Southeastern Foundation 2013 Annual Report

2 0 1 2 1 3 F O U N D AT I O N A N N U A L R E P O R T

FROM OUR PRESIDENT

Congratulations on reaching the 50 year anniversary mark. When the Foundation launched its efforts, Southeastern was a college of only a few thousand students. By all accounts, it was a small school, but it was also a growing school. The faculty and staff were focused on the students and making personal connections with them. Speaking to almost any of our graduates from that era, it is evident that Southeastern was a caring place where they felt part of a family.

The Foundation’s purpose was to support the operations of Southeastern. What that has really meant is to support opportunities for our students, and through many years of effort and growth, the Foundation has successfully done just that.

I’m pleased to write that we are still that caring place where students are part of the Southeastern family. While we now enroll approximately 15,000 students, compete in NCAA Division I Athletics, and offer over 150 choices in majors, minors and concentrations of study, we still have the friendly and caring atmosphere of that small college from so many years ago. This is a tribute to the diligent effort of faculty, staff, alumni and supporters that care about Southeastern and its ability to serve future generations of students.

Without your support, our ability to offer so many opportunities to students would not be possible. I recognize the value of your support and thank you for it. Because of your generosity through small and large gifts, the Foundation is made stronger and students benefit.

Thank you.

Sincerely, John L. Crain 1

MEMBERS:

BOARD OFFICERS:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mike Sharp CHAIRMAN

Cynthia Nesser

‘89

CHAIRMAN ELECT

Dennis James ‘81 IMMEDIATE PAST CHAIRMAN

Jack Payne TREASURER

Dr. John Kenelly SECRETARY

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‘57

Walter “Bud” Antin, Jr. Marcia Barr ‘72 Barry Brown ’79 Judge Burrell Carter Stan Dameron Judge Don Fendalson ‘59 David Frady ’85 Marcia Galatas ‘79 Jack Gautier Minnie Hughes Bill Kingsmill ’76 Judge Jimmy Kuhn ‘78 Shelby LaSalle, Jr. Joe Luquet ’68 Gino Marino ‘74 Lillian Maurin Dr. John Poteet Edward Riecke ’67 Craig Silva ‘73 Sandy Summers ’02 Charles Toney ‘06 Nicholas Tournillon ’59

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

As an alumnus, donor and Board member, I am proud of the continued success that our university has achieved, both of its own merit and in the current challenging times for higher education.

Students have achieved national attention for academic efforts, the university was named one of the Top 60 ROI (Return On Investment) universities for starting salaries after graduation, several programs have received top rankings state and region-wide, our faculty have continued to teach, publish and conduct research that make an impact on our thousands of students. We truly have a university of which we should all be proud.

Much of this success could only have been possible with your participation. The role of the Southeastern Foundation is to financially assist the university. With the intensity of budget cuts, our function becomes even more important. It has been successfully doing this for over 50 years now. It is, however, much more complex to achieve the fundraising success necessary to ensure that the university’s and its students’ successes continue. It is only through the continued concern, support and generosity of people like you that we can continue to succeed.

I personally thank you for all you have done and ask that you continue to participate with your support. Thank you for joining me as a benefactor of Southeastern Louisiana University.

Mike Sharp, Chair

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50TH ANNIVERSARY

Just over 50 years ago, President Luther H. Dyson and his leadership team recognized the need for an organization to provide continued financial support for Southeastern Louisiana College. At that time, the Development Foundation was chartered. Southeastern had recently received approval to begin graduate level studies, but was still years away from becoming a university; Friendship Oak was much smaller and the region known as the Northshore was decades away from seeing the population explosion it has seen.

Since that time, the Foundation has played a significant role in ensuring students have the best possible experience at Southeastern. In the past few decades, Foundation disbursements to the university and students have grown by significant multiples. Thousands of students have received scholarships and scores of academic programs have been supported. Football was brought back to campus and the number of professorships has greatly increased.

Through these years, the Foundation has proudly stood beside the university working in its best interest.

This past year has been no different. The Foundation was able to increase our overall number of alumni donors by 16% through new electronic-based campaigns and young alumni outreach. It saw a sizable increase in the endowment value while also offsetting significant funds cut from the university budget. The Office of Advancement and the Foundation collaborated with other university areas to develop and launch an initiative to brand the university and enhance its image and awareness among regional populations. Through the philanthropic student organization, Lion Legacy, the “Swabbin4Robin” initiative was launched to join Robin Roberts in her quest to support the national bone marrow registry, Be The Match.

As important as it is to look back, plans are only made for the future. In order to truly support the university’s brand promise as a caring and student centered institution, new initiatives are under way. A food pantry to service students when facilities are closed on campus will be launched. An emergency family support fund that provides students and their families with immediate short term funds after a personal or familial emergency will be enhanced. Efforts to further the building of a philanthropic/giving culture among our students will continue with a new initiative - a “Green Pig” effort that allows students to donate loose change to the food pantry initiative has recently been launched.

Looking even further into the future, it is important to ensure that the Foundation will celebrate its 100th year. The Board, along with the Office of Advancement, is working diligently on establishing modern operational systems and procedures, focusing on planning and growing the base of supporters and donors, and building efforts on best practices proven and used by successful organizations. The stage is being set for an astounding next half century.

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THEN & NOW

TUITION*

S TUDE NTS

G R A DUAT ES M E A L PL AN*

DOR M*

1963

$37.00

3,529

287

$160.00

$90.00

2013

$2,857.55

15,000

2,465

$1,400.00

$2,195.00

*PER SEMESTER

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ENSURING SUCCESS ONE STUDENT AT A TIME

KAITLYN FICKLE

“I’m making sure I pay for college myself, and I needed all the help I could get,” said Kaitlyn Fickle, junior in Marketing. Kaitlyn’s future has success written all over it, and her present is marked with it daily. She is a self-assured, hardworking, student involved on campus and preparing to launch her career – her life – with the strong foundation and richness of experience that Southeastern has provided.

Kaitlyn is a student worker in the Admissions Office who encourages high school students to attend Southeastern on a daily basis. She also works off campus, and helps as a care taker to a close relative. She is progressing through school at a faster than four year rate and has maintained a very high GPA. She is involved in several university organizations and can be seen all over campus. She is the embodiment of what it means to take on the college experience with full force. Kaitlyn is an exemplary student who is getting the most out of her time at Southeastern.

As the recipient of the James D. and Diana White Karl Endowed Scholarship, Kaitlyn is the direct beneficiary of the kindness and visionary mindset of Jim Karl, who established the scholarship seven years ago in his wife’s honor after her passing. Scholarships like this ensure that opportunity is not only for the select few, but for those who have the ability and desire to reach success. That is Kaitlyn.

In addition to the special closeness she feels about Southeastern, she also notes how special her relationship with Mr. Karl is, “He cares about how I’m doing and writes me regularly. It’s almost like having another grandfather.”

Scholarships help hundreds of students offset hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition. With this help, many find their way to their successful future. Your help, like Mr. Jim Karl’s, ensures this continues for decades to come.

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GIVING BACK TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

JACK BLOSSMAN

As a student of Southeastern Louisiana College 50 years ago, Jack Blossman benefitted from the growing university just up the road from home. As a Covington native, Jack decided upon Southeastern as his university and graduated with a degree in Business Administration and as member of Kappa Delta Tau fraternity. As he notes, his time at Southeastern was well spent, building lifelong friendships, enjoying a great experience and preparing for a successful career as an attorney and in banking. Now retired, Jack has generously supported Southeastern in various ways over the years, and last year reached out to help start efforts that would support Robin Roberts’ needs during her illness last year.

With his generous donation, Swabbin4Robin was born. His funding provided the basis for the campus-wide collaborative effort to support Robin in the best way possible – to make something positive come from her illness. The Swabbin4Robin initiative was developed to increase awareness of the need for more DNA registrants on the national Bone Marrow Donor Registry, as well as to actually increase registrant numbers. Dozens of students from many student groups, supported by Athletics, Advancement and the University Administration held over 20 registration events – “Swabbing” events. In this time, nearly 500 people were added to the registry, hundreds of service hours were performed (further engendering the value of service and philanthropy among students), and regional and national press was obtained for students, Southeastern, and the registry.

Only with the support of friends and alumni like Jack Blossman can Southeastern not only provide the best in educational opportunities, but work to build the whole person, preparing students to make a difference in a more and more complex world.

From his days at Southeastern over 50 years ago to today, Mr. Jack Blossman is not only a successful pillar of the community, but he demonstrates the true heart of a LION!

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BUILDING HANDS-ON EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

TURTLE COVE

One of the jewels of Southeastern’s facilities is the Turtle Cove Environmental Research Station. Turtle Cove is an environmental research, education and outreach facility in the Lake Pontchartrain estuarine ecosystem. Located on the southern shore of Pass Manchac on the 8,325-acre Manchac Wildlife Management Area. Accessible only by water, the facility was built in 1908 by Edward Schlieder as a private hunting and fishing lodge and was donated to Southeastern by the Schlieder Foundation. Today it serves to facilitate scholarly research, university teaching, teacher training, and public service/outreach/restoration activities.

Each year hundreds of university students, K-12 school children and other visitors come to experience wetlands firsthand. With 2,500 feet of walkways that extend over the marsh, visitors witnessthe true variety of the Manchac Wetlands. Cypress/tupelo swamps, brackish and fresh water marsh, bottom-land hardwood forest and estuarine and riverine aquatic systems are all readily accessible to be studied or just enjoyed.

Facility director, Dr. Robert Moreau has been managing Turtle Cove for 12 years. His focus of study and teaching has been in interdisciplinary environmental studies, primarily in environmental management (i.e., the business, socio-economic-cultural, and environment interaction). Turtle Cove has been a natural fit for Dr. Moreau. “This is the kind of scholarship and outreach that universities should seek to accomplish. We teach elementary, high school, and university students about our unique native environments and provide for research opportunities for our Southeastern faculty and students, as well as other area universities, to understand how best to mitigate damages to the environment for the long term.”

Turtle Cove is supported by the university and enhanced through the generosity of many individual donors and partnerships. It is yet another element of Southeastern Louisiana University that is sustained with help from supporters and partners

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ENSURING FUTURE LIFE DEFINING EXPERIENCES

LAURA DUNLAP

Many people will describe their time at Southeastern as pivotal or even life changing. Careers are defined, maturity is developed, skills and expertise are learned. To some, though, it is even more than that; it is a whole life defining time. If for anyone, that is the case for Laura Jones Dunlap. Laura is, proudly, a school administrator, an entrepreneur, a wife and mother.

Each of these roles was affected by her time at Southeastern. Laura is clear about her days here - “I had an exceptional college experience…

Southeastern is the type of university that makes that happen!”

During her time as an undergraduate at Southeastern, as Laura prepared for a career in education, she was active on campus as a member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, participating in fundraisers, doing community service and so much more. As so many do, she learned a great deal about herself in the special collegiate experience offered at Southeastern. But her connection goes even further. Her husband, Chad Dunlap, was a business student at Southeastern as well. They met at a mixer with his fraternity, and as they say, the rest is history.

Today, Laura is assistant principal at Seventh Ward Elementary in Denham Springs and is co-owner of a children’s clothing store, The Bee’s Knees.

Chad is a process operator at Exxon, and they both know the impact that their university made on their lives.

Laura has been a consistent donor and alumni association member for years. Her commitment to Southeastern started with Southeastern’s commitment to her. She is just one of so many who hope to turn the great things that Southeastern has done for them into supporting opportunities for future students to experience the same caring and life enriching environment she experienced.

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FUNDRAISING

FUND USE

FOUNDATION TOTAL GIVING

9% DEPARTMENT SUPPORT

12% DISCRETIONARY 15% FACULTY

SUPPORT

$1,370,954 2012 - 2013

39% STUDENT

SUPPORT

26% PROGRAMS /UNITS

14 11

DONORS

DONOR GROWTH CONTINUES

ALUMNI

TOTAL

1st TIME

DONORS

DONORS

DONORS

1755

2642

533 15

ENDOWMENT

ENDOWMENT VALUE HISTORY ENDOWED PROFESSORS & CHAIRS

54

$30,515,050 2012 - 14

$28,383,526 2011 - 12

$27,140,370 2010 - 11

$23,651,950 2009 - 10

$23,390,422 2008 - 09

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ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS

357

SLU 10293

HAMMOND,LA 70402

985.549.2239

S O U T H E A S T E R N F O U N D AT I O N . O R G