Jason Eskind, Business School, Class of 2009

Jason Eskind, class of 2009. Photo provided by Eskind.

Jason Eskind is a Tulane University alum and is the 2nd generation of his family to attend Tulane. He graduated in 2009 with a degree in Business Management. After graduation he worked as a sales representative. Jason currently works at Best Brands Inc. located in Nashville, Tennessee as the Director of Brand Innovation and Development. He has also started two of his own companies.

Jason was among the few thousand students who had to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He hadn’t even been on campus for a whole day when he was told he was going to have to evacuate. He had unpacked his room and set everything up. He was almost ready to say goodbye to his parents when he was told he needed to leave.

He recalls how sad he was that he wouldn’t get to finally experience all the freedom that comes with going to college. Although it was a little scary he said everyone referred to it as a “hurrication,” not knowing that the damage would cause it to last more than a week.

Instead of going home and taking classes at a different university like most of his classmates, he decided to get a job. This came in handy when he returned to school 6 months later, allowing him to have a little extra cash. Although taking the semester off put him behind his classmates, he would later be able to catch up by taking 3 classes for a total of 12 credits during the first month of summer break.

When students were able to return to school, Jason explained how the city reacted to the disaster in regards to college students. He recalls seeing huge military cars driving around the city. Returning back to school was a big adjustment for many students, and to add to the stressful adjustment for freshmen they quickly began “Rush” for Greek organizations. Not all students engaged in Greek life, just as it is now at Tulane, but for Jason it was a huge part of his experience.

Most of his memories from his time at Tulane have something to do with his fraternity. He says his favorite place on campus would definitely be his fraternity house. It is where he spent the majority of his time. One of his favorite activities to do in the city was with his fraternity and it happened every Friday. Jason talks about how the fraternity chef would have a cookout every Friday in Audubon Park for all of the members. Mardi Gras is a classic New Orleans tradition, but his favorite part about it was experiencing it with his brothers, making it part of his own Tulane/ fraternity tradition. He also mentions that The Boot would be one of his favorite places on campus, aside from his fraternity house.

New Orleans has so much to offer and Jason took advantage of that. One of his favorite things to do was to go to different concerts all over the city. A few he mentioned were Voodoo Fest and Jazz Fest. He loved going out and listening to all the wonderful music the city provided and made it a central piece of his experience at Tulane. Going to Tipitinas with his fraternity brothers was a weekly activity for Jason. Out of all the concerts he went to during his time in New Orleans his two favorites would be seeing Lil Wayne in McAlister Auditorium and a concert that his fraternity held at their house. Having so many great artists perform in this city, and that his two favorites where right here on campus was an incredible opportunity for Jason to experience.

Since he only graduated, he doesn’t feel too much has changed on campus, but he does notice that the buildings are much bigger and newer. The Greenbaum Dorm was not there when Jason was a student. He recalls that he and his friends would throw a football or a frisbee on the quad that is where the dorm now stands.

Jason was very social and involved in campus life while he was at Tulane, always keeping up with social affairs, but he also made sure to keep up with his school work. Clearly he did a very good job while at Tulane because of the success he already has had since graduating.

[Editor’s Note: This article was captured as part of the class “Media Histories” taught by Vicki Mayer in collaboration with the Office of Alumni Affairs at Tulane University. It was originally published on October 24, 2014.]