N O L A.C O M
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S at u r d ay, J u ly 26, 2025
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UNO plans to cut jobs, courses
Many adjunct professors let go amid low enrollment BY MARIE FAZIO | Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By CHRIS GRANGER
Col. Scotty Autin, the new commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans district and a Houma native, salutes during the change of command ceremony in New Orleans on Friday.
La. native takes over N.O. Corps of Engineers Autin tackles crucial job at challenging moment
BY MIKE SMITH | Staff writer A Louisiana native formally took command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans district on Friday, assuming a crucial job at a challenging moment while declaring he still bleeds purple and gold “with a little bit of gumbo” despite a career of globe-trotting. Col. Scotty Autin will command a district with around 1,100 staff and one of the largest civil works programs in the nation, overseeing projects vital to Louisiana from dredging at the mouth of the Mississippi River to levee construction and home elevations. But he takes charge with President Donald Trump’s administration pursuing deep cuts across government, including at the Corps of Engineers. The Houma native will have to navigate the complex layers of politics in Louisiana — where pressing the Corps to move quickly on flood control projects has long been a tradition — in addition to the turbulence in Washington. Under Trump’s presidency so far, the district has said it is losing around 80 of its 1,160 employees, while a “mega-study” on the future of the lower Mississippi River has been paused due to lack of funding. Friday’s ceremony at the Corps’ headquarters along the river in uptown New Orleans provided a brief
ä See UNO, page 7A
Federal school grants restored Col. Scotty Autin, left, the new commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ New Orleans district, leads Maj. Gen. Kimberly Peeples, commander of the Corps’ Mississippi Valley Division, and outgoing New Orleans District commander Col. Cullen Jones, down the steps in front of the New Orleans headquarters before the start of the change of command ceremony on Friday. moment of celebration, allowing friends, family and state officials to revel in the rare occurrence of a Louisianan taking the reins. Corps officials could not immediately recall the last time that had happened. He replaces Col. Cullen Jones, a
BY TYLER BRIDGES | Staff writer The anti-Bill Cassidy U.S. Senate Republican primary became a bit more crowded on Friday. Eric Skrmetta, a veteran member of the Public Service
WEATHER HIGH 91 LOW 79 PAGE 8A
BY PATRICK WALL | Staff writer
Gov. Jeff Landry and the Republican-controlled Legislature last year. If no candidate wins more than 50% in the primary, which seems unlikely, the top two finishers would advance to a runoff held six weeks later. Election analysts believe that Cassidy will have enough stroke with voters to claim one of the top two spots. This means that Skrmetta is battling the
ä See SENATE, page 7A
ä See GRANTS, page 6A
Delaware native heading to Washington after his three-year stint in New Orleans. He will serve as director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers at the Pentagon.
next year. “I will embark on a journey with our President to reclaim what makes our republic great,” Skrmetta said in a statement. “We must protect our Southern border, invest in our military strength, and stop Skrmetta Cassidy Green New Deal whims.” Cassidy and his RepubCommission from metro New Orleans, said he will be the lican opponents will face third major Republican to try off in a closed primary in to keep Cassidy from winning April under the new elecreelection to the U.S. Senate tion rules put in place by
Trump administration had frozen billions
The Trump administration will release billions of dollars in federal education grants that it withheld from schools this month, officials said Friday, ending an abrupt funding freeze that had threatened to disrupt school services just weeks before students return from summer break. Louisiana had stood to lose more than $109 million, or about 14% of its federal K-12 education funding, according to one tally of the frozen funds. The administration last week released a portion of the money that funds after-school programs, but the rest remained in holding while federal officials reviewed the grants to ensure they aligned with the president’s priorities. The money, which schools had expected to receive July 1, helps pay for teacher training and programs for migrant students, English learners, adult literacy, violence prevention and more. School leaders and service providers, who had warned that withholding the money could cause devastating cuts, celebrated Friday’s announcement. “This is great news for Louisiana,” said Andrew Ganucheau, director of the Louisiana Center for Afterschool Learning, in a statement. “These programs provide vital educational assistance that many of our students and families rely on.”
ä See AUTIN, page 6A
Skrmetta enters U.S. Senate race against Cassidy PSC official joins two other major GOP challengers
Expressing grave concerns about a steep enrollment decline, University of New Orleans leaders said Thursday they will slash the number of adjunct faculty members and eliminate some courses with weeks to go before the fall semester begins. As of mid-July, enrollment was down to about 4,100 students, some 2,000 fewer than last fall, officials said in an email to faculty explaining the latest cuts. As the university slashes funding for adjunct faculty, full-time professors are being told to take on more classes and warned that under-enrolled courses could be cut entirely. The cuts amount to a “large-scale firing” of adjunct professors, said the United Campus Workers, a union that represents UNO faculty, staff and student workers. With just four weeks before the fall semester begins, the changes will “almost certainly cause last-minute class cancellations, overcrowded classrooms, and the loss of some of our campus community’s most beloved teachers and co-workers,” the union said in a statement. The cuts come at a high-stakes moment for the university, which state lawmakers are seeking to put under new oversight — moving it from the University of Louisiana system to the LSU system — in an effort to stabilize the financially troubled school. Over the past year, the university has tried to close a multimillion-dollar deficit
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12TH yEAR, NO. 348