A spotlight on resilience

Tulane University faculty members from five different academic disciplines will come together on Wednesday, Feb. 24, not to focus on their successes, but to reflect on their failures. Michael Cohen, Michael Cunningham, Rebecca Mark, Latha Rajan and Peter Ricchiuti will be panelists in a discussion focused on resilience and overcoming adversity.

“All of the professors on the panel have a passion for resilience. They’re going to tell students about their successes, but they’re also going to flip the script and tell students about their setbacks,” says Krista Casale, a success coach at the Tulane Academic Success Center and a coordinator of the event. “This is an opportunity to normalize failure.” 

Students are encouraged to mingle and connect with the panelists at a dinner before the event begins, as well as debrief with the speakers during a dessert reception. The Academic Success Center’s vision is to support students in strategically moving forward in the face of adversity and in finding a community of support. 

“We want students to know it’s not about how gravely you failed; it’s about the decisions and actions you take moving forward,” Casale says. “We hope to begin shifting the campus perception that failure must be avoided in order to be successful.”

The panel, titled “Trials and Triumphs,” is the first in a series of events that will be hosted by the Academic Success Center’s Resilience Cooperative. The event will take place from 5 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. in the Qatar Ballroom of the Lavin-Bernick Center on the Tulane uptown campus.

Samah Ahmed is a sophomore majoring in public health and political science at Tulane University.