May Board of Trustees Meeting Recap

June 16, 2025

Dear members of the SLU community, 

On May 2, I addressed the Saint Louis University trustees in my 48th and final Board of Trustees meeting as SLU president. 

In my report to the board, I reflected on the many challenges SLU has faced – and the impressive milestones we have accomplished – since trustees elected me as SLU’s 33rd president in March of 2014. 

As I shared with the SLU community in April, I observed that the University is navigating one of the most difficult times higher education has faced in my 40-year career. The trustees continue to lend their expertise, support and insights as we endeavor to keep our research enterprise strong and work to maximize undergraduate and graduate enrollment despite more intense competition and other headwinds.

As we encounter uncertainty in the federal funding landscape, private philanthropy is becoming increasingly important. I reported good news on the fundraising front. SLU is enjoying one of our strongest fundraising years ever. We expect that we will close fiscal year 2025 with more than $70 million raised, including an anonymous $10 million gift to the School of Medicine from a grateful patient honoring Dr. Gerald Maguire.

Committee updates and action items approved by the Board of Trustees at the May meeting reflected SLU’s efforts to assess and to strategically address the challenges and opportunities of our moment.

• Provost Mike Lewis shared an update of the fall 2025 enrollment outlook. Because of intense competition for new students in a volatile environment, we expect that first-year enrollment will not meet our initial budgeted goals. International enrollment remains difficult to predict, given recent federal government actions. 
• Vice President and CFO David Heimburger confirmed that the proposed FY26 budget will be presented to the Board of Trustees at a special meeting in mid-August. By then, the fall enrollment picture will be much clearer and we can share more accurate revenue and expense projections. Executive leadership will work diligently throughout the summer to finalize the FY26 budget. Incoming President Dr. Ed Feser and I are in frequent conversations as we prepare to implement a seamless transition on July 1.

In other business, the Board approved amendments to the Faculty Manual and a new SLU Clinical Faculty Manual, which reflects significant work from both the Faculty Senate and the School of Medicine’s Faculty Assembly. 

Two new trustees were elected: Fr. Ron Mercier, S.J., a former SLU faculty member who served as provincial of the Central and Southern Province of the Society of Jesus from 2014 to 2020, and Joe Koenig (CSB, ’87), president of World Wide Technology.

The Board also had the opportunity to hear reflections and accomplishments from several members of the SLU community. Faculty Senate President Christine Rollins and Student Government Association President Reueline Arulanandam shared annual reports. And the trustees heard presentations from SLU faculty members and students who have recently earned national honors and recognition, including:

• Truman Scholar and rising senior Sam Aitchison; 
• Goldwater Scholar and rising senior Pascal Sikorski; and
• Newly-inducted Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors: Enrico Di Cera, M.D., the Alice A. Doisy professor and chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Koyal Garg, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical engineering; Nicola Pozzi, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology; and Silviya Zustiak, Ph.D., professor of biomedical engineering and pharmacology and physiology. 

As I approach the end of my tenure as president, I want to once again thank SLU’s Board of Trustees for the faith they have placed in me for these past 11 years. As Dr. Feser prepares to assume the presidency of this extraordinary institution, I know he can count on the same trust, support and guidance from our exceptional trustees, our skilled vice presidents and deans, and the dedicated faculty, staff and students who advance SLU’s Jesuit mission in countless ways. 
Sincerely, 

Fred P. Pestello, Ph.D.
President