ENROLLED
2023 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 81
BY REPRESENTATIVE WHEAT
A RESOLUTION
To commend Dr. John L. Crain on the occasion of his retirement as president of
Southeastern Louisiana University.
WHEREAS, on February 17, 2009, the Board of Supervisors for the University of
Louisiana System appointed Dr. John L. Crain the fourteenth president of Southeastern
Louisiana University (SLU), and at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, Dr. Crain will
retire from the university as one of its longest serving and most successful presidents; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Crain was very much a Southeastern insider when he was appointed
as president, having received his bachelor's degree (accounting, 1981) and his master of
business administration (1984) from SLU and spent his academic career there; prior to
becoming president, Dr. Crain served as a member of the accounting faculty, director of the
Small Business Development Center, and provost and vice president for academic affairs;
and
WHEREAS, Dr. Crain's exemplary academic accomplishments include authoring
more that fifty refereed journal articles, receiving the President's Award for Excellence in
Research, which is the university's highest faculty award, and service on the Louisiana Blue
Ribbon Commission on Educational Excellence and the Board of Regents Master Plan
National Advisory Panel Workgroup on Retention and Completion; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Crain's tenure as president was no doubt marked by numerous daily
challenges of types that would be faced by the head of any large institution, but in his
fourteen years at the helm, he also had to manage the university's response to crises that no
one could have foreseen, including several years of sizable state budget reductions stemming
in part from a major national economic crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Hurricane Ida,
which passed directly over the campus and did substantial damage to the Hammond campus;
and
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WHEREAS, throughout it all, Dr. Crain did more than simply keeping the university
afloat; he managed to oversee major facility improvements, including completion of the new
student union and new residential facilities, the launch of several new academic programs
and new academic support and campus life initiatives, some unprecedented successes in
Lion athletics, and significant expansion of the Southeastern Foundation; and
WHEREAS, nothing is more important to the health and happiness of the citizens of
the great state of Louisiana than individuals who invest their considerable personal talent in
the service of the public good; Dr. John Crain has spent his professional career, including
his tenure as president of Southeastern Louisiana University, making just that investment,
and it is appropriate that the state should take this opportunity to recognize and honor him.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby commend Dr. John L. Crain on the occasion of his
retirement as president of Southeastern Louisiana University; does hereby record for
posterity some of his notable accomplishments and honorable service to the state; and does
hereby express its sincerest hope that he continue to find success and fulfillment in the next
chapter of his life.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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