{"id":12601,"date":"2025-10-03T15:57:31","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T19:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/?p=12601"},"modified":"2025-10-20T15:51:55","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T19:51:55","slug":"saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/","title":{"rendered":"Saint Peter\u2019s University Announces Appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Jersey City, N.J. \u2013 October 6, 2025 \u2013<\/strong> Saint Peter\u2019s University today announced the appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Saint Peter\u2019s University\u2019s inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer. As VP and General Counsel, attorney Mercado Hak will serve as the University\u2019s chief legal officer and senior executive responsible for overseeing the institution\u2019s legal, governmental, and public affairs. \u201cWe are thrilled to welcome Paula as the University\u2019s Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer,” said President Hubert Benitez. “Her appointment marks a significant milestone for our institution, as it reflects our deep commitment to leadership that aligns with our mission and values. With her distinguished background in both law and education, Paula brings the insight, integrity, and experience necessary to help guide the University through a complex and evolving landscape. She is an exceptional addition to our leadership team\u201d.<\/p>\n

Prior to joining SPU, Paula served as the Assistant Vice President for Academic Labor Relations at Rutgers University, where she focused on labor and employment matters pertaining to aligned faculty and academic employees, managed university-wide labor relations, negotiated collective bargaining agreements with the unions and provided regular advice to all schools and administrators regarding faculty, negotiated agreements and university policies. In addition, she has served as the General Counsel and Chief Administrator of Human Resources for the non-profit corporations forming the social and behavioral healthcare services arm of the Archdiocese of Newark and General Counsel of the Jersey City Public Schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read Paula’s full biography<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

# # end # #<\/p>\n

For more than 150 years, Saint Peter\u2019s University, inspired by its Jesuit, Catholic identity, commitment to individual attention and grounding in the liberal arts, educates a diverse community of learners in undergraduate, graduate, doctoral and professional programs to excel intellectually, lead ethically, serve compassionately and promote justice in our ever-changing urban and global environment. To learn more, please visit saintpeters.edu.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jersey City, N.J. \u2013 October 6, 2025 \u2013 Saint Peter\u2019s University today announced the appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Saint Peter\u2019s University\u2019s inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer. As VP and General Counsel, attorney Mercado Hak will serve as the University\u2019s chief legal officer and senior executive responsible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1293,"featured_media":12603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5,2,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-current-students","category-faculty-staff","category-future-students","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSaint Peter\u2019s University Announces Appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer - News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"dbocchino\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"dbocchino\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/e34d0022b2f64ab992c01054c76a4ab2\"},\"headline\":\"Saint Peter\u2019s University Announces Appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-03T19:57:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-20T19:51:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/\"},\"wordCount\":341,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/230\/files\/2025\/10\/Paula-Mercado-Hak-photo.10-3-2025-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Current Students\",\"Faculty Staff\",\"Future Students\",\"Press Release\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.saintpeters.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/03\/saint-peters-university-announce-appointment-of-paula-mercado-hak-esq-as-inaugural-vice-president-and-general-counsel-chief-external-affairs-officer\/\",\"name\":\"Saint Peter\u2019s University Announces Appointment of Paula Mercado Hak, Esq. as Inaugural Vice President and General Counsel & Chief External Affairs Officer - 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