After a career at St. Thomas University that has spanned parts of six decades, Larry Batt is leaving the university.
The dean of students will retire on June 30.
Batt, who went to high school in Chatham, N.B., began his career at STU in 1965, graduating with a bachelor of arts in 1969.
Two years later, he was back on the STU campus as assistant registrar, appointed by George Martin, the former university president for whom a building is named after.
In 1975, he was appointed registrar and kept the title until 2007, when he added dean of students to his duties.
University president Dawn Russell, a 1977 STU graduate, said in an interview that Batt was one of the first people she met at STU, when sent to staple course packs in the registrar’s office.
Thirty-five years later, the same can be said for many of today’s students, who will remember Batt from the T-Pin ceremony or from a campus visit before they started at STU.
“For thousands of students, Larry has been the face of STU and he is well-known in all parts of our province,” Russell wrote in a memo to faculty and staff about Batt’s retirement.
Batt was set to become the university’s assistant vice-president (student affairs), the memo says. The new job would have had him oversee several key parts of the university, including residence life, recruitment, admissions, student life and retention.
“As with any change involving senior personnel, we will take the opportunity to review the position prior to any decision regarding the process for selecting a successor,” Russell wrote in the memo.
