The SLU Presidential Search Committee closed its applications earlier this March. This weekend, all 15 applicants and their application letters were posted online for the general public to read.

Five of the 15 individuals who have expressed interest in the president position have history with Southeastern.

The candidates are as follows:

• Rodney Bennett
• Eric Brown
• Monique Guillory
• Jeff Hurlbert
• Mickey Latour
• Edwin Litolff III
• Kimberly McLeod
• Steven Miller
• Joseph Odenwald
• Mary Parker
• Dayne Sherman
• Robert Smith
• Eric Summers
• Sebastian van Delden
• William Wainwright

The five who have history with Southeastern include Litolff III, Parker, Sherman, Summers and van Delden. Each one has different experiences with Southeastern, but all know the university and included their experiences in their applications. The following is everything each applicant has to tie themselves to Southeastern:

Edwin Litolff III

Over the past three decades, Litolff III previously served in many capacities within Student Affairs, including student activities coordinator, assistant director and director. He was also assistant vice president of operations.

Mary Parker

Parker earned a bachelor’s degree in history and government in 1992 and a Master of Education in educational counseling in 1996. During her time as a student and beyond, she served in the Office of Financial Aid and was director until 1999.

Dayne Sherman

Sherman is a Southeastern graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in communication in 1993 and Master of Arts in English in 2008. During his twenty-year tenure at the university, he moved up the ranks at the Sims Memorial Library, reaching full tenure in 2014. Sherman has also been the head of reference/instruction at the library since 2020. Additionally, he has served as the library’s coordinator of user education and interim head of acquisitions during his time at Southeastern. 

Eric Summers

Summers began his career at Southeastern as a Freshman Seminar 101 instructor and slowly worked his way up. He spent years as a conduct officer and served as the leader of the Multicultural and International Student Affairs (MISA) organization. His most notable position has been his tenure as vice president of the Division of Student Affairs, a role he has held since October 2015.

Sebastian van Delden

Van Delden was the previous department head for the computer science and industrial technology department. During that time, he was also a professor of computer science.

The Lion’s Roar will be covering the search closely until the next president is announced. Semifinalists will be announced in a meeting at noon tomorrow in Baton Rouge. All 15 applications can be found here.