Judge Monique Morial selected as 62nd Sugar Bowl President

Will oversee all Allstate Sugar Bowl events as well as Bowl’s role with CFP Championship

NEW ORLEANS – Monique Morial, a judge with the First City Court of New Orleans, has been selected as the Sugar Bowl Committee’s President for the 2019-20 year.

Morial, a New Orleans native and a graduate of Ursuline Academy who has been a member of the Sugar Bowl Committee since 1999, is the first female president of the organization. She is the 62nd president of the organization and will oversee the 86th annual playing of the Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic on January 1, 2020, the Bowl’s annual slate of over 50 other events throughout the year and the Bowl’s role as a key part of the Host Committee for the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship game.

“I’m truly honored by the opportunity to serve as President of the Allstate Sugar Bowl for the coming year,” Morial said. “Over its 85-year history, the Sugar Bowl Committee has established itself as a leader in college football while also being an important economic engine for New Orleans and Louisiana. My primary objective will be to work tirelessly with my fellow committee members and the Bowl’s staff to maintain and enhance the organization’s reputation and position, one that was built through the time, energy and expertise of so many Sugar Bowlers before me. It will be a fun year.”

This year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl will feature top teams from the Big 12 Conference and the Southeastern Conference. The champions of those leagues are designated to meet in the game unless one or both qualify for the College Football Playoff, in which case replacement teams from the respective leagues will come to New Orleans. The upcoming game will mark the 15th Sugar Bowl to pit teams from the Big 12 and SEC (current membership) against each other – it is the fourth year of a contractual agreement for the two conferences to clash in the Sugar Bowl.

The Sugar Bowl will also play a critical role as part of the host committee for the 2020 College Football Playoff National Championship which will be played on January 13, 2020 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. It will mark the 29th time that the city of New Orleans has hosted a college football champion.

In addition, the Allstate Sugar Bowl will continue its prominent position in the community by hosting and sponsoring over 50 amateur sporting events in 2019. Included in those events are every Louisiana High School Athletic Association state championship; the Crescent City Classic, a nationally-recognized road race featuring over 25,000 participants; the Manning Award, which honors college football’s top quarterback; three basketball tournaments; two volleyball tournaments; two soccer sponsorships; and events in baseball, bowling, cross country, golf, lacrosse, sailing, tennis and track and field.

The Sugar Bowl Committee was founded as the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association in 1934 for the purpose of promoting amateur sporting events that would stimulate tourism and have a positive economic effect on the New Orleans metropolitan area. Over the last decade, the Sugar Bowl has had an economic impact of over $2.5 billion for the city and state.

Since being elected to the Sugar Bowl Committee in 1999, Morial has served on a wide-range of committees, including multiple years on the Bowl’s Executive Committee. Additionally, Morial has served as a Sugar Bowl officer for the past four years.

Morial succeeds Rod West, who directed the organization through the past year, and will serve with fellow officers Ralph Capitelli, President-Elect; Lloyd N. Frischhertz, Vice President; Richard C. Briede, Treasurer; and Walter F. Becker, Jr., Secretary. Furthermore, the Sugar Bowl’s 60th President, Stanley J. Cohn, was elected Chairman of the Executive Committee, and joining the 18-member Executive Committee for 2018-19 are Joseph M. Dardis; W. Scott Duggins; William J. Kearney, IV; Conrad Meyer, V; and Jenny L. Tripkovich.

Morial was elected to the First City Court of New Orleans in July 2010. In August of 2010, the Louisiana Supreme Court appointed her to serve Pro Tempore in the First City Court until December, replacing a retiring judge. She began her official term in January of 2011 and was re-elected without opposition for an additional six-year term in 2016. She began her legal career clerking for judges on both the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal and the Civil District Court. After working for local firms, she started the Law Office of Monique G. Morial in 2003 where she maintained an active practice in civil litigation. In 2007, Judge Morial joined a local law firm practicing in the area of law enforcement defense and general litigation. From 1998-2010, she served as the attorney for the First City Court Clerk’s Office.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Judge Morial graduated from Ursuline Academy in 1988. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Emory University in 1992, she returned to New Orleans to attend Tulane University School of Law where she received her Juris Doctorate in 1995. She is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the New Orleans Bar Association and the National Bar Association.

In addition to her volunteer role with the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Judge Morial has served as President for the Ursuline Academy Alumnae Association and has served many years on the alumnae board. She was formerly on the boards of CASA New Orleans and the Urban League of Greater New Orleans. She has served as Secretary and Vice-Chair of the Young Lawyers Section of the New Orleans Bar Association.

The Allstate Sugar Bowl has established itself as one of the premier college football bowl games, having hosted 28 national champions, 93 Hall of Fame players, 50 Hall of Fame coaches and 18 Heisman Trophy winners in its 85-year history. The 86th Allstate Sugar Bowl Football Classic, featuring top teams from the Big 12 and the SEC, will be played on January 1, 2020. In addition to football, the Sugar Bowl Committee annually invests over $1.6 million into the community through the hosting and sponsorship of sporting events, awards and clinics. Through these efforts, the organization supports and honors nearly 100,000 student-athletes each year, while injecting over $2.5 billion into the local economy in the last decade. For more information, visit www.AllstateSugarBowl.org.