Dr. Joseph Savoie’s presidential legacy

When Dr. Joseph Savoie began his role as the sixth president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2008, he said, “I’m excited about the opportunity to help the University of Louisiana at Lafayette as it continues to move ahead, always focused on students’ success.”

The Office of the President announced Savoie’s resignation to students via email on Jul. 30, 2025, in a letter titled “A New Chapter.” He assumes a new role as president emeritus, a role that honorarily allows him to guide the administration of the school.

In the letter, Savoie reminisced on his time spent at the University, both in his positions as president and student. He also stated in his letter that he will “continue working on strengthening external partnerships with [UL Lafayette’s] community of stakeholders.”

Savoie began his academic career at UL Lafayette–University of Southwestern Louisiana at that time–where he earned both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Education. He received his doctoral degree in Education from Columbia University’s Teaching College and continued his working career at the University, holding multiple positions before becoming president.

Before his doctorate in 1995, he held the position of vice president for university advancement, and afterwards became commissioner of higher education for the State of Louisiana. He served as commissioner under Govs. Mike Foster, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and Bobby Jindal before returning to UL Lafayette to serve as president.

In his time as president, Savoie saw unprecedented challenges and changes, including the COVID-19 pandemic. An article by Leigh Guidry, a writer for the Lafayette Daily Advertiser, touched on one of the struggles that came with that: lower enrollment. The article, published in September 2020, explained that while many Louisiana colleges, including others in the University of Louisiana System, saw enrollment growth, UL Lafayette’s enrollment decreased for the fifth year in a row.

However, after 2020, UL Lafayette saw a record high enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Much of this success can be attributed to the expansion of academic programs and a focus on community engagement within the university. 

Under Savoie’s leadership, the University launched its largest fundraising campaign, improved infrastructure, and earned its position in the top 5% of research institutions in the United States after earning the Carnegie R1 designation in 2021. 

Research efforts became more important to the University during Savoie’s tenure, which is a feat unto itself, but in order to receive an R1 distinction, specifically, a school must spend over $50 million on research and award over 70 doctoral degrees.

Despite the multitude of changes Savoie oversaw during his tenure, current students and alumni alike expressed a lack of knowledge as to the impact he had on the university as a whole as well as their programs.

Parker Romero, an alumnus from the class of 2025 with a bachelor degree in mass communication and broadcasting, gave his input as someone who only recently graduated from the University.

Of his thoughts on Savoie, Romero said, “I’ve never met him personally, but I have heard that he’s done a lot for the University, and a lot of the things he has done have been behind the scenes, but it’s not really in my field, I guess.”

He is not the only person to express this lack of understanding of Savoie’s impact. Emily Guidry, a sophomore studying electrical engineering, said, “I know that he was the president of the University. That’s about it.” She went on to clarify she had no knowledge of any impacts he might have had on the university or the program she is in.

However, this is not the only experience that students of UL Lafayette have had. Olivia Guidry, who graduated from the University in May 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and english and recently graduated Washington University Law School, expressed her gratitude toward being able to work with him.

Guidry stated, “I found that my college experience was enriched by getting to work with Dr. Savoie, seeing how responsive he was to student concerns, and witnessing how proud he was to be a part of UL Lafayette.”

Her experience with Savoie was more extensive than others who spoke about him. She said, “I interacted with Dr. Savoie while serving in various leadership positions for student organizations on campus. From these interactions, I observed just how invested Dr. Savoie was in the University for the many years that he served as president. He cared deeply about the student experience and worked tirelessly to make UL Lafayette the best that it could be.” 

These student testimonies reflect the plethora of experiences former and current students have had with Dr. Savoie. Romero’s point on Dr. Savoie’s behind the scenes work was particularly insightful as it brings attention to the truth behind manufacturing a new campus life and attitude.

Despite the lack of attention his efforts may have received from those without a relationship with him, Savoie’s impact on UL Lafayette should not be understated. Expansions in programs such as engineering have led UL Lafayette to great things under Savoie’s tenure, and many are sad to see him go.