Tuesday, January 14, 2025

Message from the President

Last night I had the pleasure of spending time with a class full of students who shared with me their experiences at the University of New Orleans, as well as their hopes and dreams for their futures. It was a powerful reminder of why we are here, and I confess that it also helped to remind me of the reasons why I fell in love with psychology when I was an undergraduate.

I hope that the beginning of a new semester brings you renewed energy as we engage in our work that is so critically important to our region, as well as to the individual lives that we touch through our roles as educators and mentors. We still have a long road ahead, and I am grateful to my colleagues who have been working diligently to improve our student services offices and the Workday Student system that ultimately will support them. I am also thankful to volunteers from our community who have stepped in to help us (shout out to Pierre Champagne for the positivity—and candy—that he brought to the Bursar's Office yesterday).

I also wanted to share that Mamie Gasperecz will be assuming a position as Vice President for Gulf Coast Bank & Trust Company, effective February 1. I cannot thank Mamie enough for her tireless contributions as our Vice President for Finance and Administration and, more recently, for her leadership aligned with Community Engagement and External Affairs. She has been an invaluable asset to our leadership team, and I wish her all the best as she takes on this new role.

With UNO Pride,

Kathy Johnson, Ph.D.
President
The University of New Orleans