Our Lady of the Lake University President Abel Chávez plans to step down at a Friday afternoon staff-wide meeting, three sources with knowledge of the planned announcement and its timing told the San Antonio Report.
According to an invitation sent to staff, an “important announcement” will be made at the 12:30 p.m. meeting on Friday.
When asked whether Chávez is resigning, OLLU spokeswoman Xochitl Mora did not deny the reporting, later declining to comment over text message.
Chávez became OLLU’s 10th president on July 15, 2022, succeeding former President Diane Melby, who had led the university since 2015.
His resignation would come on the heels of the university announcing its lowest enrollment yet, with 1,550 students, a nearly 12% loss from fall 2025 and a 44% loss since fall 2020.
At a recent interview during an on-campus event, Chavez declined to comment on whether OLLU’s enrollment decline concerned him, commenting instead on the importance of Hispanic Serving Institutions.
“The work is far from over,” Chávez said following that event, declining to say whether he was worried about continued enrollment declines. “We have to continue to tell our stories. We have to continue to say yes. We have to continue to push and pull.”
At the time Chávez began his tenure at OLLU, the university’s enrollment had started to decline, going from 2,974 total students in fall 2019 to 2,326 total in fall 2022.
In 2022, the university was receiving more than $52 million in revenue from tuition and fees. But between 2021 and 2025, the university lost more than $14.7 million in tuition and fees revenue, according to the university’s tax documents.
In early 2025, the university cut programs and faculty linked to those programs. Chavez said these cuts were a result of a two-year-long evaluation of the viability of all programs, with enrollment being only one of the metrics considered for the cuts.
This year the university hired Shobi Sivadasan as the new vice president for enrollment and revenue who is charged with leading the strategy to attract and retain students.
Teresa Niño, OLLU’s vice president for marketing and communication, said earlier this month the university hoped this latest hiring would serve as reason to “disqualify any suspicion that we’re closing down.”
At the time of his arrival, Chávez’s compensation totaled $250,933, and had increased to $424,809 by the spring of 2025, according to university tax records.
Disclosure: Our Lady of the Lake University is a sponsor of Texas Public Radio.
Andrea Drusch and Leigh Munsil contributed to this report.
The San Antonio Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
