For Betty and William 'Peanut' Lowry, there are few memories more precious than their college years at SLI. “Most of the good things that have happened to me are a direct result of graduating from SLI,” Peanut said. It’s that sense of appreciation that inspired the Lowrys to join the UL Lafayette Alumni Association and to volunteer to help the organization with its community events. “Although we have always supported UL Lafayette athletics, we have now gotten to an age when old memories of all our college days are important,” Betty said.

The former Mary Elizabeth Jeanmard, Betty was a member of the Red Jackets, a campus spirit group, at SLI. Along with other former members, she helped organize the first Red Jacket Reunion earlier this year and assembled a database of names of more than 200 members who were Red Jackets between 1938 and 1959. “It is always fun to renew old friendships and to meet people you missed knowing the first time around,” she said. “The Red Jacket Reunion stirred up a lot of memories of halftime shows with balloons and pom-poms.” Betty graduated from SLI in 1954 with a degree in chemistry. Fifty years later, she didn’t let the golden anniversary of her graduation go unnoticed. This spring she made dozens of phone calls to former classmates, encouraging them to attend a Golden Anniversary Reunion she helped plan. Like his wife, Peanut finds himself urging others to support the University and the Alumni Association. His mantra: “Don’t miss the opportunity to keep up with your classmates while promoting UL.”

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