Dr. Jean-Paul Boudreau will not be renewing his term as president of Mount Allison University.

Board of Regents Chair George Cooper announced the news in an email to Mount Allison staff, students and faculty on Wednesday.

Cooper thanked Boudreau for, “his leadership over the past five years, and for his work advancing the university’s academic mission and strengthening our impact in the community, across the province, and beyond.”

Cooper called Boudreau the university’s “Pandemic President”, and credited him with, “agility, compassion, and a focus on bringing the community together at a time when we had to be apart. As we moved forward, he continued to focus on creating a strong community, with our students at the heart of this approach.”

“His service to the life and well-being of the university and to our many collaborating partners is a great point of pride. In everything that he did in the role, he embodied an infectious spirit that put people first and always stood on values of care and compassion for our community,” Cooper continued.

Boudreau followed up with his own email to students, staff, and faculty in which he confirmed his departure, saying “an important facet of leadership is picking the right time to move on.” Boudreau called his term as president, which started in 2018, a “dream opportunity,” and said he believed he was “leaving the place ‘better than I found it.’”

Mount Allison Students’ Union (MASU) President Rohin Minocha-McKenney agrees with that statement. He recalls an Argosy humour writer dubbing Boudreau the “most lit prez” in the school’s history, “based on campus presence, appearance and overall good vibes.”

All joking aside, Minocha-McKenney thinks Boudreau’s presence on campus worked for students.

“He was always there,” says the MASU president. “He was at orientation events, Winter Carnival, handing out hot chocolate, hot cider and treats during finals from the Flame cart. He was always willing to talk with students to hear our concerns and to really put action to them. So he was a very popular president and did a lot of great things.”

Boudreau will finish his term on June 30, giving the board of regents just under four months lead time to begin a search for a new president. That process, “will include opportunities for input from a wide range of stakeholders from the Mount Allison community,” wrote Cooper.

Minocha-McKenney will have moved on by the time the search is started, but he says MASU will be involved, and he expects the process to take in the range of 12-18 months.

“There needs to be extensive consultation with students, faculty, staff, alumni, and broader stakeholders,” says Minocha-McKenney. “And then the search in itself will take quite a while.”

Hear what Rohin Minocha-McKenney has to say about Boudreau leaving: