Students gain exclusive access to top authors at New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University

During New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, Zoe Sanchez, a design major in the School of Architecture and Built Environment, was among a cohort of students who took part in student-only sessions with prominent speakers including Elyce Arons, co-founder of the Kate Spade brand and a Tulane parent.

"I was immediately intrigued," said the Tulane sophomore of the opportunity to meet Arons. "I wanted to see what I could learn from a businesswoman who helped build such a widely recognized brand."

In addition to Arons, historian Annette Gordon Reed met with history students. Tech journalist Kara Swisher hosted a "meet and greet" with the New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University Student Advisory Group. Gen. Stanley McChrystal spoke with ROTC students. Others who spoke to students included music scholars Kyle Decoste and Gayle Wald, author Roxane Gay and former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.

"This kind of engagement with a Tulane parent and entrepreneur is part of what sets Tulane apart," said Dean of Libraries Lindsay Cronk, who moderated the conversation with Arons. "Students learn not only from ideas, but from people who are deeply invested in the community."

Edwards met with the Center for Public Service's Civic Engagement Fellows, including Kate Kisber, a junior majoring in political science and philosophy in the School of Liberal Arts.

"It's a great opportunity to interact with figures who you would not ordinarily see on campus," Kisber said after the session with Edwards.

Edwards emphasized that civic engagement is not limited to voting or political affiliation but begins with understanding one's values and building relationships-even with those who hold opposing views. He urged students to listen actively, avoid the hostility that dominates much of today's discourse and focus on persuasion over division.

"I'm going to encourage everybody here to be engaged, be informed, be a difference maker," Edwards said. "Be an influencer out there but try not to add to the nasty political discourse. If you want to be effective, be careful about how you speak to people and about them."

In her session with undergraduate and graduate history students, Gordon-Reed spoke about her research methodology and the importance of examining evidence that may have been overlooked or ignored. Gordon-Reed is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and legal scholar known for her groundbreaking work on Thomas Jefferson, slavery and the complexities of American history.

"It was a very intimate setting," said Sam Paddor, a first-year student who is double majoring in history and English history in the School of Liberal Arts. "She had a short talk about her beginnings as a historian and how she ended up in the position she is in today. She then did a Q&A with students. Her session was definitely a highlight of the weekend."

Jacy Miller, a sophomore history major in the School of Liberal Arts, agreed. "The talk was a wonderful experience that helped us analyze our own research and career path by hearing from and asking a world-renowned historian."

Other sessions focused on creativity and entrepreneurship, including the one with Arons, who shared the story behind Kate Spade and her current brand, Frances Valentine.

She described how she and Kate Spade, who met as first-year students at the University of Kansas, bonded over vintage shopping and shared ambitions influenced in part by The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The pair's love for the iconic TV show is reflected in the title of the book Arons wrote about her friendship with Spade, "We Might Just Make It After All." Each student received a copy the book and had a chance to chat with Arons as she signed them.

Arons emphasized the role of friendship, resilience and curiosity as career essentials. Experience, she added, matters too, especially for those interested in starting a business.

"Get some experience working for somebody else first," Arons said. "Get in early, stay late, learn every single job, be the go-to person for everything. You will move up, and then you'll learn more and more and more about how to run a business."

Sanchez said she was inspired by Arons' advice as well as the speaker's life story. "It connected with how I have lived out my life, down to my college experience, my beliefs and how I envision the course of my life progressing."