SUNO alum named president of Tougaloo College

30th April 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

Dr. Walters invited home to deliver SUNO’s commencement address

When the newest graduates of Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) receive their degrees at its 2019 commencement ceremony on May 11, they’ll also hear words of encouragement, congratulations and wisdom from one of their most successful fellow alumnae.

Walters, who received her bachelor’s in accounting and business administration from SUNO and who recently was chosen as the 14th president of Tougaloo College near Jackson, Miss., has been tapped to give the commencement address at this year’s SUNO graduation, to be held at Lakefront Arena.

Dr. Walters said she’s honored to be given a chance to speak to her newest fellow SUNO graduates, especially because of her roots in Jefferson Parish and the New Orleans region.

“I’m very proud to be asked to speak at commencement,” Walters said. “I’m New Orleans born and bred, and I’m a product of Westbank schools. I just love [SUNO] and what it stands for, and I’m thrilled to be coming back.”

Dr. Walters said that as part of her commencement address, she’ll stress the importance of preserving and bolstering historically Black colleges and universities like SUNO and Tougaloo. She said HBCUs’ educational traditions and legacy positively impact the nation and world immensely.

“We need to preserve how important historically Black colleges and universities are to our history and culture by educating students of all backgrounds,” she said. “With the type of support services and programming they offer to students of all colors, they fill a need in the United States and beyond.”

Walters’ connection to HBCUs includes not only her bachelor’s degree from SUNO but also a master’s of arts + 30 in post-secondary counseling from Xavier University – she eventually earned her doctorate of philosophy in community college leadership from Mississippi State University – so she feels especially close to the legacy on which HBCUs continue to build.

She said historically Black colleges and universities “have been facing the challenges many universities have been facing [such as] budget cuts and decreasing enrollments.”

But, she added, HBCUs have responded and adapted to such harsh financial and political climates by, among other steps, reaching out into the community to establish and strengthen partnerships with businesses and governmental organizations that have helped overcome the difficulties facing institutions of higher education. Walters also said that HBCUs have developed an adeptness at and creativity in other ways of fundraising and performing community outreach.

Currently, Dr. Walters serves as executive vice president of Enrollment Management, Student Success and Institutional Relations at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College District Office in Perkinston, Miss., with her tenure at Tougaloo commencing July 1.

Tougaloo is celebrating its 150th birthday this year, a commemoration that makes her appointment as that institution’s president even more meaningful.

“It’s a great honor to be chosen [to lead Tougaloo],” she said. “It has a storied history that stretches back 150 years, and for me to come in and help to take Tougaloo College to the next level and to ensure that its legacy will go on is such a distinct honor that doesn’t come along.

This article originally published in the April 29, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.