Tech Support, Part 1(Tech History and the legacy of Huey P)

[Katydawg]

There have been many posts on this board with regard to the lack of support for Louisiana Tech in general, and Tech athletics in particular. Many posters have eloquently (sometimes not) chastised alumni, athletic department, university leadership, media, and general fans for the lack of support given the university. Some blame JBIII for all evils………. They are correct……on some points…..but fail to make a logical case on why support is not greater than current levels, and what expectations are realistic for Louisiana Tech.

I have thought a great deal about this topic, remembering how strange it seemed to watch Malone and company , ranked in the top 10, and not having a sellout crowd in the TAC. I still believe the great Malone team of 1984-85 is Tech’s greatest team athletic achievement….sorry lady techsters. Since graduation many years ago, I have participated in numerous fund-raising campaigns for Tech athletics, university foundation and the engineering foundation. I will propose a theory for the current level of support, or lack thereof, relating to alumni support to Tech in terms of donations and athletics.

Part 1 (Tech History and the legacy of Huey P and the U of L system)

Tech, while 108 years old, has only produced 75,000 alumni, achieving university status in 1970.
 1894-1921: 1,346 Bachelor of Industry degrees
 1921-1970: days of Loly Poly…..Louisiana Polytechnic Institute
 1970-2001: all grown up…….Louisiana Tech University
Rapid growth in student enrollment occurred in the 1960s. Thus, most Tech alumni, including myself, have graduated since 1970.

Someone, perhaps Huey P must have proclaimed “every parish needs a university” …….The advent of too many four-year institutions simply spread the education dollars too thin, resulting in the alphabet nightmare (NLULMLU) and underfunding to all higher education institutions…….

CONCLUSION: Tech’s alumni base is relatively young and small……affecting mostly dollars for support
CONCLSUION: The U of L system has resulted in too many universities, all underfunded, all looking up to the LSU system, which I am convinced is the primary reason a second major public university within Louisiana has not developed.…….Just imagine what might have been if ULM and Northwestern were JC’s.

[yobrefstank]

You hit the nail on the head. With only 75000 alumni since 1894, the support base is very small. LSU alumni have played this state very well in keeping LSU's "position" intact.

I believe Tech must get a professional degree program in place before we see a major change in contributions and support. A vet school, masters in nursing, physical therapy, dentistry, law(God forbid) will produce graduates with higher incomes and prestige and therefore more contributions and loyalty to the school.

just my .02

[Rossp917]

We have plenty of students leaving here and going to law, vet, PT, Med school, etc... at LSU. That is part of the conundrum. Almost every professional school in the state is related to the LSU system and almost none to the UL system.

From my understanding, we had a shot at the Pharm school that ULM has. Supposedly, President Ropp turned it down because we are an engineering school. Whether that is true or not, I don't know...that is just the rumor that I have been given.

I believe that our problem stems partially from being under the shadow of LSU and part of it comes from being in "perfect" Louisiana. As much as I love Ruston, there are plenty of problems here that no one wants to mention. Everyone wants to be loved, and everyone wants to be correct. In an attempt to be correct, locals will not fully support the school. They are half-heartedly behind it so that if things went wrong, they don't have to eat crow on the issue (i.e. it's not their problem). At the same time, this is the @$$-kissing mentality where when speaking to a persons face "they did a wonderful job, and no one could have done better", when they know that person will never find out what they said, it's "can you believe how poorly they did, I'M GLAD THAT I DON'T WORK WITH THEM". Why do you think you cannot get a straight answer from an administrator about JBIII. They fear that it might make it's way back and are afraid to seem two-faced (i.e. not perfect). It's the same reason (IMHO) that the school seems to shun good publicity, for fear that bad publicity might make the airwaves too.

With a half-hearted town, you can only hope to produce half-hearted students. There are a few die-hards in there, but after they leave the college atmosphere they get beaten down by the pessimists and those who could care less. They quickly lose their furvor. I know of a former OSL who now dates an MT type (i.e. went to TECH but THINKS he's a tigger). It didn't take long before she stopped coming to events and began to muddle her loyalties, because isn't it easier that way.

Changes have to begin on campus, but MORE IMPORTANTLY in this town. If TECH ever wants to grow, Ruston has to be willing to grow with it.

[TIGGERHATER]

There are a few die-hards in there, but after they leave the college atmosphere they get beaten down by the pessimists and those who could care less.

And throw in those Tech grads who rip us up in the Times. And I love how they hide behind the "reporters credo", i.e., "We are only reporting the news".

And they are reporting the NEWS in an OPINION column.

[DawgFaninHous]

I have said in many previous posts that La Tech should gobble up ULM and take that campus over, along with their academic and athletic programs. Any school that does not have disipline to operate under a balanced budget should not be given the chance to continue to waste taxpayer money. Until someone in Louisiana government grows some 'nads', we will not see changes. Your new governor, K B Blanco, has a chance to make history in re-constructing the Louisiana educational systems by doing away with 4 year schools that do not need to be a four year program and strengthening schools that should be. Unfortunately, she will do nothing but status quo; mark my words. There is no reason that NLU, N'western, and/or LSU-S'port/LSU-Alex should be four year schools. They should be two year programs geared to feed into larger programs with higher academic requirements (i.e. Tech).

Imagine how well how program could thrive if we had the money wasted at NLU every year or the fan base.

[dj95]

Blanco's husband is Vice President of Student Affairs at ULL. So look for any changes in higher ed. to benefit them.