In 1989, Debra Biel established the POSSE Foundation, which recruits students from 10 urban areas including, Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and Washington, D.C., the San Francisco Bay Area. The foundation selects students who show extraordinary academic and leadership potential to attend 4-year colleges and universities as multicultural teams or POSSEs of 10 students. Tulane has been a POSSE partner since 2009 when the first cohort of POSSE students arrived on campus from Los Angeles. Tulane University served as a partner in creating the POSSE Foundation’s New Orleans Chapter.
In 2012 Tulane welcomed its first POSSE New Orleans cohort to campus. Today, Tulane University welcomes 2 cohorts of POSSE Scholars, one from New Orleans and one from Los Angeles each academic year. Tulane’s POSSE scholars have achieved a number accolades during their time at Tulane and have gone on to careers in law, public health, architecture, and business.
Every year, the Center for Academic Equity, in collaboration with the Posse Foundation, facilitates an annual weekend-long PossePlus Retreat. This retreat is attended by our Posse Scholars and selected Tulane faculty and administration with the goal of discussing an important campus issue identified by Posse Scholars.
Celebrate your graduation with CAE and your Posse cohort at a private ceremony.
Kourtney Gray began serving as a mentor in the middle of the fall 2020, stepping in immediately to assist the students in Posse-NOLA 9. He joined the Tulane community and Student Affairs team in September 2019 as Director in New Student and Leadership Programs. Prior to arriving to Tulane he was most recently at Northwestern University. He brings with him 15+ years of experience in student affairs; and strongly supports the student voice, shared governance, leadership development, and the total student engagement experience.
Katherine Kleinpeter Raymond will serve as the mentor to students entering Posse-LA 13. She is a professor of practice and co-director of undergraduate studies in the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department, teaching such courses as Statics, Mechanics of Materials, service learnings for Product and Experimental Design and Team Design, and the senior capstone Team Design course. She holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from Tulane University’s former School of Engineering, researching high-performance concrete bridge girders. Her interest is in blending mechanics with medical innovation and service opportunities to allow students a unique approach to learning. She co-directs Biomedical Innovation for Global Impact (BIG Impact), which involves undergraduates in global experiences designing to improve healthcare in low-resource communities.
Beginning in Fall 2021, Rosie Yates will serve as the mentor to the incoming Posse-NOLA 10 students. Rosie Yates is the Program Manager in the First-Year Experience and has been at Tulane since 2017. She has worked on TIDES, TIDES Peer Mentors, NTC Reading Project, Residential Faculty Mentors, NTC Intern program, and other collaborative initiatives. Rosie has aB.A. in Anthropology and Religious Studies from Elon University, a M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Louisiana State University, and a M.A. in Liberal Arts from Tulane University.
Amjad Ayoubi, PhD
Senior Associate Dean for undergraduate education at Tulane University
Jered Bocage
Senior Director of Programs Alumni Relations at Tulane University
James D. Huck, Jr., PhD
Assistant Director for Graduate Programs at the Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University
Michael P. Kuczynski, PhD
Professor of English at Tulane University
Marva L. Lewis, PhD
Associate Professor of Social Work at Tulane University
Rebecca Mark, PhD
Former Director of the Center for Academic Equity and Chairperson of the English Department at Tulane University
Rebecca Otten, MPH
Professor of Practice and Director of Strategy & Engagement, Taylor Center at Tulane University
Marilyn Miller, PhD.
Associate Professor, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at Tulane University
Ambika Prasad, PhD
Lecturer in Management, A. B. Freeman School at Tulane University
Collete Raphel
University Registrar at Tulane University
Red Vaughan Tremmel, PhD
Professor of Practice, Department of History at Tulane University
