Tulane University celebrates Wave of Support

This spring the Tulane community came together to celebrate the impact of Wave of Support, a signature Tulane program initially made possible through the philanthropy and leadership of Drs. Kathy Fields and Garry Rayant. Officially launched in 2021, the program is designed to support student mental health and well-being by providing students, faculty and staff with a comprehensive variety of tools and resources.

The inspiration for Wave of Support began in 2014 when the couple's son, Richard, who graduated from Tulane's School of Science and Engineering in 2018, attended Tulane as an undergraduate. They wanted to ensure the campus was a safe, healthy environment where students could grow, thrive and become model citizens. Drawing on their extensive experience in local, state and federal educational advocacy, Fields and Rayant collaborated with developmental psychologists and design thinkers at Trepwise Consulting to build a unique framework. They worked closely with Tulane President Michael A. Fitts to strengthen and hone campus mental healthcare.

Wave of Support has a socio-ecological framework: the program focuses on holistic well-being, positive skill building and an interconnected network of care, placing strong emphasis on staff training and awareness of mental health resources. Because Newcomb-Tulane staff are often the first point of contact when students seek help, the program equips them with specialized training and access to research-based tools. What sets Wave of Support apart is its intentional integration of student leadership alongside staff collaboration. Through this framework, students collaborate with staff and work as peer mentors and campus advocates.

The Wave of Support program has also handed out hundreds of "Red Folders" created to provide critical mental health information to faculty and staff. The Wave of Support "Leadership Academy" has empowered multiple cohorts of students to champion wellness at Tulane, and the annual "Failure Tales" event normalizes failure as part of life and something to learn from through the power of storytelling. The "Green Bandana" project empowers students to connect peers with available resources, providing them with resource cards and a green bandana to wear. The bandana signals that the wearer is a safe, approachable person who can help guide others to the support they need.

Since its launch, more than 1,300 students have been trained as student mentors, and over 4,400 Tulanians have completed Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) suicide-prevention training. Another popular aspect of Wave of Support is providing affirmations throughout the year, for example, "Positively Blooming," which gives out flowers every Friday as a token of positivity. Every September, the "TUgether" for Mental Health campaign invites the entire Tulane community to increase awareness by reducing stigma and building a stronger campus culture of care.

During the recognition event, Kelly Grant, vice dean of Newcomb-Tulane College, who spearheaded Wave of Support, welcomed attendees and thanked Fields and Rayant for their leadership. Fitts then spoke about how instrumental the couple's vision has been in shifting the culture of mental health on campus.

"Our university's motto - not for oneself, but for one's own - could have been written specifically about Kathy and Garry," Fitts said. "They knew from the start that Tulane could be a trailblazer in fostering multidimensional, holistic well-being. We're fortunate to leverage our communal strengths, champion our student body, and create a model that other institutions can follow."

Summer Swenson, a 2026 School of Science and Engineering graduate who participated as a student leader and intern for Wave of Support, spoke about the program's personal impact on her.

"Wave of Support has changed my life's mission as an aspiring social worker," Swenson said.

The founders expressed immense gratitude for the community's backing and shared their hopes for Wave of Support's expansion. To ensure this vital work continues to impact future generations of Tulanians, they helped endow the program so that it will continue in perpetuity.

"Wave of Support is innovative; it makes the campus unique in its culture of care. It takes a village to make something like this happen," Rayant said. "Our plan is to take this program nationally, with your help. We want to see America improve and be all that it can be."

For the past decade Fields and Rayant worked tirelessly with Tulane leadership and stakeholders to create what would become Wave of Support - all while generously supporting Hillel and Campus Health services and establishing the Fields-Rayant Chair in Contemporary Jewish Life.

"We're grateful for all the lives we've impacted," Fields said. "I hope they go forth and share it with the world. As we say at Tulane, Wave of Support is about 'caring out loud.'"

In reflecting on what drove their work, Rayant added, "If I had to put it in one word, it's just about 'love.'"