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Alum returns as Founder’s Day speaker

A familiar face and a special person in Grambling State University history will visit the campus as the Founder’s Day Convocation speaker.

 Former acting university president Neari F. Warner will speak on Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 11 a.m. in the T.H. Harris Auditorium.

 Dr. Warner played a significant role by providing significant stability
and tremendous leadership at a crucial time in this university’s
history, and we’ll never forget what she did,” said Grambling State
University President Frank G. Pogue. “As we’re forced to lead and
navigate this university through a challenging, difficult financial
period, I can’t think of anyone better to help us remember our history
and our mission.”

 Warner, a New Orleans native, was the first woman to head the university. During her tenure she successfully led GSU through a crisis that threatened the school’s accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In addition to serving as an acting president, Warner is a Grambling alumna and graduated with honors as a magna cum laude when she received her bachelor’s degree in 1967.

 She also worked at the university as provost and vice president for academic affairs and vice president for development and university relations.

 Prior to coming to working at Grambling State, she spent 26 years at Southern University in Baton Rouge. A noted scholar, Warner has been recognized for her work and efforts to make a difference. 

 She has been recognized with the “Glass Ceiling Award” by the Louisiana Association of Women for Equal Opportunity and she was named a “New Orleans Role Model” by the Young Women’s Christian Association. In 2008, Warner was inducted into the university’s Hall of Fame. There is a $1 million endowed student scholarship named in her honor.