On March 2, 2024, colleagues and friends will gather to celebrate Ansel Augustine's 25th anniversary of full-time ministry in New Orleans. The occasion also marks his appointment as Assistant Director of African American Affairs by the USCCB Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Ansel earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Master of Pastoral Studies degrees from Loyola University New Orleans. During his time at the university, he rechartered the Rho Epsilon Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at Loyola in Spring 1996. He also earned many awards and honors including The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Service Award (1997), President James C. Carter Award for Outstanding Leadership by an Individual (April 1999), the Sociology Department’s Spirit of Gemeinschaft Award (May 2000), the Charles H. Bailey Alpha Delta Gamma Award for Outstanding Male Graduate (May 2000), and the Loyola University Black Student Union Outstanding Community Service by an Alumnus Award (November 2003). He has served as resident chaplain at Loyola and as adjunct faculty in the Loyola Institute for Ministry.

His engagement in his home parish and the wider community is evident through his volunteer and professional work. He served as Director of Youth Ministries at St. Peter Claver Parish and has served on the Parish Council. He was Associate Director and Coordinator of Black Youth and Young Adult Ministries and then Director fo the Office of Black Catholic Ministries for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He has served in prison ministry for over twenty-five years.

He has presented workshops and keynotes around the country and has written various pieces related to ministry including The African American Catholic Youth Bible and, the award-winning book, Leveling the Praying Field: Can the Church we Love, Love us Back? Dr. Augustine is also an Emmy-nominated producer for the documentary Black Faith Matters. He has also worked in prison ministry for over 25 years. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., the Knights of Columbus, the Knights of Peter Claver, and the Wild Tchoupitoulas (Black Masking) Mardi Gras Indians. He is also an Associate Member of the Sisters of the Holy Family in New Orleans, LA.

Ansel embodies the university's mission to lead meaningful lives with and for others and to work for a more just world. We celebrate his life of service and wish him well in his new post at the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.