President Bruce. T. Murphy’s was officially inaugurated as the fifth president of Nicholls State University last week in the first ceremony of its kind in Nicholls history.
Peltier Auditorium was full of students, faculty in full regalia, prominent members of the community and other notable guests to witness the event.
The president of the University of Louisiana System, Sandra K. Woodley, led the installation and presented Murphy with the presidential medal.
In his inaugural address, President Murphy thanked all the attendees and explained that the inauguration was not only his idea; it is what universities around the country do to transition.
“This is not about Bruce Murphy. I know it looks like it and sounds like it, but it’s not really about Bruce Murphy. It’s about Nicholls,” Murphy said.
Murphy also stressed the theme of the celebration, “Forward Together.”
He mentioned four main goals for the University to strive for. The goals included increasing student opportunities and success and striving for a spirit of innovation. Nicholls must also encourage expansion of study abroad programs and increase international student enrollment. His final objective is to guarantee that Nicholls is serving the needs of the region and state, as it is a public university.
Guest speakers included Woodley, Thibodaux Mayor Tommy Eschete, Faculty Senate President Stephen Michot, Nicholls Student Government Association President Melissa Cloutet, Nicholls Alumni Federation President Eddie Hebert and Nicholls Foundation President Chris Riviere.
Cloutet represented students in welcoming Murphy and thanking him for his continued interest and genuine concern for the students’ well-being.
Hebert spoke about how special this event is for alumni and the entire community.
“This inauguration ceremony serves as an excellent opportunity to showcase Nicholls and all we have accomplished and plan to accomplish in our local communities and bayou region,” Hebert said.
“I think Bruce Murphy is a leader who is motivated by the work, and boy do we have some work to do in this state and a lot of work to do in this region with all of the many wonderful possibilities that we have rolling in,” Woodley said.
“Leading 9 universities, it makes my job a lot easier to have a leader like Bruce Murphy at the helm of one of my most important universities in the system.” Woodley said.
The ceremony was the highlight of Nicholls’ first inauguration week, which included athletic and art events, academic and cultural enrichment, service activities, and other special speakers.
Murphy invited everyone in attendance to come to Nicholls more often and to participate in more of the activities that are always happening.
“We have all sorts of things going on [this week],” Murphy said. “Those things were going to be going on anyway. We do that sort of thing all the time at Nicholls.”
Murphy joined the Nicholls family in January after the nationwide search by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System.
Before assuming the presidency, he served as the vice president for academic affairs at Air University in Alabama. He was also the founding dean of the School of Business at Point Park University in Pittsburgh and the founding director of the graduate program in organizational leadership and chair of the Walker School of Business at Mercyhurst College in Pennsylvania.
Murphy, a proud veteran, spent 23 years in the U.S. Army and is a retired lieutenant colonel.