Academic news from this morning

[HoustonCajun]

So many of you insist that we need big-time athletics to succeed. So riddle me this, Batman:

How is it that we are already succeeding?

I remember a friendly, but animated, disagreement with a UL administrator who was insisting to me that we have to have big-time athletics to succeed.

I replied that I know of an academic area, at a public university, that was succeeding without big-time athletics.

He wrinkled his nose in doubt, and asked me, Where?

I pointed at him and said, "In your area." He didn't take it well.

But it was true. He and his people were succeeding -- like gangbusters -- even though we didn't have big-time athletics.

So in response to your comments about public attitudes and perceptions, let me offer a few questions:

Do you think we should try to change those attitudes?

Do you think, as I do, that in fact it is our mission to change those attitudes?

Well, do you think that UL is capable of changing those attitudes?

And if not UL, can you name another school in the South who even has an interest in trying to change them?

With great apologies, I will never agree with those who equate t-shirts with success.

The Bhagavad Gita contains one of my favorite quotes: "Better one's own path, though imperfect, than another's well-made."

I don't want UL to be as good as LSU, or Florida, or even Texas, UNC or Virginia.

I want us to be better.

And if some of you folks would stop waving your pom-pons for a minute and look around, you would see that we are on track to be better. We are blazing a different path forward, we are re-thinking what a university is, what a university does, and what a university could do.

UL has the potential to grow into more than colleges who simply surrender their ideals, and pander to the opinions of an ill-educated public.

And once you consider that possibility, why would we strive for anything less?

While I agree that academics is and should be the primary mission of any university, why can't UL also focus on athletics as its primary marketing tool? Why do academics and athletics have to be mutually exclusive? AAU schools like Michigan, Texas and Florida, for example, achieved the highest level of academics AND athletics. Everyone knows that these universities are among the most recognized in the country because of athletics. How many people know they are AAU schools, right alongside Harvard and Yale, of which there are only 71 in the country? UL achieved R1 and Top 100 R&D status.and continues to grow. Dr. Savoie once said that athletics is the front porch of the university. If so, now that we are achieving academic success, why not elevate athletics to a similar level and create a greater awareness of UL statewide and nationally?

[R1Letterman]

It says Iowa state "left" AAu last year. Also Nebraska and Syracuse recently. Or maybe kicked out.

Also says invitation only and a vote of current members, required and All 69 U.S. members of the AAU are also classified as Highest Research Activity (R1) Universities by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, as are three of the five former AAU members

[Boomer]

While I agree that academics is and should be the primary mission of any university, why can't UL also focus on athletics as its primary marketing tool? Why do academics and athletics have to be mutually exclusive? AAU schools like Michigan, Texas and Florida, for example, achieved the highest level of academics AND athletics. Everyone knows that these universities are among the most recognized in the country because of athletics. How many people know they are AAU schools, right alongside Harvard and Yale, of which there are only 71 in the country? UL achieved R1 and Top 100 R&D status.and continues to grow. Dr. Savoie once said that athletics is the front porch of the university. If so, now that we are achieving academic success, why not elevate athletics to a similar level and create a greater awareness of UL statewide and nationally?

…….So we need to do da Boat of dem!!!…llWell the academic side of the university didn’t wake up one day and say….”Hey, we are R-1…there was great planning and just think that Coach’s relationship with J Ben John got us the research center and that helped us get the new New Iberia deal with solar panels…damn how many years since then? I guess we can add the apes to the discussion, but that has gotten its rewards! We have done the ground work with facilities for athletics almost there (thank you Senator Mouton)….we must start a quest for P-5 just like we did for R-1…Now!!!

[MelRock]

Thanks

I was told this morning by John Blohm 204 million.

[CajunVic]

I was told this morning by John Blohm 204 million.

That is a nice number . . .

[cajun4life]

I was told this morning by John Blohm 204 million.

I wish we had the support to start a 10 year campaign to get to $1B in the UL Foundation.

[cajunfan96]

It only took 58+ years to be ebullient for the 1st time. At current pace of R&D growth.this will likely be an annual ebulliency outbreak.

Just a decade away from passing half billion mark for R&D.

What! Somebody say outbreak? Get the mask out!

[BabbForHeisman]

What! Somebody say outbreak? Get the mask out!

Hahahaha don’t starts. Cajun Caviar is going to go back in his bunker

[CajunVic]

Hahahaha don’t starts. Cajun Caviar is going to go back in his bunker

. . . obvious from your writings, we know who you have been spending quality time with . . .

[R1Letterman]

But we miss a lot in the local area because high school guidance counselors don't want their best and brightest to just attend the "local university."

That is a good point. But don't think that is a knock against UL. Going away to school should be a reward for top students. May be a disguised bias by the counselors against us or may be a fair and true sentiment. And would likely be told to BR students as well to go away and not go to TSAB if they want to succeed. We just hear about more when it happens in lafayette area??

[CajunFun]

While I agree that academics is and should be the primary mission of any university, why can't UL also focus on athletics as its primary marketing tool? Why do academics and athletics have to be mutually exclusive? AAU schools like Michigan, Texas and Florida, for example, achieved the highest level of academics AND athletics. Everyone knows that these universities are among the most recognized in the country because of athletics. How many people know they are AAU schools, right alongside Harvard and Yale, of which there are only 71 in the country? UL achieved R1 and Top 100 R&D status.and continues to grow. Dr. Savoie once said that athletics is the front porch of the university. If so, now that we are achieving academic success, why not elevate athletics to a similar level and create a greater awareness of UL statewide and nationally?

I hear people here say repeatedly, "We can have both." To my mind, that's just a way of saying "I don't want to prioritize academics over athletics." You said the opposite, and I appreciate that.

But the truth is, no one has both, not consistently. A lot of schools are consistently excellent at academics, but no one is consistently excellent in sports. and Michigan, Texas, and Florida are perfect examples. Each of them has more money than Croesus, but they all are inconsistent with their successes on the arena. I would suspect that LSU has had more recent sports successes than they have, but LSU is still inconsistent; and academically, we're nipping at their heels.

And then there is the problem with the word 'academics' itself. at most universities it just means 'research' and 'graduate school production.' I don't know of any metrics that look at the quality of undergraduate education, but it's something we're trying to do here. It's the sort of thing that doesn't make the publications, but it spreads by word-of-mouth.

And that's what we're looking for: slow, sustained growth. we want quality, not flash. Sports is quick success; just look at App State, Troy, and Coastal, who are enjoying athletics success, but none of whom are even R2.

Dr. Savoie said that athletics is the front porch. I wonder if he would still say that after we made R1? Because right now, he is laser-focused on academics. He loves sports, but he loves UL much, much more. and he knows what real excellence is for a university.

In addition, do we really think that athletics should be our primary marketing tool, that the best and brightest students & faculty shop for universities by their sports teams? Our students hardly even go to the games anymore; in fact, it seems that the more we win, the more our attendance drops.

IMHO, schools that see athletics as their primary marketing tool often don't have much else to brag about.

Just because we live in a state with dysfunctional ideas about higher education, doesn't mean we have to share in those dysfunctions.

[CajunFun]

I wish we had the support to start a 10 year campaign to get to $1B in the UL Foundation.

I'll second that.

[Turbine]

. IMHO, schools that see athletics as their primary marketing tool often don't have much else to brag about.

It's not for bragging, it's for coverage.

There are no mass media outlets for academics, so name awareness comes from another source, which inadvertanly exposes the multitudes to what the school has to offer academically.

[fanof71]

It's not for bragging, it's for coverage.

There are no mass media outlets for academics, so name awareness comes from another source, which inadvertanly exposes the multitudes to what the school has to offer academically.

Just ask App. New applications soared after the Game day Broadcast

[CajunFun]

Just ask App. New applications soared after the Game day Broadcast

What kind of students applied? Not just SAT & GPA, but what are their goals? What do they think higher education is supposed to do for them?

I'll bet no one cancelled their applications to the Ivy League schools to go there.