Shaikha Almawlani
Staff Writer
University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman has signed a seven-year contract extension.
The ULV Board of Trustees voted in August to extend Lieberman’s contract through 2023, allowing her to continue with her 2020 Strategic Plan, fundraising campaign and Phase I of ULV Master Plan.
Lieberman, the 18th president of the University and the first woman to hold the position, took office in 2011.
“My mission is being a servant leader, and being with students and for students and creating an environment for every student who comes to the University to succeed,” Lieberman said.
Since her inauguration, the University endowment has increased from $36 million to $80 million, the budget has increased from $144 million to $200 million, and a newly-initiated fundraising campaign has reached $60 million.
“We will be able to welcome all students who are eligible, because we will have raised money for scholarships,” Myra Garcia, senior director of development said.
“We will be able to make La Verne education available for everyone who qualifies.”
The president is currently working on achieving goals that include raising the endowment to $100 million, fundraising $125 million, developing a 2030 vision, and building several new facilities such as a residence hall, dining hall, multicultural interfaith and spirituality center, and a new health and science building.
“I believe we will achieve what we were set out to achieve in the 2020 vision,” Lieberman said.
“I want to make sure that students that come to this University achieve more than they ever imagined.”
Garcia said she is excited with the trustees’ decision.
“I think it is a brilliant decision,” Garcia said.
“Since she came she has done so much to move the University forward in so many ways. For her to stay through to the end of this strategic vision makes all the sense of the world.”
Associated Students of the University of La Verne President and senior Alexis Coria met Lieberman during her sophomore year.
“She was very welcoming,” Coria said.
“I was super nervous at the thought of meeting the president of the University but meeting her was very different. She was inviting and warm, and she was very down to earth. I definitely want to see her continuing student relations, and strengthening our communication.”
Hal Hargrave, a ULV graduate student who also works in the office of advancement, met Lieberman in 2009 at Moonlight Madness after her inauguration.
“I think her charisma… and who she is as a person is something that people not only believe in and buy into, but something that people trust,” Hargrave said.
“She has a way of making you feel like you are a part of what it means to be a Leopard,” he added.
“We will be known well beyond the Inland Empire, clear across the country, as well as internationally,” Garcia said.
Shaikha Almawlani can be reached at shaikha.almawlani@laverne.edu.
