is a response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans and the university. "We created a structure that works best with the resources that Tulane has," said Pierson. "In the context of the Renewal Plan, we are going forward. It is going to be the obligation of the board, the Newcomb community and the faculty to put this whole plan into effect and really create something that is true and with substance. I think today was just one step in the process."

In a related matter, a group of Newcomb alumnae and students filed a federal lawsuit against Tulane late Wednesday (March 15). The suit, which claims "irreparable injury, loss and damage" due to the loss of Newcomb College, is scheduled to be heard in court on March 30.

"We are confident of the merits of our position in this case," Tulane University spokesman Mike Strecker said in response to the lawsuit.