Dr. Jaime Taylor has returned to our podium to share with us the good things that are happening at Lamar University. He is the 16th President of LU and has lived in our community for the past three years. He is a brilliant academician and a genuine nice guy who has the interests of the students at LU as his primary focus. This past year Lamar University celebrated one hundred years (1923 – 2023) of academic service to Beaumont and now the world. The journey began as South Park Junior College and in 1932 the name was changed to Lamar College. In 1971 there was another name change to Lamar University. The next big milestone was in 1995 when LU joined the Texas State University System. These changes have resulted in a local university with a global vision and a hometown attitude.

Dr. Taylor believes in four guiding principles:

· Offer programs that prepare graduates to be job and career-ready and to invest in research with relevance to Texas, particularly in Southeast Texas,

· Effective teamwork is a ‘force multiplier’,

· Students are at the center of our focus, and

· Support the talent development in Texas!

The Vision is to establish Lamar University as the first choice of tomorrow’s leaders and career professionals in Texas by 2030.

The mission is that Lamar University strives to educate leaders, demonstrate excellence in student learning and career readiness, and pursue research with relevance.

Because of the above vision, mission and principles, LU is number one in Texas funding formula growth and produces advanced degree graduates in the state of Texas in computer science, engineering, management information systems and is the largest graduate college of education in Texas.

Dr. Taylor believes that students learn in the classroom and out of the classroom. So there needs to be student activities that keep the students engaged on campus. Ways used to achieve this has been to strengthen student engagement through increased programming:

New Intermural Fields and Dorm Upgrades that facilitate student interaction and to have top notch facilities such as the sports rec center, dining hall, library renovation with Student Success Center. Athletics is an important component in creating a winning culture. And LU has many winning teams that keep bringing home the trophies.

The message is clear – Lamar University is there for their students. The data shows that with the focus on meeting the needs of the students the enrollment increases including international students, LU stays in a financial stable position, and students continue their studies by completing their graduate and post graduate studies at LU. Word of Mouth is the best form of advertising and LU receives plenty of positive words. We as a community can support LU by attending baseball, soccer, football, and other athletic events as well as the arts. We can provide internships and mentoring to students and graduates. We can financially support the University through donations and endowments, and we can continue to spread the word that LU is a great place to get an education that will result in career opportunities anywhere in the world.