Authement leads University of Louisiana through change with a steady hand
Ray Authement has led University of Louisiana through three decades of change, including the fight to change the school’s name. The campus is experiencing growth at every edge — from its main campus to its research park, athletics complex, farm and research center in New Iberia.
Construction is booming; stricter academic standards are on the horizon; and the university made it through the Legislative session without an expected budget deficit. “It’ll be a good year,” Authement said.
Staff reporter Marsha Sills sat down one morning last week to chat with Authement, fresh from the July Fourth holiday weekend he spent with his grandchildren. “We made homemade ice cream,” he said.
Q What was the campus like when you were a student here?
A There were two cars on campus at the time. (He pointed out his office window to the parking lot below.) This parking lot was the administrative building, the old Martin Hall. You knew most of the students.
Q Where did you grow up?
A Boudreaux Canal. I think I was the only one (from Boudreaux Canal). Then SLI (Southwestern Louisiana Institute) was the school of choice for that part of the country. We even had a Terrebonne Club where all the kids from Terrebonne Parish met and shared stories. I remember I gave a lecture on the development of the hydrogen bomb. I was in physics.
Q When did you start teaching at the university?
A I taught here as a senior. They needed a physics lab teacher. I taught as a senior in mathematics.
Q Was there a point in your career when you decided you wanted to lead the university?
A No. I loved the university from the first moment I stepped on campus. It didn’t occur to me until I guess the late ‘60s, when President Fletcher called me and asked me to do a job with registration of students. There were too many students adding and dropping courses. He asked me to look at it, and I realized I developed an interest in administration.
Q What was your first order of business as president?
A Well, I had been trained by Dr. Rougeau, who was president just before me. He allowed me to do just about everything. I controlled the budget. I represented the university with the NCAA when we had some difficulty. I was allowed to make some decisions in terms of faculty salaries and faculty decisions. He allowed me to learn administrative sections of the university without any interruptions. Sometimes, once or twice, he would say, ‘You may be moving a little too fast in this area, but I have confidence in what you’re doing.’ You have to understand I was working under him when there was a lot of student unrest in the States like at Kent State. Some students were killed in demonstrations. He allowed me to handle situations on campus. I can remember a demonstration under the flagpole. I was the one who had to go out with student personnel and bring calm to the situation and get the students to move on. I got, I guess, about every experience I needed to handle the job. I lobbied before the Legislature and the board.
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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com
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