University of Louisiana System president optimistic about Trump’s return

By Piper Hutchinson
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — University of Louisiana System President Rick Gallot said he is anticipating beneficial things for his nine universities after Donald Trump claimed last week’s presidential election.

“If the House doesn’t change, and Mike Johnson remains speaker, then obviously that bodes well for the Maritime Academy and some other initiatives that we’ve got commitments on from he and the other members of the delegation,” Gallot said at the Baton Rouge Press Club luncheon on Monday of last week.

The Legislature created the Universities of Louisiana Maritime Academy in 2023. It will primarily be based at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux and will specialize in training students for jobs navigating vessels inland and on coastal waterways.

Gallot also said former President Trump’s commitment to reversing oil and gas regulations could be good for his system, particularly McNeese State, home to the LNG Center for Excellence, which studies the liquified natural gas industry.

When asked about the potential downsides of the administration, including rumors of scaling back or eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, Gallot said he is taking a wait-and-see approach.

We will have to cross that bridge when we get there,” Gallot said. “Right now, I’m hearing some things that are, quite frankly, going to be beneficial to our institutions.”

In addition to potentially disbanding the Department of Education, policy experts predict Trump’s platform could have an impact on the number of student visa-holders that could affect universities that enroll a large number of international students. UL System institutions primarily serve students from Louisiana, however, with approximately 88 percent calling Louisiana home, Gallot said.

Gallot also said the UL System is unlikely to take any steps on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs until it has reviewed the data.

DEI has been in the crosshairs of right-leaning politicians across the country, premised on the idea that such programs bloat college budgets, increase student debt and conflict with conservative viewpoints.

A bill to ban DEI on college campuses stalled in the Louisiana Legislature this year, but it is likely to pass in 2025.

LSU notably has taken advance measures to dismantle its own DEI programs in anticipation of this ban, but Gallot said the UL System will wait at least until a report on its schools’ DEI undertakings is complete to take any action.

A state law passed earlier this year requires an accounting of every DEI program at every school, as well as its cost and purpose, to be reported to the Louisiana Board of Regents at the end of the year.

This article originally published in the November 18, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.