Now a month into his term, Northwestern State University of Louisiana’s 21st President James Genovese plans to bring prominence to NSU.
President Genovese began to execute his plans by working with the athletic program and renovating NSU’s physical plant. Beyond NSU, President Genovese wants to utilize the relationship between Natchitoches and NSU to improve the campus environment.
“You ask me about the future and what I plan to do, it’s a one word response: exposure,” President Genovese said.
For the president, exposure is about garnering publicity for NSU by getting out there on the streets, he said. He describes exposure as an umbrella term for enrollment, marketing and finance. To emphasize its importance, he compares NSU to a great product which all students, faculty and staff alike must sell to the public.
“We are not selling this bill of goods that we have here,” President Genovese said. “We’ve got a great university here and if I could just get to the parents, the coaches, the teachers, the principals — if I could just get them, I can get these kids to come back to school again.”
Enrollment is a focal point of President Genovese’s initiative to “sell” NSU during his first semester as president. He addresses the enrollment decline, saying all universities across the nation have experienced the decline and NSU has only experienced a marginal decline.
“Our numbers this year are very close to last year, and in some areas we’re actually gaining, so I’m focused on that,” President Genovese said.
President Genovese shared he is pleased with NSU’s recruiting efforts, and he plans to utilize these efforts to bring more money to campus.
“We have to run this university as a business and that’s what I intend to do. We cannot just rest on traditionalism,” President Genovese said. “This campus needs money. You cannot refurbish buildings without money, you cannot develop an athletic program without money, it is very important that we get our budget up to date.”
President Genovese directly correlates increasing the NSU budget to increasing enrollment.
“We need money, right? We need students, right? Students are money,” President Genovese said. “The students — bring ‘em on campus — that’s money, and this campus needs money. It’s a pure economic thing.”
Athletics, infrastructure and marketing
There are two key areas which President Genovese plans to improve as he works toward increased enrollment and positive exposure for NSU
First, he wants to address the NSU athletic program as he recognizes that the death of Ronnie Caldwell Jr. in Oct. 2023 tragically impacted the NSU football team. He understands that NSU is still recovering from the tragedy.
“We have been able to come in and patch that and try to make the best of a bad situation, perhaps take those lemons and make lemonade out of it, and pick ourselves up because it was quite damaging to the university,” President Genovese said.
Blaine McCorkle, head football coach of NSU, was hired in Nov. 2023 just after Caldwell’s death. President Genovese expresses full confidence that McCorkle will be able to positively boost the NSU football team in the upcoming season. With this, he hopes the football team will reflect the university’s improving atmosphere and show alumni and visitors what NSU has to offer.
“People are gonna come on board cause everybody loves a winner, but when you have a losing football program that hasn’t had a winning season in 16 years, that sucks,” President Genovese said. “We’re gonna fix that. It’s not gonna happen overnight, we’re not gonna win the national championship but we’re coming back.”
The second area President Genovese plans to improve is the NSU Physical Plant, which provides services for student life and improves the University’s overall physical environment, according to nsula.edu.
“We have some old buildings on this campus that need refurbishment, some perhaps may need a bulldozer for demolition, but we’re gonna cut and paste the scratch and claw,” President Genovese said. “I’m making sure that we proceed with making the older buildings palatable, workable and that’s with all deliberate speed because we have to get the physical plant in order.”
President Genovese is confident that NSU will have positive media coverage to publish if he can successfully complete these improvements.
“We turn the athletic programs — the football program — around, we spruce up these buildings a little bit, spread the word and we’re going back up to the top again,” President Genovese said.
He refers to the construction of Robert Alost Hall, intended to be a state-of-the-art academic building for nursing, math, social work, psychology and English departments, as an asset toward gaining publicity for the campus.
“The setting is going to be so good for all the students to be able to relax, study, eat and enjoy the college experience and that’s what it’s all about,” President Genovese said.
Natchitoches and NSU
With the upcoming completion of Alost Hall, construction of David and Sherry Morgan Health and Performance Center, renovations to NSU’s baseball and softball fields and new coaching staff, Genovese believes these improvements will bring in new students to NSU and residents to Natchitoches.
“If this university fails, then that city is gonna fail too,” President Genovese said. “We are joined at the hip with the city of Natchitoches, it’s not only the alumni, it’s not only the donors. We’ve got to have the city of Natchitoches get out there and provide a great environment for a good college experience cause if we lose they lose, we win they win.”
Ronnie Williams, mayor of the city of Natchitoches, elaborates on President Genovese’s concept of collaboration between the university and the city. He says that NSU and Natchitoches share a symbiotic relationship.
“NSU is a catalyst for economic growth, cultural enrichment, and community development,” Mayor Williams said. “We’re always delighted when students matriculate through NSU, my alma mater, and decide to make Natchitoches their home.”
At the same time, Mayor Williams says NSU gives a home and a connection to students.
“Natchitoches has so much to offer anyone who lives, works, or visits. We are proud to be a picturesque, thriving backdrop for the Northwestern State University,” Mayor Williams said.
From La Supreme Court Justice to NSU President
As President Genovese works to put his plans for NSU and Natchitoches into action, he wants to utilize his 50 years of experience in law during his presidency.
Going into the selection process for president of NSU, President Genovese was recommended for the position by his network of NSU alumni. He said that his lack of higher education initially made him feel unqualified, but he shared that his institutional knowledge and experience will lead NSU into the future.
“Going from the Supreme Court to here, a lot of mixed emotions. Really, I thought long and hard about it because 90 days ago this wasn’t even on the radar screen,” President Genovese said. “I said, ‘I’m not qualified to be the president of the university.’ I said, ‘I’m happy to be on the law side of things.’ But then they started talking to me about it and telling me about it and I knew we were suffering here.”
Now that he is officially in his role as president, President Genovese has left a vacancy in the Louisiana Supreme Court. He resigned the last two years of his 10-year term.
Robert Gunn, Deputy Judicial Administrator and Community Relations for the Louisiana Supreme Court, specified that the Justices of the Supreme Court will appoint a judge to temporarily fill the vacancy made by President Genovese. This is in accordance with Louisiana Constitution Article V, Section 22(B). The court has now appointed Justice Jeanette Theriot Knoll to replace President Genovese’s Third District vacancy, according to the Louisiana Supreme Court website.
“Regarding an election to fill the vacancy, once the Governor is notified of the existence of the vacancy, he will call a special election to fill the unexpired term (in this case through Dec. 31, 2026),” Gunn said. “A subsequent election will be held in 2026 for a full 10-year term representing that Supreme Court district which will run Jan. 1, 2027 – Dec. 31, 2036.”
President Genovese’s background with NSU ultimately pushed him to run for presidency, despite his position in the Supreme Court.

“I was just a plain old kid, normal intelligence from Opelousas and I come up here and they’ve been wonderful to me and this is the foundation that I have,” President Genovese said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without Northwestern.”

As an alumnus of NSU, he only hopes that his plans for campus improvement will make a positive impact just as his alma mater has done for him.
“I thought what a wonderful thing it would be if we could come up here to Northwestern and turn this program around and help them as they helped me and put Humpty Dumpty back together again,” President Genovese said. “This is too beautiful a place, too good a place not to be at the top of the heap.”
Since being on campus in his official presidency, President Genovese has traveled to NSU Shreveport campus, the North Rapides Business and Industry Alliance, the Rapides Parish School Board, Grambling State University, Baton Rouge and the University of Louisiana System board meeting to speak about his plans for NSU. He said NSU has received a wonderful response from people all across Louisiana.
“People are yearning to unite and help put Northwestern back on the map again every place that I go,” President Genovese said. “If I’m behind that desk then I’m not working. I’m not here to be behind the desk, I’m here to get out in that street and sell this bill of goods.”
President Genovese assures he’s invested in the university and wants to leave a legacy of success.
“My heart is in it. I wanna go to my grave knowing, with a smile on my face, that I did something good for Northwestern and that I helped them get back on track again,” President Genovese said.