Welcome to Grambling State University Dr. Cynthia Warrick Interim President July 10, 2014

Good Afternoon. Thank you for attending this press conference. On behalf of the students, faculty, staff, and alumni, Welcome to Grambling State University, where Everybody is Somebody. I want to thank Dr. Sandra Woodley, the President of the University of Louisiana System and the UL System Board for giving me the privilege to serve as Interim President at Grambling. I am truly honored and humbled to receive the baton from Dr. Pogue who served 5 tough years.

Grambling State University is a special institution. For 113 years, we have produced over 35,000 graduates who have excelled in education, business, healthcare, public service, science and athletics. I have been entrusted with the responsibility to move Grambling to new levels of excellence. With a primary focus on student success, we will partner with our local communities, our alumni, business and industry, and local, state and federal governments to establish opportunities for research, internships, co-ops, and employment.

Public Universities across the nation have endured cuts from state and federal budgets, but this year, the Louisiana legislature changed that practice. I want to thank the legislators and the Governor for providing STEM funding to Grambling and for developing the WISE fund to promote partnerships with the private sector to enhance workforce development, educating our students for the jobs of today and tomorrow. The North Louisiana Economic Partnership hosted an appreciation reception for the legislators in Monroe on Tuesday evening. This event gave me the opportunity to meet and learn about their work in Baton Rouge. I also met a representative from CenturyLink who indicated the company’s need for candidates to fill positions in finance, cyber security, and computer science.

We will be enhancing Grambling’s efforts to raise the private sector funds for the WISE match, and identify faculty and staff who will partner with business to train our students for jobs. When I attending college, years ago, my student loan debt was like a car note. Today, students are coming out of colleges with mortgage debt and it’s our responsibility to ensure that they can get jobs that provide a lucrative career but also enable them to have the financial ability to cover the debt. Grambling, like many smaller institutions, have suffered decreasing enrollments recently. We need everyone’s assistance to recruit new students but also ensure that they are competitive to meet stricter admission requirements.

We will be working with local school districts and community colleges to raise expectations and competitiveness to excel in science, technology, engineering, and math. Finally, Grambling is internationally known for its world class athletes. We have a new Athletic Director, Coach Patricia Cage Bibbs. Following in the footsteps of her mentor Coach Eddie Robinson, she holds the record for the most wins of any HBCU coach in any sport. Our athletic programs will excel under Coach Bibbs leadership. In closing, I leave you with the theme for the GUNAA that will drive this administration’s work: One Village, One Vision, One Mission, One Grambling Thank You.