We, the graduate and undergraduate students of the Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer, call on the administration and faculty of Tulane University to return the Tulane Ph.D. program in International Development to its rightful position under the Payson Center in the School of Liberal Arts. As a degree leading to careers in the incredibly diverse field of international development, the Payson Ph.D. is a completely different entity than the School of Public Health\'s International Health and Development degree and should be treated as such. While some research strategies and development goals are shared with the School of Public Health, Payson Ph.D. students study diverse topics such as foreign direct investment in emerging economies, human rights law, and ethnic conflict resolution that have no academic place under the School of Public Health. The Ph.D. program is a vital asset to the Tulane community as it contributes to the Payson Center\'s ability to connect to the international community, to draw world-renowned experts to New Orleans at a time of great need, and to attract high caliber students, many of whom are very engaged in the community. As Tulane continues to focus on its new vision of a civically engaged university, it is imperative that the administration reinstate the International Development Ph.D. program on the uptown campus. As international development students we adjure the administration to swiftly negotiate this conflict of interests and reinstate the International Development Ph.D. at the Payson Center. Signed Payson Center students:

Sponsor