Governor Bobby Jindal, joined by UNO and UL System officials, addresses a capacity crowd during the bill signing ceremony on UNO's campus
Declaring it a “great and historic day for the University of New Orleans,” Governor Bobby Jindal signed a bill that will transfer the University of New Orleans from the Louisiana State University System to the University of Louisiana System. The bill signing ceremony took place in the Homer L. Hitt Alumni and Visitors Center on the UNO campus.
“I think UNO is poised to thrive in a system of great research universities like UL where there’s not one flagship school, but rather there are a collection of great schools that work together, but at the same time have the flexibility to make decisions on their campuses,” Governor Jindal said.
The transfer process must also be approved by UNO’s accrediting body, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC), which will hold its next meeting in December. UNO has been a member of the LSU System since it opened in 1958.
“You are going to have the opportunity to make this a university that it can be, always could be,” said House Speaker and UNO alumnus Jim Tucker. “It has graduated generations of scholars and people who have made this city, this state and this world a great place to be. UNO now has the opportunity to stretch its legs and really show what it can do.”
UNO Acting Chancellor Joe King called the audience’s attention to the desk upon which Governor Jindal signed the bill.
“I hope each of you will notice this special desk that we are using today,” King said. “It is from this desk, that the founding chancellor of UNO, Homer L. Hitt, made the initial request for UNO to move from the LSU System. Today his vision will be fulfilled.”
The University of Louisiana System is the largest higher education system in the state. With the addition of UNO, the UL System will enroll more than 94,000 students at nine institutions: Grambling State University, Louisiana Tech University, McNeese State University, Nicholls State University, Northwestern State University, Southeastern Louisiana University, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
“We have eight very fine institutions that are unique in their own way, and they have strengths that they collaborate on,” said University of Louisiana System President Randy Moffett. “We believe that the University of New Orleans will be the ninth wonderful addition to the University of Louisiana System.”