Messages from the President - 2026

September 10, 2026

Students, Faculty and Staff,

This fall the University of South Alabama welcomed its most academically talented freshman class and one of its largest. For the Class of 2030, stepping onto campus represented a new beginning.

Our freshmen achieved a cumulative average high school GPA of 3.79, a record. These newest Jaguars have the opportunity — and certainly the talent — to determine who they are, who they will become and how they will get there. 

New and returning students were celebrated at Jaguar Jubilee, a spirited Mardi Gras-inspired kickoff at the USA Mitchell Center. Mobile, of course, is recognized as the birthplace in the U.S. of Mardi Gras, the final day of feasting before Lent. A reset before a new beginning. 

This year, the Jaguar Marching Band (veterans of Mardi Gras parades) reached 300 members for the first time and were able to kick off the year at their new home, the Geri and Gordon Moulton Jaguar Marching Band Complex.

Nearly 3,500 students moved into campus housing, some at SouthPaw Village on Stadium Drive, which we just opened to meet demand for student housing.

There are other numbers to be proud of: The largest Honors College ever at 390 students; Jaguars from all 67 Alabama counties, 49 U.S. states and 53 countries; and three consecutive years of total enrollment above 14,000.

Each of our students has a unique story of how they found their way to South. They have already begun writing the next chapters on where they will go from here.

Jackson Demond, one of our new students, arrived on campus shortly before the 10th anniversary of the end of his cancer treatment. Days later, we had the honor of meeting with him, fulfilling a promise we made to his mother. We believe that such personalized attention — making sure all of our students know they are supported — is a difference-maker for South and truly the USA Way.

Another person who has a chance at a new beginning is DeVyn Coker, whose own cancer battle was featured recently on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas. DeVyn’s mother, Brittany, spoke about her daughter’s fight last spring at the kickoff of Where Bold Begins, the largest comprehensive campaign in the history of South.

The NBC story featured DeVyn ringing a bell to mark the end of her treatment. Thankfully, because of our dedicated employees at USA Health and the support of her family, DeVyn is a cancer survivor, and that bell is being heard nationwide.

At that same hospital, USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital, one of our spring graduates, Emma Bryson, serves as a recreational therapist alongside Rainier, USA Health’s first facility dog. While Rainier is the first in her family to work at South, Emma is surrounded by family. Together as handler and facility dog, Emma and Rainier help young children like DeVyn navigate medical procedures and the path to healing.

Two of our most exciting times here at South are rolling out the red, white and blue carpet for new students and seeing graduates like Emma head off to new adventures. We’re already working on bringing in the next class of eager freshmen.

During the first several weeks of the academic year, we welcomed more than 250 students from four Mobile high schools to campus for recruiting visits. This week, leading up to the Jags taking on Tulane, we’re with our enrollment team in New Orleans, showing additional prospective students how South can offer a first-class ticket to a brighter future.

Opportunities for new beginnings never end. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

September 4, 2026

Dear Faculty and Staff,

One of the University of South Alabama’s greatest strengths has always been our wonderful faculty and staff who serve our students every day. We take immense pride in working with some of the finest people in the state and nation. The commitment of dedicated employees to teaching excellence, transformational research and student mentorship is truly The USA Way.

To ensure our institution is fully compliant with the recently passed Alabama Act 2026-432 (HB 580), we are implementing the necessary administrative transitions and policy changes. Effective immediately, the following actions have been taken following today’s vote by the University Board of Trustees:

• Creation of a post-tenure review policy for tenured faculty members to undergo periodic, peer-reviewed professional development focused evaluations, no more than once a year and no less than every six years.
• Revision of the Termination/Dismissal Policy to incorporate the expanded statutory grounds for dismissal “for cause” and serious misconduct in accordance with Alabama Act 2026-432, including the provision for dismissal hearings for tenured faculty.
• Delegation of curriculum approval authority to the Executive Vice President and Provost, while the Board of Trustees retained the ultimate statutory authority over all courses, subjects and degree requirements of the University.
• Dissolution of the Faculty Senate and revocation of any constitutions, bylaws, committee structures or other governing documents related thereto.

To maintain strong and active faculty participation, we are establishing an ad hoc committee that will include members of the faculty whose work over the coming months will be, among other things, to explore legally viable frameworks that allow for meaningful faculty input. The Executive Vice President and Provost will appoint this committee to begin its work immediately.

Throughout the years, we have been fortunate to work with some outstanding faculty leaders, and we have every confidence that will continue under the new law. Heartfelt thanks for your ongoing dedication to our students and for your continued partnership as we navigate these changes.

August 14, 2026

Fellow Jaguars,

There’s nothing quite like the beginning of a new academic year at South.

Across campus, students are moving into residence halls, the Jaguar Marching Band is practicing at their new Geri and Gordon Moulton Jaguar Marching Band Complex, and labs and gathering spaces are ready for another year of discovery. New Jaguars are learning their way around, while returning students are reconnecting with friends and familiar places. Together, we’re bringing the University of South Alabama campus back to life.

We’re delighted to welcome you to the 2026-27 academic year! 

We are also happy to welcome our returning faculty, along with those joining South for the first time. Your expertise and commitment to our students, along with the dedication of our staff, are at the heart of all we do. 

The first days of a new year are about finding your classes and settling into a routine, but they’re also an opportunity to discover what it means to be part of the Jaguar community. With more than 270 student organizations, outstanding faculty and staff, Division I athletics, research opportunities, campus traditions and countless ways to get involved, we have a place for you here.

You’ll have plenty of opportunities to find it during Week of Welcome.

For our first-year students, Monday begins with one of our favorite South traditions: gathering at Moulton Tower for the class photo. From there, we’ll head to the USA Mitchell Center for the Jaguar Jubilee to greet our newest Jaguars and welcome new faculty. Expect plenty of energy and Jaguar spirit and a few surprises as we celebrate the beginning of your South experience.

Throughout Week of Welcome, campus will be filled with opportunities to meet people, try something new and become part of the traditions that make South special, like capping off the first day of classes with the first pep rally of the season at Hancock Whitney Stadium followed by an aerial group photo on the field and a movie on the big screen. 

And keep an eye out for the red presidential golf cart. Throw up your J’s when you see us. There may be a Jaguar spirit button — or even a ride — in it for you.

Those small encounters matter. So do the friendships you’ll make, the faculty members who will challenge and encourage you, the organizations you’ll join and the experiences you haven’t imagined yet. A university education happens in classrooms and laboratories, but some of its most memorable lessons happen everywhere else.

That’s why we encourage you to take advantage of these first weeks. Introduce yourself, ask questions, show up for activities and explore areas outside your comfort zone. Along the way, you will find the people and places that will make South your South.

Start planning by getting the complete schedule of events at the WOW website. We look forward to seeing all our students, faculty and staff at Monday’s Jaguar Jubilee. 

Whether this is your first year at the University of South Alabama or you’re a familiar face, we’re glad you’re here. Thank you for choosing South and for being part of the Jaguar family.

Here’s to a remarkable 2026-27 academic year.

March 20, 2026

Students, Faculty and Staff,

The Providence Foundation’s Home & Garden Show is underway. The beautiful new Geri and Gordon Moulton Jaguar Marching Band Complex is open. The Southerners are readying the mud pits for their much-anticipated annual Oozeball tournament. And tomorrow, we welcome prospective students and their families to USA Day as we get ready to enroll a new class of Jaguars in the fall.

We’re investing in our students and our patients. Our community is giving back. Together, we’re building something bigger along the Gulf Coast at the University of South Alabama.

The Home & Garden Show comes during a season of planting and growth — in gardens and yards throughout Mobile, and also through our work at the University and USA Health. Building on the success of its predecessor, the Festival of Flowers, the Home & Garden Show opened last night to a preview party, to rave reviews. The inaugural exhibition comes into full bloom today through Sunday at the Mobile Convention Center. The proceeds benefit the new extracorporeal membrane oxygenation program, the only one of its kind in Alabama south of Birmingham, at USA Health Providence Hospital. Critically ill patients now can receive one of the most advanced forms of life support through the ECMO machine, which can take over lung and heart functions when conventional treatments fail.

A few weeks earlier, we opened the 25,000-square-foot, $13 million marching band complex, which includes a full-size, lighted practice field built to match the Abraham A. Mitchell Field at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The Jaguar Marching Band is one of our largest student organizations, with about 80% of its members majoring in a discipline other than music. Our students deserve the best, and that’s what they’re getting with this new facility. Once again, it’s an investment that could not have happened without the support of members of our community, including $2.5 million in gifts from Forever First Lady Geri Moulton, wife of our late President Emeritus Gordon Moulton. The two were instrumental in starting our marching band program with the introduction of Jaguar football back in 2009.

Investments like the marching band complex matter, not just to our current students, but also in recruiting new ones. It shows we’re all in on facilitating their success and providing them with an experience here that’s second to none. Dr. Andi Kent, our incredible executive vice president and provost, and I proudly talk about the new complex on the road — such as when we visited 17 high schools in central and north Alabama last month with our Enrollment Team — and it also will be highlighted tomorrow as part of USA Day. We’ll host nearly 2,000 prospective students and their families, so be sure to say hello if you see a new face or two around campus.

While our band members are some of South’s best ambassadors, our student ambassadors by official title, the Southerners, are getting ready for Oozeball, their annual mud volleyball tournament. The proceeds support their organization and the Spotting Excellence Scholarship — students investing in themselves. Dr. Kent and I will be there next weekend handing out spirit buttons, but we’ll be standing a healthy distance from the splatter zone!

In the coming months, you’ll be hearing more details about our intentions to continue investing in our people and our programs. We invite you to the capital campaign announcement on April 23 at 10 a.m. in the Student Center to learn how these plans will take shape.

At its core, this campaign is about our people and our progress. This means doing everything in our power to remove barriers that might keep someone from enrolling at South, making sure they have the tools to succeed once they’re here, supporting our student-athletes on and off the field, ensuring that we’re recruiting and retaining the best faculty, providing first-class academic healthcare to our communities, and building and maintaining facilities that match the quality of the education and medical care inside them.

Without question, your University of South Alabama is the educational, economic and cultural engine of the Gulf Coast. Growing that vibrant community takes all of us, and it is the direct result of the investments we are making together.

From high school gymnasiums and USA Day to the front lines of USA Health, where our work saves lives, we are making an undeniable case for the value of what we do, serving as the Flagship of the Gulf Coast.

Jo Bonner
President

February 4, 2026

Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,

We are excited to announce that a new leader for the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine has been selected from an impressive pool of candidates from across the U.S. In May, Dr. Jeffrey LaRochelle, associate dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine, will join the USA family and lead the college into the future. 

Dr. LaRochelle graduated from the University of Florida in 1991 with a B.A. in English and in 1998 with a B.S. in microbiology. In 2003, he received his Doctor of Medicine from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences followed by a Master of Public Health in 2010 from the same institution. We know that Dr. LaRochelle's extensive experience will benefit the Whiddon College of Medicine as we prepare to celebrate the opening of the college's new building early next year and begin accepting more students into the program.

We look forward to welcoming Dr. LaRochelle and his wife, Kim, to Mobile and the Flagship of the Gulf Coast.