Dr. Laura Bayless, who has served as Vice President for Student Affairs since 2017, will retire from the university at the end of June. We honored Dr. Bayless’s years of service at a campus gathering on Tuesday, May 6 in the Hammond Main Lounge. It served as an opportunity to express our gratitude and to wish her well as she steps into this next chapter.
Over the past seven years, Dr. Bayless has been a dedicated advocate for our students and a thoughtful campus leader. Her work has touched nearly every facet of student life—from orientation to leadership development, wellness to belonging. She brought a clear commitment to equity and a deep belief in the transformative power of higher education, helping shape programs and practices that elevated the student experience beyond the classroom.
Laura’s impact can be seen in the relationships she built, the colleagues she mentored, and the generations of students she supported with compassion and conviction.
