Fundraising/Investment Potential

[VObserver]

_ That was the sticking point. When it came to who to use it on, that's when it became a problem. The one issue Dr. Authement had with those who wanted to donate had to do with personnel. Several of these donors wanted input into the hiring and firing of athletic department employees. Would you want someone who had no knowledge of your day to day operations tell you how to run your business? I realize that was not the issue in every case, but now that we have the RCAF, which Dr A. did have a hand in helping to develop, that is no longer a factor. _

I will give you first hand knowledge. in 1998, my son came here to run track. I volunteered to help the track program raise money. One of the ideas I had was to approach Stuller Settings about underwriting women's track and field, since his clientele is largely women and since T&F has more women than any other sport at UL.

I approached coach Lancon with this and he asked Schex. Schex came back with a statement that athletics was PROHIBITED by Dr. Authemont from soliciting money from Stuller, because Stuller had endowed a chair on the academic side.

Can't get much clearer than that. That decision had squat to do with personnel.

[cajunhawk]

What he did for academics cannot be measured. UL is a fine academic institution. He demanded excellence. I remember taking all those crazy standardized tests when I was graduating to make sure the Business College kept their accreditation. He also kept the university out of debt. Zero debt. On the academic side you could not have asked for a better university president.

On the athletic side he did everything he could to keep athletics firmly under his thumb and never overtaking the academic reputation of this institution. He left the basketball team out in the cold during the NCAA investigation. Turned his back on them. There was never a firm commitment to advance the athletic department. Look at what has been done in the short time since his retirement. It doesn't take much. All it takes is a want too. He didn't have it. Saw no need for it. And he may have been a bit correct. This is an academic institution. Not a minor league sports team. But academics and athletics can work together in harmony. Authement never saw it that way. Savoie does.

At the end of the day, his legacy will always be what he did for this university academically. We can't blame him for wanting to keep academics firmly numero uno at this university. The degree I have on the wall in my office means a lot more than it would had Ray Authement not cared about academics at UL. Because of what he did for academics, the precedent is set for Dr. Savoie to continue the academic excellence and invest and grow athletics for the overall good of UL. Without Paw Paw Ray, none of this is possible.

[Cajun90]

I will give you first hand knowledge. in 1998, my son came here to run track. I volunteered to help the track program raise money. One of the ideas I had was to approach Stuller Settings about underwriting women's track and field, since his clientele is largely women and since T&F has more women than any other sport at UL.

I approached coach Lancon with this and he asked Schex. Schex came back with a statement that athletics was PROHIBITED by Dr. Authemont from soliciting money from Stuller, because Stuller had endowed a chair on the academic side.

Can't get much clearer than that. That decision had squat to do with personnel.

I had a similar experience. First hand. Well he actually had Blanco tell me. Close enough. Bottom line is that NOBODY at UL could solicite anything without his approval. That approval, to my knowledge, was rarely allowed.

[Rebel02]

_ What he did for academics cannot be measured. UL is a fine academic institution. He demanded excellence. I remember taking all those crazy standardized tests when I was graduating to make sure the Business College kept their accreditation. He also kept the university out of debt. Zero debt. On the academic side you could not have asked for a better university president.

On the athletic side he did everything he could to keep athletics firmly under his thumb and never overtaking the academic reputation of this institution. He left the basketball team out in the cold during the NCAA investigation. Turned his back on them. There was never a firm commitment to advance the athletic department. Look at what has been done in the short time since his retirement. It doesn't take much. All it takes is a want too. He didn't have it. Saw no need for it. And he may have been a bit correct. This is an academic institution. Not a minor league sports team. But academics and athletics can work together in harmony. Authement never saw it that way. Savoie does.

At the end of the day, his legacy will always be what he did for this university academically. We can't blame him for wanting to keep academics firmly numero uno at this university. The degree I have on the wall in my office means a lot more than it would had Ray Authement not cared about academics at UL. Because of what he did for academics, the precedent is set for Dr. Savoie to continue the academic excellence and invest and grow athletics for the overall good of UL. Without Paw Paw Ray, none of this is possible. _

I don't agree with much hawk says, but this sums up exactly how I feel about Dr. Authement. I proudly hang my degree from UL thanks to the reputation that Dr. Authement helped build for this university.

Without Dr. Authement's leadership, I don't know if the university would have had the drive to form Team CajunBot, to build the LITE center, etc. Without his leadership, we would be a pretty normal university....nice looking campus, pretty standard colleges on campus, decent graduation rates. With his leadership, we are a unique university, with excellent colleges on campus, and a higher graduation than some of our peers.

[California Cajun]

I don't know what this discussion has to do with the thread title, "Poor WAC," but I think Dr. Authement's impact can be summed up pretty easily.

In the long-term I think we will benefit big time, but in the short term we suffered big time in athletics.

Hopefully we're positioned to enjoy both short-term and long-term rewards from here on out.

[moorecajun]

_ What he did for academics cannot be measured. UL is a fine academic institution. He demanded excellence. I remember taking all those crazy standardized tests when I was graduating to make sure the Business College kept their accreditation. He also kept the university out of debt. Zero debt. On the academic side you could not have asked for a better university president.

On the athletic side he did everything he could to keep athletics firmly under his thumb and never overtaking the academic reputation of this institution. He left the basketball team out in the cold during the NCAA investigation. Turned his back on them. There was never a firm commitment to advance the athletic department. Look at what has been done in the short time since his retirement. It doesn't take much. All it takes is a want too. He didn't have it. Saw no need for it. And he may have been a bit correct. This is an academic institution. Not a minor league sports team. But academics and athletics can work together in harmony. Authement never saw it that way. Savoie does.

At the end of the day, his legacy will always be what he did for this university academically. We can't blame him for wanting to keep academics firmly numero uno at this university. The degree I have on the wall in my office means a lot more than it would had Ray Authement not cared about academics at UL. Because of what he did for academics, the precedent is set for Dr. Savoie to continue the academic excellence and invest and grow athletics for the overall good of UL. Without Paw Paw Ray, none of this is possible. _

Couldn't have said it any better! We UL (or in my case USL) graduates are much better off because of what Dr. A. did for our University. With that said, we have always felt more could/can be done for athletics that would also improve academics. Sure, there will come a time when it is too much (picture SEC schools) and there is too much emphasis on athletics. We have to have faith in our leadership to be able to handle that task when needed. I have that faith.

[Zeebart21]

Gents, there are other mid majors who "academically" have accomplished as much or more than we have in past years.....PLUS, they have very competitive athletic programs.. We could have had it all too.

Glad Authements out...Looking forward to the future.

Z

[CajunRebel]

Wow this thread got hijacked!

igeaux.mobi

[CajunStros]

_ Gents, there are other mid majors who "academically" have accomplished as much or more than we have in past years.....PLUS, they have very competitive athletic programs.. We could have had it all too.

Glad Authements out...Looking forward to the future.

Z _

I am a firm believer that if it weren't for Dr. A "squeezing 11 dimes out of a dollar" we wouldn't be weathering the higher education budget cut storm as well as we have. There are still plenty of coffee cans buried even after all the cuts the University has/is dealing with, just ask all the other schools in the state. His penny pinching put us in a position to avoid many of the same issues other schools are dealing with.

With that said, the way athletics was handled is an outrage. Jerry Baldwin anyone? Dr. A was obviously an academia genius. He just got it.

Athletics always played second fiddle, maybe third. It was bad, real bad.

I'm glad Dr. Savioe has the same vision many of us share, academically and athletically. Dr. S has the complete package and is surrounding himself with the appropriate staff to make this vision a reality.