Obituary of Louis Emond

Louis (Lou) Emond lived a very productive and interesting life. Born in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Lou graduated from St. Raphael Academy and earned a Bachelors in English Education and a Masters in English from Providence College. He was married to his wife of 55 years, Theresa Thibodeau, in 1966. They had two children: Suzanne Cheverie-Pugh of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Richard Emond of Tallahassee, Florida. They have three grandchildren: Madison Cheverie, Ila Cheverie, and Owen Pugh. After teaching at Providence College for two years, Lou accepted a position at Dean College in Franklin, Massachusetts where he held the position of Division Chair in Humanities and Communication Arts for eighteen years. Lou initiated one of the first programs for the retention and academic success of learning disabled students at the college level. He devised a screening process for new students to identify potential learning disabilities in those whose transcripts showed uneven academic performance. Together with one of his faculty, Lou authored a specialized textbook to foster coping skills. He created a Learning Lab setting for individualized coping skills, established a peer tutoring program, designed a five-semester reduced course-load program, and ultimately tripled the retention rate for at-risk students. Simultaneously, Lou worked with content-area faculty to adjust their teaching approaches to a multi-modal system to accommodate the needs of learning disabled individuals. As computers became an integral part of the education process, Lou established a dedicated computer lab and made many of the coping skills materials available online. Lou shared his approach at regional and national conferences. When enrollment dipped at Dean, Lou undertook establishing a new curriculum to attract students. Hiring faculty with both academic and career backgrounds in the field, Lou established a Communication Arts degree program. Beginning with Radio and Journalism, the program focused on internships. Dean is located halfway between the major media markets of Boston and Providence, so there were many internship opportunities. The college established a low-power radio station and an audio teaching studio, utilizing the student newspaper for journalism experience. Quickly the college built production and teaching TV broadcast studios, and the college was licensed for a low-power TV station. After a few years Communication Arts became one of the highest enrolled majors at the campus. After 22 years at Dean, Lou took an early retirement option to accept an offer from Darton College, a two-year institution within the University System of Georgia. The president there wanted to implement the same academic success and retention options for at-risk students as Lou had at Dean. When it was determined implementation would be more costly than anticipated, Lou wrote a federal grant proposal that was funded for $1.54 million dollars. With those funds, the college established a Disabled Student Services program, a peer-tutoring program, a composition and study skills Learning Lab, assistance for content-area faculty to adapt teaching strategies and classroom protocols to accommodate learning disabled students, new computer labs, and two Allied Health majors. Lou was appointed Director of Administrative Services (academic and administrative computer services, as well as grant writing) and Assistant to The President. The University System appointed Lou part of the System committee that designed the University System policy for accommodating learning and physically disabled students. The regional ARC presented Lou with their annual award for service to the disability community. After retirement in 2003, Lou and his wife moved to The Villages in Sumter County Florida. Lou served as a consultant to Darton College for ten years. Louis Emond spent almost 50 years dedicated to the educational success of students needing extra assistance to succeed at the college level.  Lou was a life-long accomplished golfer, earning more than his share of trophies. Those included six club championships, won over a span of twenty years at three different country clubs. Lou and his wife Terry even won a couple of trophies as partners. Lou and his wife also enjoyed traveling, dancing, and sitting on their porch holding hands watching a colorful sunset. Lou was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. He will be missed by family and friends. A memorial service will be held at a future date to be announced.