I hope you were not referring to me as one of the apologists.
Here are some things that I think won't change:
1. Even though I love Louisiana, it's a ____ hole of a state. The tax structure is horrid and we have zero ability to attract any important companies here to provide any stable base for growth.
2. The political climate is also horrid. Just look at the whole I-49 thing.
3. Lafayette is a great "little" town that tries to big a big town. But, just like the state, the people in Lafayette have zero appetites for real and meaningful change. The public school system is a mess; the private schools are full of a bunch of brat kids that live off their indebted parent's accomplishments.
4. Like it or not Louisiana, therefore, Lafayette is tied to the price of oil & gas. Sure most cities are but not even close to the extent that Lafayette is. Did you know that the Metro population of Houston is more than that of the entire state of Louisiana? Houston metro beats out Louisiana by close to 2 million. When you add Katy, Woodlands, Friendswood, Pearland, and others you could probably up the number to 2.5 mil.
5. The City of Houston has a budget of 5+ billion and has 1/3 of the population of the metro. I would bet the metro area budget, when combined, fall short of Louisiana's 25+ billion budget. But look at what the Houston area metro has to offer. They make a much better use of the money that Louisiana.
6. The people in Lafayette and Louisiana will not or can not support the University at a level need to reach our potential.
7. Lousiana had years of high oil prices and did virtually nothing to diversify.
With all that being said, it is Farmer's and Dr. Savioe responsibility to deliver growth of their respective areas in the University. They have not delivered. Some things we know about, somethings we don't and some things we shouldn't know about.
Like it or not, a little 1G gift with two sport season tickets and a tailgating spot WILL NOT BUY YOU A SEAT AT THE TABLE so get over it. Even the top tier of the RCAF won't buy you a seat at the table. 6 figures...ok maybe you are getting somewhere. The high rollers in Lafayette could care less about UL, the name thing, or the tier 1 status. They have invested in the school up the road because they needed to invest in something with a return 20 years ago. Hell, Zuschlag is on the executive committee of the TAF board and Sturlese (one of the co-founders of Acadian) is a past chairman of TAF. Jamie Howard is a LAFAYETTE board member of the TAF.
Farmer, Dr. Savioe and whoever else should be held accountable for areas in the control, the problem is who really knows what they have control over when it comes to the crappy state. Yeah...yeah...the tigue issue is a problem and I hope something meaningful come out of fixing the problem.
Yall can continue to bang your heads against the wall if you want. I have tasted what else is out there and I am getting a 5 course meal of it as soon as I can.