A Tulane story comes full circle
Chris and Allison Waguespack return for their 30th reunion as their son begins his own Tulane experience
Thirty years after graduating from Tulane, Chris and Allison Waguespack (A&S ’96) are returning to campus for their 30th Reunion during WAVE '26 Weekend. The milestone feels especially meaningful as their son, Holden, begins his first year at Tulane, living in Butler Residence Hall, the very place where his parents met three decades ago.
For the Waguespacks, this year’s celebration is both a homecoming and the beginning of a new chapter in their family’s Tulane story.
Chris Waguespack (A&S ’96) grew up in Baton Rouge and wanted a prestigious college that would take him away from home without taking him too far. A Dean’s Honor Scholarship made Tulane possible. Allison Waguespack (NC ’96), who grew up in New York, applied to schools across the country and added Tulane to her list almost on a whim. Then she visited Tulane’s campus.
“As soon as I walked onto the academic quad, before I even had a tour or met a human being at the school, I just knew, ‘This is my school,’” she said. “I didn’t understand it at the time, but I just knew that I was supposed to be at Tulane.”
The couple met freshman year in Butler, but it was Mardi Gras that brought them together. Allison and her roommate connected with Chris and his friend, who were looking for people to share a taxi downtown.
“If you call trying to find people to share a taxi with down to the French Quarter a date, then yeah, that would be our first date,” Allison joked.
Chris still marvels at the timing.
“If you think about all the odds and the chance and the destiny, in the midst of Mardi Gras, when it’s complete mayhem, and everyone’s scattered everywhere, and that’s when we kind of met in earnest for the first time.”
Allison majored in history and minored in marketing, while Chris majored in economics. Both say their Tulane education extended far beyond the classroom.
“I definitely learned a lot about how to learn and how to think and how to be open-minded,” she said. “I think the perspective that I got going to Tulane, living in a different part of the country, meeting people from all over the place, learning how to interact and understand other people’s perspectives, makes me a very well-rounded person.”
Chris credits Tulane with preparing him for more than the technical demands of his career in finance. “Tulane prepares you to work with all kinds of people,” he said. “You learn how to interact with people, navigate different personalities and be comfortable in different situations. That EQ goes further in your career than you might think.”
They carried their Tulane experience with them after graduation. They named their cat Beignet and moved first to New York City, where Chris began his career in finance and Allison worked in advertising. Later, in San Francisco, their Tulane circle grew to include about 20 alumni friends. Chris and a former roommate even started an annual crawfish boil, flying in Louisiana crawfish for a gathering that eventually drew hundreds of guests.
The Waguespacks now live in Delray Beach, Florida. Chris continues to work in finance as principal and head of trading at Taconic Capital, while Allison, who left advertising after their daughter was born, is a yoga teacher, mindfulness coach and creator of the KLARITY Mindsette mindfulness program.
Now Tulane has become part of their family story in a new way. Holden arrived at Tulane this fall, with plans to major in the A. B. Freeman School of Business. Watching him begin his own Tulane journey has been especially meaningful for his parents.
“We enjoyed our time at Tulane so much,” Chris said. “It just brings a smile to my face to think that he’s going to be able to experience those same things, in his own ways.”
Holden’s first year coincides with his parents’ 30th reunion, giving the Waguespacks a dual reason to visit for Homecoming, Reunion and Family Weekend. Both serve on the Tulane Fund Advisory Board and visit campus and New Orleans regularly, but Wave Weekend offers a chance to reconnect with the people who shared their Tulane years.
“A lot of our friends are attending the reunion,” Allison said. “We live all over the country, so it’s really fun to get to see everybody back in the place where it all started. It brings us back.”
For Chris, returning also offers a chance to appreciate how much Tulane has changed since they were students.
“For people who have been less in touch, it’s an opportunity to come back and see how your school is thriving and has improved in innumerable ways,” he said. “It makes you feel good about where you went to school.”
Allison remembers wondering after Hurricane Katrina whether the university she knew would survive. Two decades later, she sees a university that has grown along with the city around it.
“Tulane has grown, improved and integrated with the city even further. It’s important to New Orleans, a city we adore,” she said. “There’s so much that’s happening. It’s exciting.”