It is a Tuesday morning, and Scott Cowen is leading Tulane undergraduates in a spirited discussion on a topic he knows well – leadership.
Cowen, Tulane’s President Emeritus and Distinguished University Chair, engages the students, asking probing questions and peppering his lecture with anecdotes from his own experience as well as with erudite references to articles and books.
Forty-one undergraduate students have been granted firsthand access to real-world leaders through their enrollment in Cowen’s course, “The Mythology and Reality of Leadership.” Half of the students are in the School of Liberal Arts Management Minor and half in the Social Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship minor.
The SLAMM minor introduces non-business majors to management practices and principles within a liberal arts framework.
Opening the course to non-business students was important to Cowen. “Understanding the theory and practice of leadership is essential to all students—regardless of their field of study or career interests,” he says.
“I hope to be able to expand the course to as many Tulane students who are truly interested in the topic of leadership as possible,” he says. “Hopefully, all of our students aspire to be more effective leaders. We need to create more opportunities for them to achieve this goal—in and outside of the classroom.”
Cowen retired in 2014 as the 14th president of Tulane. His leadership during and after Hurricane Katrina has been hailed as visionary.
Because of his many personal and professional connections, Cowen has been able to attract guest lecturers who enthrall the students. For example, in the week that students focused on transformative leadership, they heard from two true New Orleans change makers.
Norman Francis, recently retired president of Xavier University, is the longest-running university head in history, and Moon Landrieu served as New Orleans mayor from 1970 to 1978. He is the father of the current mayor.
Both men regaled the students with stories of rising from humble beginnings to become two of the most exalted leaders in New Orleans history. Landrieu talked about being threatened for his stance opposing segregation, and Francis, who has been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and was the first African-American to graduate from Loyola Law School, told students of holding a law degree but not being allowed to walk in the front door of a hotel.
Their appearance prompted Cowen to pose thought-provoking questions to the students, such as whether people can become a transformational leader if they did not lead during turbulent times.
A supportive professor, Cowen clearly believes that each of his students has the potential to become a transformative leader. Over the course of the semester, he is meeting with each student to discuss his or her own personal leadership development.
“I want students to assess their leadership capabilities and develop a comprehensive life plan to enhance their ability to be effective leaders in society,” he says. “The future of our country and the world depends on effective leadership, and I want Tulane students to be at the forefront of leading and changing our world.”