La Louisiane Spring 2024

SPRING 2024

Happy Birthday to Us As we move beyond our 125th year, the future has never been brighter

Sun King

Maison d’Etre

Researcher shines as international force in solar energy

Center for Louisiana Studies fulfills its destiny at the Roy House

As you read this, the observance of the University’s 125th birthday is coming to a close. It’s been a year filled with reminders of how far we’ve come in that long history and definite signals of where we’re heading.

This issue of La Louisiane captures both the nostalgia of an anniversary celebration and the momentum that’s moving us beyond 125.

As part of our year-long birthday, the University hosted an Academic Showcase earlier this spring. Walking through the Student Union, you could feel the energy and excitement as faculty and staff members and students displayed work that places them on the front lines of some of society’s great challenges and on the cutting edge of emerging issues, too.

There was also a historical exhibit – 20 panels that chronicled and encapsulated the past century and a quarter. Selections from it appear in this issue, so you have the chance to experience it as well. With each page, the dynamism and progress that fueled our growth increases, and the stories of success it reveals will leave little doubt how we were able to move beyond our humble beginnings to become the top-tier university we are now.

As many visitors did, I spent some time during the Academic Showcase reading and reflecting on the exhibit. As I reached its end, I noticed an empty spot after the final panel, and I thought to myself, this is where our next chapter will go.

As this issue of La Louisiane shows, students, faculty, staff and alumni – with the help of donors, friends and community partners – are busy writing that next chapter. Here, you’ll find researchers creating a brighter future. You’ll find stories of preservation and perseverance, and those of support and impact.

You’ll meet national champions, world-class scholars, students who are going places and graduates who haven’t forgotten their roots.

Most of all, you’ll get the sense that, while the last 125 years have been monumental, our next chapter will surely eclipse them.

We hope you enjoy this issue of La Louisiane.

Dr. Joseph Savoie

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36

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Celebrating

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

18 Happy Birthday to Us

RESEARCH

2 6

End of the Road FUEL for the Future

ON C A MP U S

32 Sun King

Roy House Restored 12 Love Language

38 Field Work

A LU MN I A S S O CI ATI O N

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40 Enduring Legacy

S TU D E N TS

A LU MN I

Radio Renaissance 16 Ice Age Finds 14

36 Domination

S P ORTS

45 Alumna Makes History

GIV IN G

46 Prescription for Success 47 ‘A Wonderful Life’

VISIT LOUISIANA.EDU/LALOUISIANE FOR A DIGITAL VERSION OF LA LOUISIANE. SIGN UP FOR THE @LOUISIANA NEWSLETTER FOR THE LATEST UNIVERSITY NEWS. OCM.LOUISIANA.EDU/SUBSCRIBE ON THE COVER: The “biggest, coolest” equipment around – like this light-soaking chamber – is among the reasons the University is an international solar energy leader. Photo by Doug Dugas.

Dr. James Savage

Courtney Jeffries

Editor

Creative Director

Marie Elizabeth Oliver

André Broussard

Managing Editor

Graphic Designer

Charlie Bier

Doug Dugas, Paul Kieu

Associate Editorial Director

Photographers

Volume 30, Number 1. $5 an issue.

La Louisiane is published by the Office of Communications and Marketing in the Division of University Advancement (337) 482-6397 LaLouisiane@louisiana.edu © 2024 University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Katherine Frazer

Philip Gould, Danny Izzo, UL Lafayette Special Collections

University of Louisiana at Lafayette is a member of the University of Louisiana System.

Christi Landry Bell, Adam Cortez, Christine Payton, Kathleen Thames

Dr. Joseph Savoie President

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Dr. Jennifer Stephens

La Louisiane is published by UL Lafayette’s students through the STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION, by UL LAFAYETTE and by COMMUNITY SUPPORTERS.

Associate Vice President

Communications and Marketing

Student Editor

Let’s keep in touch.

Update your contact information by visiting alumni.louisiana.edu/membership/update-profile

Contributing Photography

Kade Parker Editorial Intern

Contributing Writers

louisiana.edu/lalouisiane 8

END OF THE ROAD

Oral histories tell stories of displaced tribe’s plight

BY CHARLIE BIER

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deterioration. The content is he ancestral home of structured to engage scholars members of the Jean and general readers alike, she Charles Choctaw Nation explained. “It tells an overall was once a sprawling, thriving story of what happened to this island where self-sufficiency was tribe and what happened to the rooted in growing crops, raising land and the outside influences livestock, hunting, fishing and that impacted each.” trapping. Coastal erosion and End of the Road will also put subsidence, however, has all but a resounding personal stamp wiped out Isle de Jean Charles, on a larger story. In 2022, many which sits 90 miles southwest of former residents of Isle de Jean New Orleans and about 3 miles Charles began resettling in a off the coast of Terrebonne Parnew community. The move was ish. Once roughly 32,000-acres, historic, the first such federally an area about three-quarters the funded relocation effort in the size of Washington, D.C., Isle lower 48 states for a communide Jean Charles has dwindled to about 300 acres. With the island ty impacted by environmental has gone a home to, at its peak, changes. The relocation, to a hundreds of Native Americans. development about 40 miles Four families remain, sharing an north of Isle de Jean Charles existence with a string of abancalled “New Isle,” was funded by a $48 million U.S. Departdoned, dilapidated houses clinging to a strip of land as narrow ment of Housing and Urban as a quarter mile in spots.

Development grant administered Dr. Heather Stone is by the state. The resettlement is helping to preserve memories intended to serve as a model as of what life was once like on similar displacement scenariIsle de Jean Charles, a place os play out across the nation accessible solely by boat or and world. Tribal members’ Dr. Heather Stone at New Isle, the home of many former pirogue before the construction residents of Isle de Jean Charles. oral histories – threaded with of Island Road in 1953. Stone, customs and traditions as well an associate professor in the College of Education & Human as elements of history, politics, ethnicity, economics and coastal Development, has collected dozens of oral histories from tribal land loss – both “amplify the community’s voice and increase members that form the heart of her forthcoming book, End of global awareness of environmental changes and their effects on the Road: Forced Exodus from Isle de Jean Charles. The University people in Louisiana and other low-lying communities,” Stone Press of Mississippi will publish End of the Road as part of its wrote in the preface to End of the Road.

America’s Third Coast Series. Its oral histories will constitute Residents’ opinions about New Isle – and its 32 houses the only known large-scale compilation of personal accounts built on what was once a sugar cane field – are mixed. Former by members of the displaced and fractured Jean Charles Isle de Jean Charles resident Chris Brunet said he’s “still Choctaw Nation. The coffee table-sized book will also feature adjusting” to life in his new neighborhood and summed up text by Stone, photos of island life through generations, and the complicated relocation during a recent interview with La images of survey maps to illustrate the progression of the land’s Louisiane. “If we still had the land, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

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Dr. Heather Stone catches up with the Rev. Roch Naquin of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation. At right is a water-damaged prayer for intercession. stretches in a rented home near Isle de Jean Charles, has witnessed plenty of island history. She has seen the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, which was previously the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe, adopt its current name. Stone has watched the transition of the nation’s leadership pass from former tribal chief Albert Naquin to his nephew, Deme Naquin. She has observed the fallout caused by Hurricane Ida in 2021, which effectively delivered the final blow to Isle de Jean Charles. And, sadly, Stone has lost friends. “In the

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“In spite of the floods and in spite of the hurricanes, I would have stayed on the island. It’s like people who live in Tornado Alley. It’s part of your environment. Sometimes it turns and gets you, but you still stay. It’s where you feel at home.”

Stone’s time spent researching the island, building relationships with residents, collecting interviews, and conducting archival research in Washington, D.C., and Baton Rouge began in 2016, the year the relocation grant was awarded. Stone, who has spent long

Jean Charles Choctaw Nation member Chris Brunet shares memories of Isle de Jean Charles with Dr. Heather Stone.

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Deme Naquin, Jean Charles Choctaw Nation tribal chief, talks to Dr. Heather Stone at an abandoned house on Isle de Jean Charles. past eight years, many tribal elders have died and now almost everyone has had to move away, which is ironic because the tribe originally settled on the island due to a forced exodus,” she said.

The nation’s path going forward will center, in part, around its ongoing push for federal recognition, a long sought after designation that’s proven elusive. Such status, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs, recognizes American Indian or Alaska Native tribal entities as having government-to-government relationships with the U.S. That translates to the right to self-govern and eligibility for funding and services from the bureau. It also means meeting voluminous, exacting federal requirements and guidelines. “The ultimate goal is to become a sovereign nation,” Deme Naquin explained, “but that’s not an easy task. We’re finding that out.” As with many Native American tribes, researching and compiling generations worth of historical records, where often little or none exist, fleshing out genealogical trees, or establishing property ownership chains can be daunting, if not impossible.

Especially for the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation.

Accounts vary as to which tribe first inhabited the island, which is believed to have been settled in the early 1800s. Isle de Jean Charles’ population jumped considerably with an influx of Native Americans from other states, many of whom sought refuge on Isle de Jean Charles rather than endure the Trail of Tears following the Indian Removal Act of 1830.

Over the years, marriages between members of different tribes and with residents of surrounding communities have 4

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

further complicated understanding of the nation’s evolution and history. Still, federal recognition is attainable, Naquin explained. “We know a lot of our history – it’s just not documented.” Federal recognition, according to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, can in some cases be granted by U.S. court decisions or an act of Congress. But the nation, which has worked diligently across many years to gather and curate materials that stitch together its history, isn’t waiting on external assistance. “We’re frustrated it hasn’t happened yet.

So, we can’t stop working and pushing for ourselves,” Naquin reasoned. For her part, Stone said an academic book like End of the Road can’t begin to provide “what the nation needs for federal recognition. But hopefully, members can use the oral histories to support their work and assist their bid in some way, whether that’s by creating widespread awareness or catching the attention of someone in a position to offer substantial help.”

End of the Road, for which no publication date has been set, caps a body of exhaustive research by Stone that’s yielded a trove of materials. UL Lafayette will share ownership of written and digital versions of the oral histories, and items such as transcripts, photos and maps. Copies of the materials will be housed among University archives and accessible to the public; copies will also, as part of a joint agreement, live with the tribe. “In addition to serving as a resource for scholars and researchers, I hope the totality of what I’ve collected will be a public archive that tribe members can be proud of and that will be accessed and valued by future generations who are curious about their history,” Stone explained.

GRANT EXPANDS RESEARCH’S REACH The Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recently named Dr. Heather Stone among five early-career research fellows for its Education Research track. Stone earned the fellowship based on several research projects, including work related to Isle de Jean Charles. She plans to use a portion of the fellowship’s $76,000 award on a virtual reality project for K-12 students.

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Deme Naquin and Dr. Heather Stone look out over a stretch of marsh that was once solid ground.

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Stone will lead College of Education & Human Development students in creating lesson plans to teach K-12 students about Isle de Jean Charles via virtual reality. Younger students wearing headsets will be able to navigate a virtual representation of the island while hearing recordings of members of the Jean Charles Choctaw Nation as they talk about their ancestral home, its history, and their customs and traditions.

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HISTORIC GRANT

RESEARCHERS ENERGIZING LOUISIANA The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is fueling the state’s energy future.

Backed by a $160 million National Science Foundation grant – the largest and most competitive grant the agency has ever awarded – an interdisciplinary team of UL Lafayette researchers is working with colleagues at other state colleges and universities and with industry partners to invigorate Louisiana’s energy landscape. Among the goals of the NSF Engines grant: fostering job growth, creating innovative solutions and nurturing a skilled workforce to confront energy challenges at home and around the globe.

The Future Use of Energy in Louisiana, or FUEL, grant provides “opportunities to expand and strengthen both University and industry collaborations, conduct use-inspired research and development, technology commercialization and workforce development,” said Dr. Jonathan Raush, principal investigator for UL Lafayette on the grant and associate professor of mechanical engineering. The project will focus on issues such as development of an industrial hydrogen economy, water management, energy efficiency and sustainable manufacturing. “Working collaboratively, the execution of these programs will help move Louisiana to be the global R&D leader for solving energy-related challenges,” Raush said.

The grant enables the University to leverage over seven decades of partnerships with the oil and gas industry, noted Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, vice president for Research, Innovation and Economic Development. “Over the past 20 years, the FACULTY AUTHORS

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

Decapod shrimps are nutritious and tasty. However, as Dr. Raymond T. Bauer, an emeritus professor of biology, shows in Shrimps, the crustaceans are amazingly diverse in size, shape, color, behavior and natural history, and are key ecological components of marine and freshwater habitats. From Springer.

Now in its second edition, Boudin: A Guide to Louisiana’s Extraordinary Link slices into the food’s history and mystique.

The update features new photography, historic and modern recipes, and the story of the birth of the boudin king cake.

Dr. Robert Carriker, a professor of history, is the book’s author.

From UL Press.

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University has diversified its energy-related research and academic programs to include biofuels, solar, carbon capture and storage, blue and green hydrogen, EV and battery technologies as well as innovative energy materials resulting in significant economic development and technological successes.

Our ‘all-of-the-above’ energy management strategy derives from a deep commitment to ensuring the nation’s energy dominance and energy security.”

The University has more than 55 faculty members involved in energy-related research, development and outreach, and is working with more than 30 private companies.

Dr. Kumer Das, assistant vice president of Research and Innovation, Noah Bergeron, associate director for the Office of Innovation Management, and Dr. Barbara Marchetti, an instructor in the Department of Chemistry, are co-principal investigators for the FUEL grant.

Partners include the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Greater New Orleans Inc., ExxonMobil, Shell and Baker Hughes.

Settling St. Malo transports readers to a time when Louisiana had the nation’s largest Filipino population. Dr. Randy Gonzales, an associate professor of English, delivers a collection of poems whose substance, language and rhythms are informed by oral histories, diaries, letters and other primary materials. From UL Press.

John Dewey, one of history’s greatest educational philosophers, warned over a century ago that American education needed a reset. Revisiting John Dewey considers his arguments against the backdrop of the current educational system and challenges readers’ assumptions about what teachers and students face in today’s classrooms. Dr. Latasha Holt, the book’s author, is an assistant professor of education.

From Rowman & Littlefield.

Russian Orientalism in a Global Context explores how Russia’s historic relationship with Asia was represented in architecture and in fine, decorative and performing arts from the mid-18th century through the beginning of Soviet rule.

Dr. Allison Leigh is among the book’s editors. She is an assistant professor of art history. From Manchester University Press.

Rethinking New Acadia presents fresh ways of thinking about the dispersal of the Acadians and their arrival in southwestern Louisiana in the mid-1700s. Among the book’s essays are examinations of their relationships with the land and waterways of their new home and their interactions with the region’s native and enslaved peoples. Dr. Michael S. Martin, a professor of history, is the book’s editor. From UL Press.

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

VIRTUAL REALITY PUTS HEALTH CARE’S FUTURE IN FOCUS

BY MARIE ELIZABETH OLIVER

L

“We research about how we (as humans) interact with computers,” said Salazar. “So, we have to have psychology involved in our research.”

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inh Tran faced an unexpected challenge in her community nursing course when her instructor brought her class to a low-income housing development to administer complimentary wellness checks. Getting the residents’ permission to test their vital signs and blood pressure didn’t take much convincing, but the students also needed to evaluate patients’ living spaces. Tran’s patient didn’t have time for a walk-through, and she eventually had to tag along with one of her classmates to complete the requirement.

The process revealed a problem that persists in health care training. Realworld practice is crucial but creating equitable experiences for students can prove difficult. Obstacles like patient buy-in and safety play a major role.

For students and faculty in the LHC Group • Myers School of Nursing in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences at UL Lafayette, virtual reality presents an attractive alternative. Technology can provide realistic experiences without Nursing students can practice relying solely on people’s goodwill. It’s evaluating a newborn’s vital signs going to be the future, they said, and in the college’s new VR lab. nurses learn by doing.

The School of Nursing had the opportunity to put this to the test, thanks to a grant from the Advance Student Research Experience. Nursing faculty members collaborated with colleagues in the Department of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts and School of Computing & Informatics in the Ray P. Authement College of Sciences to conduct a studentled research project that used virtual reality to simulate a home visit, like the one Tran and her classmates conducted. Psychology professor Dr. Hung-Chu Lin served as the project’s principal investigator. She said she was thrilled to expand her virtual reality research, especially with undergraduates and her colleagues in nursing and computer science.

“We need people coming from different perspectives,” said Lin. “Not only their knowledge, but also their real technical support, to be able to do things like this.”

Dr. Arun K. Kulshreshth, director of the Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory and an associate professor in the School of Computing & Informatics, helped the nursing school adapt opensource software from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and purchase virtual reality headsets and computers. Roberto Salazar, a doctoral student in Kulshreshth’s lab, customized the program so that when students put on the VR headsets, they could explore the interior of a home and identify potential hazards. The research team gave students the opportunity to participate in the virtual reality simulation, then evaluate their experiences. Salazar said working with the psychology department to conduct the experiment opened his eyes to the value of integrating their research.

Tran, who accepted a job in the neurology department at Duke University Hospital in North Carolina after her graduation in December, participated in the study as a student researcher and presented the team’s findings at the UL Lafayette Undergraduate Research Conference. She said the experience helped confirm her desire to pursue a graduate degree in nursing. “If you have a group of people from multiple disciplines, you can create something wonderful,” said Tran.

Lin, Kulshreshth and Dr. Michael Hebert, then an instructor in the School of Nursing, published an article featuring the results of their mixed-methods study in the Journal of Community Health Nursing. Hebert said this project gave them all a taste of what was possible. “There are so many things that we are looking at as a team.

We know we’re going to have more and more that we can test. You get all those people together in one room – it’s powerful.”

Advance aims to increase student productivity and success through engagement in mentored research, innovative projects and creative endeavors. As part of the Student Center for Research, Creativity and Scholarship, its goal is to provide research opportunities for all undergraduate students.

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MAISON D’ETRE

Center for Louisiana Studies fulfills destiny at the Roy House

BY MARIE ELIZABETH OLIVER

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celebrating the final days of its 50th year. I’m here to learn how it all got started. But first, they have a question.

“Do you know about the Merovingians?”

I consider fibbing, then shake my head sheepishly at the professor emeritus of Francophone studies and the former head of the Department of History and Geography.

Instantly, they’re in lecture mode. The Merovingians, referred to by some as the first kings of France, “were a bit maligned,” said Ancelet. “The do-nothing kings,” chimed in Baker, explaining their reputation as figureheads, hidden away except for ceremonial occasions. This reference is important, they told me, because it speaks to the Center’s humble origins, tucked behind a double glass wall in a tiny room on the third floor of Edith Garland Dupré Library.

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t’s two weeks before Christmas and the J. Arthur Roy House could easily pass as the set of a Hallmark movie.

Evergreen garlands, wreaths and jaunty crimson bows drip from its 122-year-old Queen Anne double balcony. Inside the vestibule, a towering cypress staircase creates the ideal backdrop for a romantic meet cute. But something else is playing out here today – an equally charming reunion between old friends.

Dr. Barry Ancelet and Dr. Vaughan Baker are founding members of the Center for Louisiana Studies. They met in the 1970s as members of an academic cohort who cultivated what is now an internationally recognized hub of scholarship within the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. “The Center,” as they affectionately call it, is

Lafayette architect Scott Chappuis and designer Rita Durio contributed their expertise to the historic preservation of the Roy House.

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Dr. Barry Ancelet hosts a community workshop on traditional Courir de Mardi Gras songs at the Roy House.

That location couldn’t be further (figuratively) from the Roy House, the historic landmark across campus. The Center’s new headquarters sits prominently at the buzzing intersection of Johnston Street and University Avenue. After an approximately $1.5 million, multiyear restoration campaign, shepherded across the finish line by the Center’s current director Dr. Joshua Caffery with support from private donors and a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the oldest building on campus has been reborn as a beacon for Louisiana culture.

The alchemy that originally manifested this vision came together, like most good things in south Louisiana, over rice. As Ancelet and Baker tell it, the Center’s founding director, Dr. Glenn Conrad, convened a crew of scholars from multiple disciplines for reoccurring roundtable discussions. These meetings evolved organically into salon-style dinner parties, anchored by Ancelet’s smothered wild game gravy. Baker attributed the Center’s early academic achievements to this natural social camaraderie and a shared belief in the power of stories lurking in their own backyard.

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The Roy House’s ribbon-cutting ceremony in May 2023. From left: Dr. Vaughan Baker, Scott Hebert, Scott Chappuis, Robert “Popie” Billeaud, Dr. Joshua Caffery, Rita Durio, Dr. Jordan Kellman, Dr. Joseph Savoie and John Blohm.

The Roy House’s renovation included restoring the Eastlake-style staircase and foyer woodwork, all built from Louisiana cypress.

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songs, recipes, photographs, But blazing a new path within traditions, folklore and histories the University took some elbow to the stories of resilience grease. The cadre privately and unsung heroes that called themselves the “Order define our distinct brand of of the Merovingians” as a Southern culture. The Center cheeky nod to the growing preserved these in print. It pains – and the physical and also brought them to life in scholarly isolation – they felt in festivals, concerts, albums, the beginning. radio programs, symposiums “What we were doing on and community events. This the one hand was perceived outreach remains central to the as provincial, but what those Center’s mission. folks hadn’t factored in was “It came out of that team the fact that the universe is effort,” said Baker. “It took composed of an infinity of academe out of the ivory tower localities. You can do a really and into the streets. And it was good job at this because you’re amazing for all of us on both here and you’re in it, and you sides, the people who were have access to it. Why wouldn’t experiencing it, and those of you do that?” said Ancelet. us who were producing it. It “Why would we go off to South redefined Louisiana studies is Africa and try to understand what it did.” apartheid? That wasn’t our The Merovingians moniker thing. This was our thing.”

Visitors can access the center’s archives in the Roy House’s didn’t last for long as Ancelet, The “this” he’s referring to reading and listening room.

Baker and Conrad, along with could fill an entire section of their peers, Dr. Carl Brasseaux, Dr. Mathé Allain and Dr. a library, or a bookstore, as evidenced by the stacks of bound Amos Simpson, began receiving widespread recognition for material for sale from UL Press surrounding us in the Roy their scholarship. They renamed themselves the Order of the House parlor. It’s everything we hold most sacred: from our

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The first-floor bookshop features all current UL Press titles, as well as map prints and goods from local artisans.

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French graduate student, Camille Harrington, left, has witnessed the architecture of the Roy House “put people at ease.”

Palmetto, in honor of the native evergreen known for its adaptability and vigorous growth. “The University administration came to really appreciate seriously the work that was being done here,” said Ancelet, referring to former President Dr. Ray P. Authement. “He saw the impact of it.”

This support led to the Center’s physical expansion on the third floor of the library to showcase its growing archives. In addition to the acquisition of historical documents and other primary materials, field recordings became a key ingredient to the collection. Ancelet said these preservation efforts widened resources available for future researchers. Baker said reaching beyond documents allowed the Center to capture and tell a more inclusive story about the cultures of Louisiana. “What happened with folklore, and with women’s studies and African American studies – you can’t use traditional sources, because they are left out,” said Baker. “So, you have to find new source material.”

Fast forward a few decades, and the Center boasts the world’s largest collection of Cajun and Creole primary source material. This diverse collection of oral histories, field recordings and visuals from all 64 Louisiana parishes remains in the Center’s library archive.

The move to the Roy House, however, fulfilled a long-standing vision to make the work more accessible. The house isn’t just office space – its public face matches its public mission. The Roy House serves as an interactive community center, research destination and bookstore. Peek around its ornate moldings today and you’ll find an archivist, research coordinator, program director, UL Press staff and graduate students who are eager to share their expertise.

Camille Harrington is earning her master’s degree in French while working as a graduate assistant at the Center. Her passion for her Cajun heritage grew out of conversations with her grandfather around the kitchen table. She said because of its origins as a family home, the Roy House facilitates a similar intimacy for cultural discussions – which is especially meaningful to her generation.

“It makes our work accessible,” said Harrington. “I think there’s going to be a lot more interaction between the community and the Center.”

Harrington gives tours of the Roy House and said she loves explaining to guests how the original owner of the house, J. Arthur Roy, chose the home’s location because of its proximity to an institute of higher learning. Roy was a Lafayette businessman and early supporter of what was then Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute at the turn of the last century. He completed the house in 1901, around the same time the campus was being built. “This house has always watched over the development of the University,” said Harrington. “There’s just something kind of sweet about that.”

Caffery said since opening in 2023, the Roy House has received visitors from around Acadiana who are thrilled to see the old house restored to its former glory. It has also hosted international scholars and recording artists who come to explore the Center’s world-class archive of Louisiana French songs. He said the appreciation for its architectural and musical preservation speaks to the Center’s broader mission. A published folklorist, poet and Grammynominated musician, Caffery said he deeply values the University’s role as an innovator, but also as a caretaker.

“Sometimes you build something like a beautiful house or a beautiful song, and you’re not necessarily going to improve on that,” said Caffery. “So, you might as well find a way to keep it around.”

Now it’s two weeks before Mardi Gras, and Ancelet has returned to the Roy House. He’s donned a purple, medieval-style professor’s cap to lecture to a standing-room-only crowd. The Center has recently revived its “In Your Own Backyard Workshops” for the first time in 10 years, and this presentation on south Louisiana Mardi Gras songs has attracted an infant, octogenarians and every generation in between. The presentation culminates with a raucous singalong led by masked revelers crooning en français. The Merovingians’ legacy lives on.

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LOVE LANGUAGE

SAY HELLO TO CAMPUS’ MOST IN-DEMAND MODERN LANGUAGE

BY MARIE ELIZABETH OLIVER

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said Nelson. “We’re creating more pinkie, index finger and opportunities for people to have thumb raised in unison ways to represent the world.” means, “I love you.”

Katie Potier, a doctoral It’s a phrase in American student in applied language and Sign Language almost everyone speech sciences, works alongside understands. It’s also become Dawsey as a full-time ASL a ubiquitous symbol of Ragin’ instructor. Sitting in an empty Cajuns pride. The same fingers classroom on the second floor that represent “ILY” in the ASL of Burke-Hawthorne Hall a few alphabet outline the shape of “UL.” weeks before a new semester Leah Dawsey embodies these begins, the pair emphasized that overlapping realities. Dawsey grew teaching ASL to a new generation up as part of a vibrant, multiis crucial to preserving Deaf generational Deaf community culture and essential for providing in Lafayette, where many of her Instructor Leah Dawsey leads a counting lesson in equitable language access to a friends have Usher Syndrome.

American Sign Language. community whose needs often The genetic condition is linked to get overlooked. hearing loss at birth and eventual As a former Deaf education vision loss. Acadiana has one of teacher in Texas and Louisiana, the nation’s highest concentrations Potier said she saw a decline of Usher Syndrome. in ASL for multiple reasons, “People know so much about including the misconception that Cajuns, but they don’t realize that teaching children to sign would there’s a subcategory of Cajuns prevent them from learning who are here, who are us,” Dawsey to speak and read in English. signed. Dawsey communicates However, she has seen the primarily through ASL, and this pendulum begin to swing in the interview was conducted through opposite direction. Potier said her interpreter. there is now a shift in the field Dawsey earned a bachelor’s of Deaf education to a bilingualdegree in history from the bicultural teaching philosophy, University of Louisiana at where ASL is the foundational Lafayette and went on to receive language of communication. her master’s degree in Deaf studies English is taught through writing, from Gallaudet University in like other foreign language Washington, D.C. Now as a fullimmersion programs. She said this time instructor in the Department ASL instructors and students host a summer children’s approach has gained acceptance. of Communicative Disorders camp. To learn more visit cajunscamps.com.

“The research supports it,” said at UL Lafayette, she’s teaching Potier. “So hopefully that keeps going so that we don’t have and designing new courses to meet a growing demand that huge gap in language and literacy skills.” from students who choose ASL as their modern language Potier and Dawsey envision their ASL and Deaf studies requirement. They can’t approve the override requests fast curriculum becoming a pipeline for future teachers for the enough, said department head Dr. Ryan Nelson. “I think the Deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. It’s also a gateway fact that there are 14 sections and still a waitlist says a lot.” for training certified interpreters and speech therapists, This fall, the department will offer the first ASL who can use their ASL fluency to support more inclusive minor in the University’s history. It comes at a time when language environments in education and beyond. Dawsey said ASL is enjoying increased visibility across pop culture: in her experience, there have never been enough qualified from the film CODA receiving Best Picture and Best Actor interpreters to meet the demand in the Lafayette area. honors at the 2021 Academy Awards, to high-profile sign “They can be the support for the upcoming Deaf language performances at the Super Bowl, representation community,” signed Dawsey. on Netflix shows and regularly trending videos across social media platforms like TikTok. “Our whole major is about inclusiveness and diversity and giving voice to the voiceless,” Learn more about the ASL minor at louisiana.edu/lalouisiane.

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LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

PAUL KIEU

ECONOMIC ENGINE

REPORT DETAILS UNIVERSITY’S IMPRESSIVE IMPACT That’s the commanding statewide impact the University of Louisiana at Lafayette had in 2021-2022, the topline results of a recent comprehensive analysis that demonstrate the University’s role as a major economic force for the region and beyond.

Among the report’s findings: UL Lafayette helped support 34,610 jobs, or one of every 78 jobs in the state. In Acadiana alone, the University’s economic influence reached $1.7 billion, sustaining over 25,100 jobs, or one out of every 15 jobs in the region.

These findings are from an independent economic analysis conducted by Lightcast, a global consulting firm known for assessing the economic impact of educational institutions.

Dr. Joseph Savoie, UL Lafayette president, commissioned the study. “The report represents our strength as a significant contributor to the economic health of the region and state, and underscores opportunities for increasing our contributions. It also indicates that state funds provided to the University are investments that pay measurable dividends,” he said.

“The report also signals that we are better positioned than at any time in our history to grow exponentially in a range of areas, including scholarship, research and collaboration with outside entities,” added Dr. Ramesh Kolluru, vice president for Research, Innovation and Economic Development.

The report revealed compelling insights, including alumni’s substantial $2.2 billion contribution to the state economy, projected

$2.7 BILLION.

increased lifetime earnings of $1.1 billion for UL Lafayette students, and research spending generating an added income of $141.7 million for Louisiana.

Additionally, the University’s operational spending and community service infused millions into the state economy.

Operations Spending Impact

111.1 million

$

Research Spending Impact

$

Spin-off Company Impact

$

141.7 million

153.3 million

Visitor Spending Impact

$

Student Spending Impact

$

Volunteerism Impact

$

Alumni Impact

$

TOTAL IMPACT

1.4 million

31.1 million 1.8 million 2.2 billion

2.7 BILLION

$

JOBS SUPPORTED

34,610

Access the economic impact report at louisiana.edu/lalouisiane.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

13

RADIO RENAISSANCE

Meet the students bringing KRVS back to its roots

BY KADE PARKER

S

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

DOUG DUGAS

14

Fred Jolivet adjusts audio levels in the KRVS studio in a 1977 L’Acadien photo.

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

tudents filter into a conference room inside the KRVS studios for their weekly strategy meeting. The walls are adorned with old music posters and portraits featuring Louisiana musical legends like Clifton Chenier and Canray Fontenot. Their conversation ranges from brokendown cars to nostalgic songs and cat cafés, before quickly rounding back to station management.

They are the faces of student radio broadcasting on KRVS 88.7 HD2, a new digital channel playing music curated by and for students.

The channel, dubbed KampusFM, hit the airwaves on Oct. 31, 2023, nearly four months after the anniversary of KRVS’ first broadcast 60 years before. When KRVS began broadcasting in 1963, it was student run, billing itself as the “strongest force on campus in building up the University school spirit.” Today, with a potential audience of thousands of University of Louisiana at Lafayette students plus a broader global audience through the NPR affiliate’s online platform, KampusFM is ready to carry that legacy to a new generation of listeners.

Listeners who tune into KampusFM on weekday mornings will likely hear the voice of Kaley Mestayer broadcasting from the station’s control room. Mestayer, a business management senior, is the rookie station’s first DJ and handles live spots during 15-minute breaks when students are changing classes. The rest of the programming is automated, running into the evening and overnight hours with pre-recorded service announcements by other student volunteers.

Part of what distinguishes KampusFM from a generic playlist is utility. Between a setlist featuring indie bands such as Pony Girl and K-pop stars such as Jungkook, Mestayer provides updates on student organization meetings and upcoming events on campus. According to Mestayer, keeping listeners current with what’s happening adds value to the station as a source of information to the student body. “We’ve kind of wrapped this whole concept

KampusFM members from left: Cathryn Battles, Chloe Matherne, Micah Thurman, Tamir Bryant, Ray Selle, Kaley Mestayer, Lucy Ortiz, Lane Hallum, Beth Harris and Adam Cortez.

T

N

Now, the station broadcasts at 100,000 watts and, with the around what people are doing all day instead of just blasting music at them indiscriminately, which I think is really cool,” said Mestayer. addition of the HD digital streams, can reach listeners worldwide.

Technology has changed since that first broadcast six decades ago, KampusFM’s role as an “information pipeline” was part of but the station’s mission remains the same. Cheryl Devall, KRVS Kris Wotipka’s vision when he laid the groundwork for the student general manager, said this latest station. Wotipka, lovingly embodiment of student radio referred to as the “Old Dude” UNE I is an homage to the origins of by the students, is the director Tune into KampusFM on KRVS 88.7 HD2 on KRVS. “It’s really a way to honor of operations for KRVS and the way the station began,” said a guiding force as the station digital radio, KRVS.org or the KRVS app.

Devall. “I want people at UL gains its footing.

HD1 carries regular KRVS programming, while Lafayette to know that we are Wotipka has been HD3 brings 24/7 news coverage from NPR. here. We are here to serve, and we integral to KampusFM’s early are committed to an educational launch but emphasized that mission on so many levels.” the students retain creative KampusFM relies on a core and strategic control of the group of student volunteers who station. He said he’s impressed handle marketing, graphic design, playlist curation and recruitment by how fast the students are adapting to running the station, efforts. These students come from various majors and backgrounds exceeding the time frame of the station’s launch and early operation and naturally fit into roles that best serve their strengths and talents. by a few months. “My whole goal for this was to plant some seeds, Marketing senior Tamir Bryant, who contributes to the station’s watch it develop, and then every once in a while, give it a little promotional activities, said he appreciated the collaborative nature nudge here or there,” said Wotipka. “As soon as the students feel among his fellow volunteers. He said he’s fortunate to be a part of a ownership in what they’re doing, then it’s personal, and they will great team. “We have an interesting group of people that would have fight for it.” never run across each other,” said Bryant. “I think that’s what’s kind KRVS’ first broadcast 60 years ago was limited to 10 watts, of beautiful about it. I don’t know how I got this lucky.” covering an area that was barely able to reach the campus’ edge.

DOUG DUGAS

KampusFM DJ, Kaley Mestayer, takes notes before broadcasting her morning announcements.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

15

FOREST FINDS

ICE AGE CULTURES REVEALED

GLOBAL SOLAR COMPETITION

FAMILIAR FRONTIER

The Southern Solar team of mechanical engineering students cruised the waters of the Mediterranean Sea off the French Riviera without stepping foot on a luxury liner. Their voyage came aboard a solar-powered watercraft the team designed and built in the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab. The “Beausoleil” landed students Lelia Deville, Brennan Guarisco, Jordan Smith, Taylor Thistlethwaite and Claire Werther a berth in last year’s Monaco Energy Boat Challenge.

Southern Solar became the first U.S. team to compete in the international event.

It didn’t disappoint, placing highly in races against 31 college and university teams from 21 countries. Team members also contributed to the international dialogue about sustainable boating.

The Monaco Energy Boat Challenge brings together boating industry leaders in one of the world’s smallest, yet wealthiest, countries. The focus is alternative energy solutions, and student contributions are key. Their small-scale crafts help inform and spur technology and development for everything from superyachts to pleasure boats.

Student researchers are creating a small satellite for a big mission. CAPE-4 will measure radiation levels in space to help NASA explore astronaut safety.

UL Lafayette’s Cajun Advanced Picosatellite Experience, or CAPE, team is among a select group chosen for the space agency’s CubeSat Launch Initiative. It enables students to conduct research in space.

Space is a familiar frontier for the multidisciplinary CAPE program, which the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering coordinates. The CAPE-1 satellite in 2007 made the University the first in Louisiana whose students designed, built and launched a working satellite that orbited Earth.

CAPE-2, in 2013, and CAPE-3, in 2021, followed.

NASA projects sending CAPE-4 into orbit sometime between 2024 and 2027. The satellite will be larger and designed differently than previous CAPE models. Readings from a neutron radiation detector, a plastic chip, and image sensors inside a modified smart phone camera will be beamed from space to the Nick Pugh Aerospace Electronics Research Laboratory, the CAPE team’s base on campus.

HEADING TO SPACE — AGAIN

DOUG DUGAS

SUBMITTED PHOTO

STUDENTS SHINE

16

SUBMITTED PHOTO

A team led by UL Lafayette researchers has excavated thousands of Native American artifacts from a site in the Kisatchie National Forest in north central Louisiana that date to the end of the last Ice Age. Extensive laboratory analysis and research of the trove will enable researchers to make determinations about past cultures.

The fieldwork has already yielded a substantial discovery.

The excavation was conducted at a floodplain terrace overlooking a creek in the forest, a site occupied over hundreds of generations by nomadic groups. Researchers uncovered the first evidence of a permanent structure in Kisatchie. That’s a considerable find, given just 4,000 sites among the national forest’s over 604,000 acres have been explored.

Dr. Mark Rees, a professor who leads UL Lafayette’s Louisiana Public Archaeology Lab, is principal investigator for a more than $700,000 U.S. Forest Service grant that’s funding the multiyear project.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

LA LOUISIANE STUDENT EDITOR DIVES IN HEADFIRST

WRITER HAS THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS

DOUG DUGAS

Kade Parker is editorial intern for La Louisiane. He is a Katherine Frazer brings a passion for journalism and storytelling senior majoring in mass communication with a concentration in to her role as La Louisiane’s student editor for the Spring 2024 issue. journalism and a minor in English.

She is a senior political science major pursuing a minor in journalism.

Parker joined La Louisiane in his last semester at the Frazer began her collegiate career at the Lafayette Parish School University of Louisiana at Lafayette. A Louisiana native, he System’s Early College Academy, where she earned an associate showcases his love for food, arts and culture through his degree before transferring to UL Lafayette. Thanks to that head start, writing – and at home in the kitchen. Parker’s always on the Frazer will earn her bachelor’s degree in May – at age 19. She’ll then hunt for new recipes and pursue a master’s compelling stories, such degree at the Medill as his profile of KRVS’ School of Journalism student radio revival in at Northwestern this issue of La Louisiane.

University in Illinois, “Everybody has a one of the nation’s top story, you know,” Parker journalism programs. said. “It’s worth it to be “I like writing. I able to tell it for them.” love reading, and I like In addition to his current events,” Frazer duties with the University said. “When I got magazine, Parker works to college, it clicked as a videographer for UL that this is not only Lafayette’s College of the something I can do, but Arts, filming and creating something that I would content to promote excel at.” students and the college.

Frazer began her Parker’s work has been career as a news writer featured in The Acadiana after enrolling at UL Advocate and Daily Iberian Lafayette. Her stories newspapers and in The have appeared in The Katherine Frazer and Kade Parker discuss the Spring 2024 issue of La Louisiane.

Current, a nonprofit Current, a nonprofit newsroom. He brings valuable multimedia experience to the La newsroom; and Le Louisianais, run by Télé-Louisiane, an online news Louisiane team. source that examines Louisiana’s culture. Among her many bylines “Journalists today have to do everything,” Parker said. “You in The Acadiana Advocate newspaper was a story that examined the have to be able to take good photos, you have to be able to edit, experiences of Black students enrolled at the then-University of and you have to write well. Having a background in videography Southwestern Louisiana in the 1960s. is also helpful.”

In this issue of La Louisiane, Frazer delves into University history His path to journalism was not linear. Before earning his again with a piece on Lagniappe Day, a time-honored tradition that associate degree, Parker considered a career in food content turns 50 this year. Looking ahead, she said she hopes to one day creation for social media. But news coverage of a recent pursue long-form investigative reporting for national publications presidential election changed his career trajectory. such as The New Yorker.

“The political atmosphere was changing, and the role of a “Katherine is a gifted writer,” said Dr. James Savage, La Louisiane reporter was evolving in real time,” Parker said. “I realized the editor. “To find such natural talent in someone so young is unusual world needed more reporters.”

– but with this issue, the magazine is bringing the stories of two After Parker took an English class at South Louisiana accomplished young professionals to its readers. Katherine and Community College in Lafayette, a professor noted his strong editorial intern Kade Parker are energetic and eager, and no doubt the communication skills and encouraged him to consider a career future of journalism is safe in their capable, agile hands. We’re excited that involved writing. He began taking journalism courses after to feature their work in La Louisiane.” he enrolled at UL Lafayette to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Frazer’s résumé, with its mix of traditional and new media, mass communication. reflects the evolution of journalism and mass communication.

Parker will complete his bachelor’s degree in May. He said he Reporters must be adaptable to meet their readers’ needs, Frazer said. hopes to be a food writer, profiling new restaurants and chefs.

“It seems like now you’re expected to know how to do “Down here in Louisiana, we have a very special culture,” everything. It’s not just print. It’s not just broadcast,” Frazer said.

Parker said. “I feel like being a food journalist is a good way to “Younger journalists I’ve encountered are a little more adept at diving export that culture to broader audiences.” in headfirst.”

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

17

Celebrating DESIGN BY COURTNEY JEFFRIES

From the day of its founding, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette represented a belief in what was possible. Now 125 years later, we’re celebrating what we’ve accomplished — and anticipating the continued success that lies ahead.

This anniversary also marks an opportunity to honor the enduring connection we have to an institution that has given each of us — and this community — so much for so long.

Every “first” is a tribute to individuals who dedicated their lives to making a difference. Each milestone represents the impact of their vision on the state of Louisiana and beyond. Our history unites us with those who came before us and connects us to those who will carry our mission of service beyond our 125th year.

SERVICE. VISION. LEADERSHIP. LOUISIANA. 18

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

1898 The Louisiana General Assembly adopted Act 162, creating

SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA INDUSTRIAL INSTITUTE.

“

Sen. Robert Martin introduced legislation that created SLII.

Dr. Edwin Stephens, first president of SLII. He served for 38 years.

WE ARE NOT TO THINK OF THE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL AS A TEMPORARY THING, FOR IT IS NOT. IT IS AN INSTITUTION FOR ALL TIME. A hundred years from now, it will be amongst our descendants, a hundred times more efficient. Its influence will have spread, and the parish of Lafayette will point with pride to the school, and honor the memory of those whose public spirit has built it.

Lafayette Gazette, Sept. 16, 1899

One of the first of six classrooms

A 1901 cooking class

DeClouet Hall was under construction in 1903. The Main Building, later named Martin Hall, is in the background.

The Bread Club, 1913

A 1912 music ensemble

1903

“...when I was coming to school, a good deal of us rode down on horses or in buggies.

We just hitched the mare outside a building and went on inside while the horse waited for class to be dismissed.”

Early Construction 1901

Main Hall (later named Martin Hall)

Foster Hall

DeClouet Hall

Brown Ayres Hall, destroyed by fire in 1972

1904

Shown are nine of the 18 members of Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute’s first graduating class.

Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute had eight faculty members for its first session in 1901. From left, top row: Florent Sontag, music; SLII President Edwin L. Stephens, mathematics; Beverly Randolph, drawing and gymnastics; Ashby Woodson, manual training; Gertrude Mayfield, domestic science; and V.L. Roy, science. From left, seated: L.W. Mayer, stenography, and Edith Garland Dupré, English and French.

The first staff of L’Acadien, Dorothy Dunn Gagne, Laura Landrenau, Joseph Edward Lacour, Martha Pelleria and Hallie May Bibbins.

Athletics 1901-1903 In 1903, SLII organized the Institute Athletic Association

SLII’s first track team, 1901

Members of The Vermilion, SLII’s student newspaper, posed for a photo in 1909. The Vermilion began publishing in 1904.

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1910

SLII’s football team, 1903

SLII’s first baseball team, 1903 SLII’s basketball team, 1913

1921

The Louisiana Constitution designated the school as one of the state’s institutions of higher education and changed its name to

SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA INSTITUTE OF LIBERAL AND TECHNICAL LEARNING.

“

IF I WERE ASKED TODAY TO NAME THE THREE CONSTANT PRINCIPLES THAT HAVE SHAPED THE DESTINY OF THIS COLLEGE, I SHOULD SAY IN RINGING WORDS ~

“

LOFTINESS OF ASPIRATION, HONESTY OF PURPOSE AND GENEROSITY OF COMRADESHIP. Edith Garland Dupré, faculty member, in a speech in 1926

1925 President Edwin L. Stephens designed a seal to commemorate accreditation of Southwestern Louisiana Institute as a

SLI’s Extension Division provided bus service to students who didn’t have transportation or couldn’t afford to live on campus. In 1932, buses transported 143 students who each paid $5-$8 per month for the service. Buses traveled to Franklin, Kaplan, Jennings and Opelousas.

CYPRESS GROVE, ONCE A PIGSTY, WAS USED FOR PERFORMANCES AND COMMENCEMENT CEREMONIES BEFORE IT WAS INTENTIONALLY FLOODED DURING WORLD WAR II.

four-year college.

The emblem was adopted May 11, 1926. The shield is indicative of faith and valor. Within the circle, there is a wreath of live oaks, beloved by Dr. Stephens. The Latin adverbs are ‘Bravely, Happily, Faithfully.’

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In 1928, a physical education class performed “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Emily Huger, an art instructor, held classes in Cypress Grove in 1937.

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1938

1941

Lether E. Frazar became SLI’s second president.

Joel Lafayette Fletcher became SLI’s third president.

A covered walkway constructed in 1940. The brick structure, which linked all major buildings on campus, was the only one of its kind in the state, according to The Vermilion.

In 1943, Fletcher and Dean of Men Joe Riehl were able to secure the V-5, V-7 and V-12 military training units for SLI. The armed services programs are credited with saving SLI by boosting enrollment. By the time all programs were complete in 1945, about 2,000 soldiers had passed through Southwestern’s gates.

Students marched in a parade to mark the opening of a Red Cross Relief Fund, rolled bandages and held victory dances to raise money for war bonds.

Thousands attended dedication ceremonies on May 18, 1940, for 14 buildings completed during Frazar’s administration.

Jeff DeBlanc, '46, was the first SLI alumnus to receive the Medal of Honor. President Harry S. Truman is shown presenting the medal during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. 22

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

Right: A wishing well adjacent to Cypress Lake was a gift from the Class of 1943 to SLI’s student body. It was intended to symbolize the class spirit of optimism.

Fight Song

Southwestern’s official fight song was chosen during a contest sponsored by the Student Council in 1950. Hilma Labauve, an SLI freshman, wrote the winning entry and won a prize of a $100 U.S. Savings Bond.

The Red Jackets, a pep squad created in 1937, had more than 100 members in 1950.

During halftime at football games, the drill team performed on the field.

FIGHT ON, BULLDOGS, FIGHT ON TO VIC’TRY FOR THE RED AND WHITE. WE ALL SING OF TRIUMPH AND GLORY FOR OUR BOYS TONIGHT. YOU WILL HEAR THE BARK OF THE BULLDOGS SOARING TO THE SKY HUSTLE UP AND RUSTLE UP AND FIGHT ON TO VIC’TRY, S-L-I

In 1953, four Black students–Clara Dell Constantine, Martha Jane Conway, Shirley Taylor and Charles Vincent Singleton–were denied admission to SLI. They filed a lawsuit in response, seeking a court order to force the institute to allow them to enroll.

1954

On July 16, 1954, the federal court in Shreveport ruled that SLI could not refuse admission to any resident of southwest Louisiana on the basis of race or color. John Harold Taylor registered six days later.

By the start of the fall semester, 80 Black students had enrolled at SLI, making the school the first formerly all-White college or university in the Deep South to desegregate.

Left: In 1956, Christiana Smith became the first Black student to graduate from SLI. Between 1957 and 1971, weightlifting teams representing SLI and USL won eight national championships, including five consecutive titles.

Among the team’s members: Walter Imahara, center, one of the most decorated athletes in University history.

SLI’S CAMPUS IN 1954

In 1956, the Louisiana Legislature authorized Southwestern to grant master's degrees in education. A Graduate School was established in 1957, positioning SLI to become a university.

Coronna, Olivier and Guillory halls, seen here near Hebrard Boulevard, originally opened in 1957 as the Memorial Student Union.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

23

JULY 27, 1960 Gov. Jimmie Davis signed Act 123, which changed SLI’s name to the

“

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

“

WE FIRMLY RESOLVE THAT WE SHALL BE VERY WORTHY OF OUR NAME,

AND WE SHALL ADD NEW HONORS TO THAT NAME.

The July 12, 1963, edition of The Vermilion states:

“Instead of the official Battling Bulldogs, Southwestern boosters have started referring to Coach Russ Faulkinberry’s squad as the Raging Cajuns.”

USL President Joel L. Fletcher in a speech thanking supporters

1966 Clyde R. Rougeou became USL's fourth president.

SLI obtained its first computer in 1954. It was used in classroom instruction and made available to local businesses and industry. By 1964, USL offered one of the first graduate programs in computer science in the U.S. Left: Sammy Fontenot, standing, and Irving Manuel monitor Southwestern’s first “electronic brain.”

In 1971, Cajun Field opened.

“The Swamp” was built to seat 27,000 fans.

In 1962, Life magazine published this photo of a frozen Cypress Lake. Students ignored no trespassing signs and went ice skating – with or without skates.

24

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Dr. Ray P. Authement became the University’s fifth president.

1974

He retired in 2008. Authement’s 34-year tenure made him the nation’s longest-serving public university president at the time. During his presidency, the University changed its name to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; implemented academic admission standards; became the first Doctoral II institution in Louisiana; helped diversify the economy by establishing 17 research centers; increased gifted assets to more than $150 million; and constructed over 30 buildings and facilities, and renovated or expanded more than 25 others. The Ray P. Authement College of Sciences is named in his honor.

1981

First

in southeastern U.S. to offer a graduatelevel degree in computer engineering.

bachelor’s degree in telecommunications in the nation.

In 1974, USL joined NCAA Division I for all sports.

Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s Basketball made its first official NCAA Tournament appearance in 1982.

In 1984, USL formed the Center for Advanced Computer Studies. Since its inception, CACS has demonstrated a strong contribution to high-quality education and research in the fields of computer science and engineering.

In the mid-1980s, the Quadrangle got a new look when intersecting sidewalks were poured, drainage was improved and landscaping was added.

Track and field star Hollis Conway won the silver medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics; he earned a bronze medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics, as well.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

25

“

“

1980s RESEARCH

Just as Authement had concentrated on developing USL’s computer science expertise in the 1970s, he focused on biological and environmental sciences in the late 1980s and 1990s.

Kathleen Thames, 100 Years

In the mid-1980s, USL began developing University Research Park. In the decades since, the 143-acre tract has become a hub for innovation, collaboration, partnerships with business, industry and government, and cutting-edge research.

Among the first tenants in University Research Park was the National Wetlands Research Center. Its mission: to advocate for restoration and preservation of the nation’s wetlands.

In the 1980s, USL teamed up with the oil industry to build the Marine Survival Training Center, the nation's first training facility to teach offshore workers marine survival techniques.

The 12,800-seat Cajundome opened in 1986. This photo was taken from the top of the roof during construction. The property shown in the background is University Research Park, before Cajundome Boulevard connected Congress Street with Eraste Landry Road. The Cajundome underwent renovations and an expansion to include a convention center in 2000.

USL acquired the Gulf South Research Center in New Iberia in 1984, which it later developed into the New Iberia Research Center, a testing facility for pharmaceutical companies worldwide.

1996 RAGIN’ CAJUNS WAS FEDERALLY TRADEMARKED. A new athletic logo was adopted by USL in 1998.

1990s

Distinctions The University sets selective admissions.

USL became the only Doctoral II university in Louisiana.

USL became the third university in the world, and the only one in the nation, to offer a doctoral degree in Francophone studies.

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1999

CONSTRUCTION & ACQUISITIONS

USL became the UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA AT LAFAYETTE.

Bourgeois Hall 1986

“

WE HAVE SIMPLY OUTGROWN THAT OLD SHELL...

AND THIS NEW NAME REFLECTS HOW BIG WE'VE GROWN.

Rougeou Hall 1988

Alumni House Acquired 1991

“

Dr. Gary Marotta, vice president for Academic Affairs, in a June 23, 1995, Vermilion article

A new seal accompanied the University’s name change.

While maintaining design elements from the original seal created in 1926, the new crest included portions of the Acadian and Creole flags, incorporated red, gold and green stripes to represent West African heritage, and redefined live oak tree leaves.

In 2005, the Pride of Acadiana marched in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The band made a second appearance in 2012.

The first bricks on the distinctive – and now iconic – Walk of Honor were laid in 1990. It is paved with bricks bearing the names of graduates from SLII, SLI, USL and UL Lafayette.

In 1990, the University announced plans to construct a convention center next to the Cajundome.

Edith Garland Dupré Library underwent extensive renovations in the late 1990s.

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27

SPACE In 1996, USL received what was then the largest federal grant in University history – $10 million to establish the Energy and Environmental Application Program. In the late 1990s, it also began to develop its Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology.

In 1997, the University became one of four NASA Regional Application Centers in the nation.

Partners in government and industry use the satellite data it collects.

Dr. Karl Hasenstein’s research was destroyed in the 2003 explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia.

In 2020, the biologist sent radish seeds to the International Space Station to test their viability in a zero-gravity environment.

In 2004, the University Art Museum moved into a new home and was rechristened. The Hilliard Art Museum encompasses 11,000 square feet of galleries and is the largest exhibition space between Houston and New Orleans.

In 2022, it earned accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums.

CajunBot – an autonomous vehicle developed by students for the DARPA Grand Challenge – drew national media attention to the University. It competed in the 2004, 2005 and 2007 contests.

University researchers collaborated with NASA to build a biorefinery system to supply water and air for a potential human colony on Mars.

The first CAPE satellite launched in collaboration with NASA. UL Lafayette is the first Louisiana university whose students designed, built and launched a satellite.

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“

2008

…(many people) did their part to secure a brighter future for this University and the people that it serves. But now it’s our

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie became the University’s sixth president.

turn. We are now the custodians of the promise, as it has been passed on to us.

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie, Investiture Speech, Oct. 30, 2008

Keepers of the Culture The Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair in Traditional Music was established in 2010 and resulted in the launch of the University’s Traditional Music program. It is one of a handful of such programs in the nation.

2009 Students in the School of Architecture and Design and the College of Engineering competed in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon with the BeauSoleil Solar House. Powered completely by solar energy, it earned first place in the People’s Choice and Market Viability competition.

National Incident 2009 The Management Systems

The Center for Visual

2012 and Decision Informatics

The Cleco Alternative

2013 Energy Center opened in

Crowley, La. It investigates ways to and Advanced Technologies Institute was founded. It collaborates with government, industry and academia in provide clean, affordable energy to was founded. Its focus: enhancing using data to enable decision-making. homes and businesses. disaster responses.

SERVING OUR COMMUNITY to make a difference

“

SERVING OUR STATE during times of disaster

The PART Laboratory

2018 opened. UL Lafayette is the

state’s only university that can examine solar technology both outside and in controlled environments.

SERVING OUR WORLD during times of crisis

Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion, researchers studied the oil spill’s effects on the Gulf of Mexico’s whale populations.

Nursing students provided medical screenings to the region’s vulnerable populations as part of their coursework. Students perform thousands of hours of community service each year.

In August 2016, the University responded to historic flooding. Donations and grant monies were supplied to students in need, and diplomas lost to floodwaters were replaced for free.

The New Iberia Research Center, the nation’s largest academically affiliated nonhuman primate center, played a critical role in the development of the world’s first widely available COVID-19 vaccine.

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UL LAFAYETTE EARNED CARNEGIE’S R1 DESIGNATION IN 2021, PLACING IT AMONG THE TOP 3% OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RESEARCH COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES IN THE U.S.

Celebrating On Jan. 1, 2024, the University celebrated its 125th anniversary by planting the first new live oaks on the Health Sciences Campus that opened the previous fall. The trees are descendants of the original Century Oaks planted by founding President Dr. Edwin Stephens on Jan. 1, 1901.

SECURING A BRIGHTER FUTURE As it looks ahead to its future, the University has positioned itself for growth and success through construction and

renovation projects. Among the plans: new classroom buildings for engineering and sciences. In addition, the University is working to transform the former National Marine Fisheries Service Building in University Research Park into a lab school.

Engineering Classroom Building

“

Lab School

The tenets of service, vision and leadership are as much a part of our history as sugarcane fields

30

and oak trees. They are the threads that tie the beginning of our story to the present day.

WE INHERITED THEM FROM THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE. AND WE WILL LEAVE THEM FOR THOSE WHO COME AFTER.

“

Dr. E. Joseph Savoie, University President, in the 2023 State of the University speech

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

BY KATHERINE FRAZER For three decades, when the azaleas began to blossom and students’ summertime cravings reached a crescendo, Phil Beridon prepared to take the plunge. The former student took the day off from work, dressed in his finest tuxedo, and returned to campus for a little something extra.

Standing on the red-brick wall surrounding Cypress Lake, Beridon led a backward countdown from 10. And as an eager chorus of students reached “one,” he lifted his hands to the sky and leapt – headfirst – into the managed wetland in the heart of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus. Over the years, he perfected a midair twist, landing with a graceful back flop before waving to the audience. Beridon served as a producer and member of the board for the Abbey Players Theatre in Abbeville, but this on-campus performance made him famous. The act he began spontaneously for a video shoot during his college years continued until his death in 2006.

For outside observers, voluntarily diving into a swamp might seem unusual.

For University students, watching Beridon jump into Cypress Lake (with the option to join him after) was a centerpiece of the perfectly irrational revelry of Lagniappe Day. Lagniappe Day was born in 1974 after the NCAA put the basketball team on suspension for two years. The University planned the festivities to boost morale. It caught on fast. Lagniappe Day is now a time-honored tradition and is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2024.

“Lagniappe” means “a little something extra” in Cajun French. On Lagniappe Day, students take time away from classes to relax and “pass a good time.” What this looks like has evolved. More recently, students have decompressed by racing canoes, competing

in jalapeno-eating contests and listening to live musical performances.

But for 50 years, the staple of the event has been a campus-wide crawfish boil – with the average feast in recent years topping out at 20,000 pounds.

Glenn Menard worked as the director of the Student Union after graduating in 1971. He described Lagniappe Day’s early years as a cross between a county fair and music festival. One year, the crawfish were not delivered in time and jambalaya was served instead. That didn’t go over so well, he recalled.

“The next time the contract came up, there was a provision in there that said they had to have 10,000 pounds of crawfish on the loading dock at the Student Union 24 hours before the crawfish boil so we could physically see them,” Menard said.

The anomaly of a giant crawfish boil and administration-approved skip day drew disapproving headlines in Lagniappe Day’s earliest years, but for students, it epitomized the joys of south Louisiana life, and still does. Dr. Annie Wingate Spell graduated from UL Lafayette in 2002 and helped carry on the Lagniappe Day tradition as Student Government Association treasurer.

“It’s one of the events that is quintessential to the culture,” Spell said.

For Spell, a third-generation alumna, Lagniappe Day is reflective of the generosity that permeated her student experience. She said the University’s emphasis on adding a little something extra extends past the springtime festivities. The commitment from staff, faculty and her peers followed her for the rest of her life.

“That is somewhat an unexpected gift,” Spell said. “Their extra time, their extra attention, their extra motivation toward me as a student who wanted to do well.”

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SUN KING

Researcher shines as international force in solar energy

DOUG DUGAS

by charlie bier

T

he College of Engineering’s Dr. Terrence Chambers traces the origins of his career to a 22-acre plot of land in Kansas bordered by wheat fields. There,

just outside the family home and “miles from anything,” sat his father’s aviation mechanic’s business. Federal Aviation Administration-mandated overhauls of airplane engines were the elder Chambers’ specialty. He catered to pilots and planes from nearby Wichita, where the presence of some of the world’s largest aerospace manufacturing companies make the city the “Air Capital of the World.”

Young Terry’s world revolved around the 12,000-squarefoot building that held the family business. The workspace provided a playground that became a place for Chambers, at age 8, to make money. “I grew up working in that repair shop, got interested in aviation, and that’s really where my interest in engineering started,” he said. Sweeping floors and emptying trash cans gave way to disassembling and cleaning plane engines. By age 14, Chambers had saved enough from paychecks built on 50 cents an hour to buy a $500 car. He transformed the 10-year-old clunker “into a hot rod at the shop, because we had all the tools. My dad and my uncle mentored me.”

The brothers did a good job – and received a nice return. Chambers soon graduated to repairing and reassembling plane engine accessories. He also leaned on skills acquired in a high school mechanical drawing class to draft blueprints for a turbocharger kit his father invented and marketed. The turbocharger was designed to enable planes to climb higher and fly faster. Chambers helped to outfit it with instrumentation and install it on a Cessna airplane for test flights. As his father piloted the plane, Chambers compiled flight data that was later analyzed with input from a professor at a nearby university.

“We needed to see if our modifications would change the plane’s weight balance or cause problematic vibrations or Dr. Terrence Chambers among the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab’s 4,200-panel solar field.

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other issues,” Chambers explained. “I guess you could say it was my first research and development project.”

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DOUG DUGAS

DOUG DUGAS

Dr. Terrence Chambers and student researcher Wyatt Stoute next to a light-soaking chamber.

Student Maritza Guadarrama conducting research outside Antoun Hall with a pyranometer, which measures solar energy.

During high school, his proficiency in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, or STEM, subjects brought a full scholarship to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Chambers enrolled intent on studying aeronautical engineering. “But, an aeronautical engineer advised me to study mechanical engineering.

He said, ‘With mechanical, you can do aero, but also automotive, manufacturing…it’s a broader field.’” Chambers heeded the advice.

It turned out to be a wise decision. After graduating from BYU in 1986, he couldn’t find aeronautical engineering work. Chambers instead landed at the Naval Undersea Warfare Engineering Station in Keyport, Washington, conducting performance and reliability studies on U.S. Navy torpedoes. It was a satisfying job, though not in the field Chambers wanted. He continued pursuing aeronautics, and hearing a similar refrain during job interviews: “It would be, ‘OK, what have you been doing lately?’ And I’d say, ‘Torpedoes.’

And they’d say, ‘Well, we don’t have any flying torpedoes here,’” Chambers said with a laugh.

Feeling pigeonholed, he returned to BYU, set on adding a master’s degree in engineering design to his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. “I intended to complete the requirements as quickly as possible, then remarket myself in aviation,” Chambers explained. An academic committee, however, grounded those plans after reviewing his master’s thesis prospectus. The topic – combined use of AI and traditional mathematical methods for design optimization – was to blame. At a time when AI represented nothing more than an odd pairing of vowels for most people, Chambers’ cutting-edge ideas about artificial intelligence wowed the committee. “It recommended I take a few extra classes, write a dissertation rather than a thesis and get a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering. I was like, ‘You can do that?’ And they were like, ‘Oh yeah, it’ll be easy.’ So, five years later,” Chambers said wryly, “I got my Ph.D.” The commitment paid off. Chambers attracted interest from industry and academia – and watched the door to aeronautics

swing open. In 1995, he accepted a position at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. “The department head who hired me, Dr. William Simon, had spent about three decades at NASA and brought me in to do NASA-sponsored research,” Chambers explained. At NASA, Simon had worked on Project Apollo that sent the first astronauts to the Moon and the International Space Station. Of hiring Chambers at Lamar, Simon recently said: “It was one of the best moves I ever made. We wrote 14 proposals for NASA and 13 were funded. Terry was simply outstanding in every way.” So good, in fact, that Simon hired Chambers twice. After leaving Lamar for UL Lafayette, he recruited Chambers to follow. “I ended up learning as much from Terry over the years as he learned from me,” said Simon, who retired from UL Lafayette in 2021.

Chambers’ tenure at the University began in 1997 as an assistant professor. His focus was teaching and researching disciplines such as design optimization. Much has changed since. Chambers has evolved into an internationally recognized authority on solar energy technologies. His wide-ranging expertise includes photovoltaics, solar thermal, thermal energy storage and systems design. Chambers’ research extends to other renewable areas, including green hydrogen and electric vehicles. He also excels in fields such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms and programming, and engineering software development. Chambers is an able administrator, too, having served as associate dean for six years under Dr. Mark Zappi, the College of Engineering’s former dean.

Zappi is now executive director of the Energy Institute of Louisiana, the University’s comprehensive research unit for traditional and sustainable energy. Among the institute’s many centers and labs are several led by Chambers, including the Green Hydrogen Center of Excellence and the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab. “Terry is one of those rare researchers who’s always thinking about the technical and application side of his research, about how it affects the user community and industry. He’s always searching

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Terry is one of those as an international leader in solar research for the next big solution,” Zappi said. “And and technology to Zappi, “who tapped me he’s just such a generous guy. He has a true rare researchers who’s to be our solar guy about 15 years ago.” In gift and passion for helping students and always thinking about the 2010, planning began on the University’s young faculty and staff progress.” Chambers, technical and application Cleco Alternative Energy Center in Crowley, the Donald and Janice Mosing BORSF Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering, side of his research, about La. Researchers there examine methods for generating power by using renewable also shines in the classroom. He has earned how it affects the user resources, including solar. Commissioned two Eminent Faculty Awards from the community and industry. in 2012, the center houses the nation’s UL Lafayette Foundation – the Dr. Ray P. He’s always searching for first pilot-scale solar thermal power plant Authement Excellence in Teaching Award owned and operated by a university. Among and the Leadership Service Award. Eminent the next big solution. the center’s infrastructure are two banks Faculty Awards are the highest recognition Dr. Mark Zappi, executive director of large, parabolic-shaped troughs that the University confers on faculty members. enerGy institute of louisiana capture sunlight for producing electricity For Chambers, it all adds up to a via concentrating solar thermal technology. successful, rewarding career that leaves “That was the dominant solar technology when we got started at the aeronautics crossing his mind only when he feels nostalgic about center, and we’ve been doing solar-related work there ever since,” his youth. “I’ve got my dream job. And besides, I’ve got access Chambers said. to the biggest, coolest toys,” he said. Chambers isn’t kidding. In Other technologies evaluated at the alternative energy center this case, he’s referring to the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab, located include biomass-fed gasification, torrefaction, anaerobic digestion at University Research Park. The lab’s 4,200-panel solar field and, most recently, green hydrogen. UL Lafayette will install makes it one of the largest outdoor solar testing facilities in the hydrogen test beds at the center after receiving a $6 million award southeastern United States. The solar array is adjacent to Antoun from the U.S. Department of Economic Development. Chambers Hall, a 4,500-square-foot building that holds state-of-the-art solar deflects credit for leading the University-wide effort that resulted testing equipment, a classroom, a conference room and other in the H2theFuture grant. “It represents the longstanding work of amenities. As a whole, the Louisiana Solar Energy Lab offers “a hub dozens of researchers who collectively examine all forms of energy,” for research, operational testing and technology development,” said Chambers, who oversaw its formation. Just as notably, he added, the he said. “It’s also indicative of the University’s diversified, strategic push to help Louisiana and the U.S. adapt to a changing energy lab is a hub for economic and workforce development, providing market. We’ve been moving very deliberately in that direction for instruction and training to meet industry needs. quite some time.”

Case in point: First Solar, the largest solar energy manufacturer So has Chambers, who has come a long way from readying in the Western Hemisphere, announced in October it will build aircraft engines for FAA inspections and drafting blueprints for its fifth U.S. manufacturing facility in New Iberia, La. Along with turbochargers. The latest feather in the researcher’s cap? The largest research and technology development, the Louisiana Solar Energy award in the University’s history – $87 million as part of the Hubs Lab will educate and train students and industry professionals to for Energy Resilient Operations strategic initiative. Chambers fill many of the more than 700 direct jobs the manufacturing giant is principal investigator for the HERO initiative. Its end goal: to will bring to Acadiana. First Solar’s chief executive officer, Mark create a network of hubs powered by distributed solar and battery Widmar, summed up the state’s and the University’s reputation, microgrids that provide communities with access to electricity innovativeness and significance as an energy leader this way: “As and other vital services during natural disasters. The lead role the we evaluated our options, Louisiana’s ability to deliver the talent University will play in the multi-entity HERO (see sidebar) rests we need stood out, thanks to its extensive workforce development on “the capabilities and capacities at our multi-use facilities, which initiatives and the presence of academic institutions such as the continue to grow and evolve,” Chambers explained. “We just keep University of Louisiana at Lafayette which now features a worldmoving forward and creating new opportunities by leveraging and class solar energy lab.” building on what we already have.” So does Chambers.

For his part, Chambers traces his role in the University’s status

Historic grant supports HERO-ic effort The largest award in University history – $87 million as part of the Hubs for Energy Resilience Operations strategic initiative – carries an objective as substantial as the allocation.

The HERO initiative will provide access to electricity and other vital services during natural disasters by way of a network of Community Resilience Hubs powered by distributed solar and battery microgrids. The University will produce the microgrids at its Louisiana Solar Energy Lab, New Iberia Research Center, and Cleco Alternative Energy Center. The statewide network of microgrids will be integrated with utility-owned electrical grids

and backup energy generation sources, bolstering emergency response capabilities.

The University will also collaborate with clean energy company Power Strategies to build microgrids at several Louisiana National Guard bases, and train workers to install the microgrids. As a whole, the HERO initiative is being funded with a $250 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, coupled with a $250 million match from state partners. The University’s $87 million award makes it the largest single recipient of HERO initiative funding.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

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Domination National title run cements Ragin’ Cajuns Water Ski Team’s status as country’s best

BY CHARLIE BIER

T

he Ragin’ Cajuns Water Ski Team has won the last four national championships for a total of 10, the second-most national titles by any team in the intercollegiate club sport’s history. Had COVID-19 not canceled the 2020 National Collegiate Water Ski Association championships, “I’m confident we’d have 11 titles and five in a row,” said Ryan Gonzales, the team’s volunteer head coach.

Gonzales, UL Lafayette’s assistant director of Veteran and Military Student Services, makes a good point. The team hasn’t been beaten in competition of any kind since 2019, a nod to the sort of dominance that brought it national championships in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2015, 2010, 2005, 2003, 1997 and 1995. The dynasty took shape quickly after the team’s founding in 1988. Since 1994, it has placed first or second at the national championships every year but two, carving out an international reputation as a collegiate powerhouse. “We’ve become known around the world as the place to send your kids to become champions,” Gonzales said.

Last year’s championship team included studentathletes from nine countries – the U.S., Argentina, Austria, Canada, England, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and Switzerland. Among them were Kennedy Hansen, who is from Florida, and Edoardo Marenzi, who is from Italy.

The skiers claimed overall 2023 national championships in women’s and men’s individual competition, respectively.

Assistant coach Harry Spavin, a former team member from England, cited “word of mouth” as the reason “so many high-level water skiers from across the globe choose to enroll at the University.”

“Waterskiing is a small world. Everyone hears about our success, our degree programs, the city, the campus, the people, the way of life. We’re an attractive pick for the world’s best junior skiers, who want a good education and to train with the best,” said Spavin, who earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the University in 2020.

Ragin’ Cajuns water skiers also want chances to prove they’re the best – and why. That happens at the national championships, where spots are claimed based on regular season tournament performances. As with track and field,

how a team finishes depends on points accumulated by individual competitors. Scores of water skiers boosted the Ragin’ Cajuns to the team championship in 2023, but none more heavily than Hansen. She placed first in jumping and second in both slalom and tricks, the three events in which collegiate water skiers compete.

That gave Hansen, a junior majoring in kinesiology, her second individual title as overall women’s national champion in as many years. Beyond innate ability and a tireless devotion to a sport she picked up at age 3, Hansen attributes her success, in part, to the fact that “I love it here and the people here. Definitely the people. The ski team is really close. We’re a family.”

It’s a family that does more than study, practice and compete together. Club sports, which the NCAA doesn’t regulate, are dependent on grassroots efforts. While the University is among just a handful of schools that offer scholarships to water skiers, the team is largely self-run and self-supported. Like all club sports, it’s responsible for recruiting; coordinating its tournament schedule and practices; and securing sponsorships and raising money for everything from boats and gear to travel and lodging.

Student-athletes shoulder much of the load, and in ways that can be measured beyond championships, Gonzales said. Case in point: a recent documentary film – The Unknown Sport of Waterskiing. A company led by several former water ski team members created the film to counter assumptions that the sport is strictly a recreational pursuit. UL Lafayette features prominently, in interviews and in shots of academic halls, athletics facilities and research labs. There’s also footage of skiing on Airport Lake, which gives the team, unlike at many other universities, a place to train without having to drive far distances.

“The beauty of this team and what we’ve built is that the students deserve the bulk of the credit for their success, and I’m not talking only about on the water,” Gonzales said. “They’re ambassadors. They help with recruiting, train and support each other, conduct community service and shine in the classroom, too. You name it. Oh, and they win.”

Ragin’ Cajuns waterskier Kennedy Hansen, a junior, has carved out a reputation as the country’s best, winning two straight individual national championships.

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FIELD WORK

Ragin’ Cajuns will kick off the 2025 season in renovated home

L

ouisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Football will soon have a new kind of home-field advantage. The transformation of Cajun Field to Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium will change the way football fans experience game day.

The $65 million project began late last year and is anticipated to be completed ahead of the 2025 season. Renovations to the stadium’s west side are the most significant changes to the storied home of Ragin’ Cajuns Football since the facility opened in 1971.

The stadium’s new name comes after a $15 million investment from Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center.

Support from Lourdes and other investors will help “transform

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the game day experience” for fans, said Dr. Bryan Maggard, vice president for Intercollegiate Athletics. “From the premium seating products, a new lower west bowl and state-of-the-art amenities, Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium will be a premier venue improving the overall atmosphere for our fans and student-athletes. This project would not have been possible without the support of University administration, Our Lady of Lourdes and so many others.”

Demolition of the west grandstands began in December and construction is now underway. No seating will be available on the stadium’s west side during the upcoming season.

Visit buildtheculture.com for the latest.

LOURDES STADIUM BY THE NUMBERS

30,000+ 34 40 seating capacity

5

524

suites loge boxes lower bowl chair club seats back sections

Geaux Cajuns

®

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

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ENDURING LEGACY Founding Alumni president’s diploma returns to campus

BY MARIE ELIZABETH OLIVER

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SUBMITTED PHOTO

P

othier Jean (P.J.) Voorhies received his diploma from Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute in 1903, along with 17 other members of the institution’s inaugural graduating class. His imprints can still be found across Lafayette – from a Legacy Park apartment building on campus to a tiny plaque on a side door at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist to vintage photographs at multiple Pothier Jean (P.J.) Voorhies, the first Alumni Association president Raising Cane’s restaurants.

Voorhies served as a founding member of the basketball and baseball teams and the first president of the now-University of Louisiana at Lafayette Alumni Association in 1903.

A few years ago, Voorhies’ descendants donated his original diploma to the Alumni Center. Dan Hare, the association’s director of community engagement, said the artifact is especially meaningful because it represents the rich traditions and growth initiated by that first graduating class.

“Now the Alumni Association is housed in a historic landmark and has its own staff and board,” said Hare. “It has grown tremendously, but he got it all started.”

After graduation, Voorhies launched a handful of successful businesses, primarily the Lafayette Lumber Co., where he served as Voorhies’s original diploma from the University’s first graduation ceremony features general manager and president until signatures from SLII’s founding faculty, including Edith Garland Dupré, Dr. Edwin Stephens his death in 1968. His civic leadership and V.L. Roy.

PAUL KIEU

Voorhies’s descendants gathered recently on campus. From left are Sharon McCarthy, ’67, Richard Henke, ’78, Mike Voorhies, ’75, Mary Henke Prudhomme, Kenneth Henke, ’66, P.J. “Sport” Voorhies IV, ’05, P.J. Voorhies III, ’77, Susan Henke Romero and Dr. Lucy Henke. included the Knights of Columbus, Woodmen of the World, Kiwanis, Rotary Club and Boy Scouts of America, to name a few.

During World War II, he commanded the South Louisiana District of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary between Southwest Pass and Morgan City.

But to his family, he was simply “Grandpa” – the guy who, in his golden years, performed backflips into the water off his shiny Chris-Craft boat and took long strolls down Myrtle Place Boulevard suited up in white linen with a cup of coffee in hand. He was an avid outdoorsman and early adapter to color television, where he eagerly watched the space race unfold. And he was always singing.

“He had a music room in his house. He played any instrument you could think of – piano, organ, flute, harmonica. He had a parakeet. It sang, too,” said Voorhies’ granddaughter, Susan Henke Romero, who fondly remembers her grandfather teaching her the melodies to old songs like Till We Meet Again to sing to her grandmother.

Kenneth Henke, Voorhies’ grandson, who graduated from USL in 1966, said his grandfather took every opportunity to remind his family of the value of higher education. After Voorhies’ father died, he paid for most of his own siblings to attend SLI. He made the same commitment to his children.

“I’m sure he’d be impressed with how many generations came to be here,” said Dr. Lucy Henke, a professor of marketing in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration.

She said five generations of Voorhies family members have graduated from the University. Voorhies’ great-great-grandson, Sam Dunand, is currently enrolled in the Graduate School pursuing a degree in computer science, and his brother, Tucker Dunand graduated with a degree in biology in 2019.

P.J. Voorhies III, who graduated from USL in 1977, said his grandfather used the business skills he learned in school to help contribute to the development of Lafayette. He remembers his grandfather explaining how he built a subdivision near the current Heritage Apartments to house faculty at SLI. “He built just about all the houses in the Saint Streets,” he added.

His son, P.J. “Sport” Voorhies IV, played on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns baseball team one century after his great-grandfather.

Voorhies said he wasn’t aware of the connection until he received a call for an interview after his team played in the NCAA College World Series in 2000. “I don’t know who figured it out and realized it, but I brag about it now,” he laughed.

Richard Henke, Voorhies’ grandson who graduated from USL in 1978, recalls how proud his grandfather was of being one of the first fullbacks on the football team. He said he loved to tell the story of the team’s first game, where they had only seven players and had to borrow four from the opposing team – Lake Charles High School. “I think they won,” Henke said.

Hare said the Alumni Association plans to hang Voorhies’ diploma in a prominent location for visitors to view.

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

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1960s The Upper Peninsula Poet Laureate Foundation selected DR. BEVERLY MATHERNE, ’69, ’71, as its 20232024 poet laureate. Matherne will promote poetry through interactive lessons and writing activities in schools and through public readings. She is professor emerita of English at Northern Michigan University. The author of seven poetry books, she is a recipient of the Hackney Literary Award for Poetry. She earned a doctoral degree in drama from St. Louis University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English from USL. WARREN PERRIN, ’69, is an attorney, author and internationally recognized advocate for the FrenchAcadian heritage. His latest book is The Weight of History, the Power of Apology: Remembering Lifter David Berger 50 Years After the Munich Olympics. Published in 2023, it tells the story of a friend of Perrin’s who was among 11 Israeli athletes killed by terrorists during the 1972 Olympic games. Perrin is married to MARY BROUSSARD PERRIN, ’70, ’03, a preservationist and author.

1970s ANTHONY LANDRY, ’71, is a retired MetLife insurance agent. He and his wife, Linda Breaux Landry, are the parents of two daughters, including CALLIE LANDRY SAWVEL, ’05, who holds a bachelor’s degree in insurance and risk management from UL Lafayette.

JOHN S. COMEAUX, ’76, and PHYLLIS COMEAUX, ’79, have

written three novels. Their latest, Winnie and the Voodoo Trolls, is scheduled for publication in 2024.

John holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering and worked for Chevron for 40 years. Phyllis 42

earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from USL, a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from LSU, and a master’s degree from Texas Women’s University. She worked as a pediatric physical therapist and was director of Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s therapy department in Lafayette.

The couple have three children, including JULIE LEMAIRE, ’13, who earned a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University.

1980s CONNIE ALPOUGH WRIGHT, ’82,

is a registered health information administrator and certified coding specialist. She holds a bachelor’s degree in medical records.

Louisiana-based Investar has named

earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University, which honored her with its 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award; it’s the highest recognition UL Lafayette bestows on graduates. Before joining Feeding America, she held leadership positions at Walmart, PwC, and Adams and Reese LLP. In 2020, she was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Most Influential People.”

WUI LIAN SEOW, ’87, is a senior manager of cargo operations with Singapore Airlines. He earned a bachelor’s degree in management.

He is the father of JIA YING JOLYN SEOW, ’23, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and JING WEN JOANN SEOW, who is pursuing an undergraduate degree in mass communication.

HOLLY HIDALGO-DEKEYZER, ’83,

its chief banking officer. HidalgoDeKeyzer has been with the bank since its 2006 founding. She previously worked 18 years for Hibernia. The New Orleans native holds a bachelor’s degree in finance.

DR. HOLLIS MICHAEL TARVER, ’83, ’90, is a retired professor of history.

Tarver served two terms as chair of the Arkansas History Commission.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in general studies and a master’s degree in history from USL, and a doctoral degree in history from Bowling Green State University.

From 2002 to 2023, he was a professor of history at Arkansas Tech University and was dean of its College of Arts and Humanities.

1990s The LSU Office of Research & Economic Development named DR. STEPHANIA CORMIER, ’91, its associate vice president of health and human security. Cormier earned a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from UL Lafayette and a doctoral degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from LSU Health New Orleans.

child and family studies from UL Lafayette.

DR. MARCY BOUDREAUXJOHNSON, ’97, ’02, is a reading

interventionist at Prairie Vale Elementary School in Edmond, Oklahoma. She was selected as Prairie Vale’s 2021 Teacher of the Year and the Deer Creek School District’s 2021-2022 Teacher of the Year. She was one of 12 finalists for the Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Award in 2023. She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction, both from UL Lafayette, and a doctoral degree in education from LSU.

2000s TIA TRAHAN, ’02, principal of Lafayette Middle School, is Louisiana’s 2023 Principal of the Year. She was the 2007 Lafayette Parish School System Teacher of the Year. Trahan earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from UL Lafayette and a master’s degree in educational leadership from LSU Shreveport.

’85, as its 2023 Distinguished

JULIE PICHAUFFE HAMMONDS,

Alumnus. She is CEO of Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic charity and its largest hunger-relief organization. She

’96, earned a master’s degree in

The Louisiana Science Teachers Association honored DR. SARAH BERGERON, ’05, with its 2023 William Craig Outstanding University Educator Award. It recognizes university faculty members who have made meaningful connections with K-12 educators and their students.

Bergeron joined the Nicholls State University faculty in 2020 as an assistant professor of chemistry.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from UL Lafayette and a doctoral degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Iowa.

human services from East Tennessee State University in December 2023.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in

CHRIS WELCKER, ’05, received an Emmy for Outstanding

The American Association of State Colleges and Universities named

DIANA CASH LENNON, ’93, has

published her second children’s book, Pets and the Fruit of the Spirit. The illustrated book explains how pets display nine characteristics – love, peace, patience, joy, generosity, gentleness, kindness, faithfulness and selfcontrol. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mass communication.

CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT,

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

Sound Mixing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his work on the Amazon Prime and Hello Sunshine series Daisy Jones & The Six at the 75th Emmy Creative Arts Awards held earlier this year. The New Orleans native’s work on Daisy Jones also earned him a Cinema Audio Society Award nomination.

Welcker’s previous credits include Keanu (2016), a Key & Peele comedy feature; the Mötley Crue biopic The Dirt (2019); and Bill and Ted Face the Music (2020).

He holds a bachelor’s degree in music media.

The Milken Family Foundation honored CHRISTINE BAYARD, ’09, ’17, with a $25,000 Milken Educator Award. She is one of 75 educators from across the U.S. to receive the award during the 2023-2024 school year. Bayard is a sixth-grade math teacher at Johnston-Hopkins Elementary School in New Iberia, La. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and later completed the alternative teacher education program in middle school math.

2010s ANDRÉ ALBERT FAVORS, ’11, ’13, is an instructor in the Department of Communication and Media at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas. The Southeast Texas Young Professionals Organization named him a 2023 “40 Professionals Under 40” honoree. Favors holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication from UL Lafayette.

CHANEY M. BENNETT, ’13, is an upper exceptional student services resource teacher at Broadmoor Elementary School in Baton Rouge. She works with students in third through fifth grades. Bennett holds a bachelor’s degree in English literature.

DR. TRACY MAY STONE, ’14,

is an assistant professor of

English at LSU Eunice. McFarland published her Reading the Great American Zombie: The Living Dead in Literature in 2023. The book evolved from the dissertation Stone wrote while pursuing her doctoral degree in English at UL Lafayette.

ANDREW M. ALBRITTON, ’17, is

among 20 young lawyers named to the Leadership Louisiana State Bar Association’s 2023-2024 class.

Albritton is an associate in the New Orleans office of McGlinchey Stafford. He was a 2023 finalist for the Louisiana State Bar Association Young Lawyer’s Hon. Michelle Pitard Wynne Professionalism Award. Albritton holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from UL Lafayette and earned his law degree from Tulane.

BRANDY MILLIMAN ROY, ’17,

co-owns and operates Southern Magnolia Soirée LLC, a wedding and events venue in Broussard, La. Her business partner is TORI LEBLANC-ARCENEAUX, ’17, who holds a bachelor’s degree in education from UL Lafayette. Roy earned a bachelor’s degree in art education from the University. She also works as a teaching artist with the Acadiana Center for the Arts.

DR. JEREMI EDWARDS, ’19,

is scheduled to make his international music debut as one of 12 composers selected for the Alba International Music Festival in Italy in summer 2024. Edwards is an assistant professor of music at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, La. He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education from McNeese, a master’s degree in music theory and composition at UL Lafayette, and a doctoral degree in music education from LSU.

IN MEMORIAM BRAXTON “B.I.” MOODY III, ’49, namesake of the College

of Business Administration, died Sept. 13, 2023. He was 97.

Following service in the U.S.

Navy during World War II, the Acadia Parish native earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from SLI. Moody was a founding partner of the CPA firm Moody, Broussard, Poché and Guidry.

He later served as president and CEO of Chart House Inc., which operated numerous restaurants in several states. He was chairman of the board for First National Bank in Lafayette and Louisiana State Newspapers, which publishes 22 newspapers.

The University awarded him an honorary doctorate in business administration in 2017. He and his wife, the former Thelma Hebert, had nine children, ROSALIND

storyteller and cookbook author, died Oct. 23, 2023. She was 90.

While still in high school, the St. Landry Parish native adopted the stage persona of “Madame Sauce Piquante” and performed at conventions and on radio and television. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in home economics, she was a member of the Red Jackets spirit squad. She later earned a master’s degree in education from the University.

Barry taught second grade at Sunset Elementary School. Her husband, DR. JOSEPH ROBERT BARRY JR., taught horticulture at the University. The couple had eight children, ROBERT BARRY

ROBERTSON, ’70, BRAXTON

III, ’75, D’ANN PLAUCHE, ’81, DR.

I. MOODY IV, ’74, VALERIE

MICHAEL D. BARRY, ’81, KARL

HENSGENS, ’74, Beverly Lagroue,

BARRY, ’83, DR. MARK G. BARRY,

Kathy Hundley, KEVIN MOODY, ’80, Charlotte Leonards, STEPHEN MOODY, ’89, and Elizabeth Gielen.

’92, DR. TIMOTHY J. BARRY, ’90,

FLORIAN “FLO” MONTTE

WILMA BOURQUE LANDRY, ’55, died Dec. 31, 2023, at age 90.

The Milton, La., native earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics from SLI, then taught at Church Point, Youngsville, Milton and Comeaux high schools. She also ran a successful catering business.

LANDRY, ’53, died Aug. 22, 2023,

at 91. While pursuing a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at SLI, she met ROY LOUIS LANDRY, ’52. The couple later married and had five children, GREGORY LANDRY, ’78, DEBORAH BROWN, ’80, PATRICK LANDRY, ’83, retired

director of University Computing Support Services, VIRGINIA WALKER, ’85, and STEPHEN LANDRY, ’93.

JOHN MAMOULIDES, ’54, who

served 24 years as Jefferson Parish district attorney, died Aug. 1, 2023. He was 90. A native of Crowley, La., he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from SLI before completing a law degree at Tulane in 1960. He was a U.S. Air Force veteran. Mamoulides was elected district attorney in 1972 and held the position until 1996. He served two terms as president of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association.

KARLEEN GUILBEAU BARRY, ’55, ’76, a Cajun humorist,

Linda B. Player and the late Dr. Charles P. Barry.

DR. REXFORD C. HAUSER, ’56, died Dec. 31, 2023. He was 93.

Hauser was instrumental in the development of the University’s MBA program and served as its first director. After becoming dean of the College of Commerce in 1977, he helped oversee its name change to the College of Business Administration. A native of New Iberia, La., Hauser was a U.S. Army veteran. Following his discharge in 1953, he took advantage of the G.I. Bill to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business administration at SLI. He later earned an MBA from LSU and a doctorate from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration. Hauser was the College of Commerce’s Outstanding Professor in 1970 and was among the USL Foundation’s

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

43

A L U M N I I N F O R M AT I O N F O R M If you enjoy reading about where your former classmates are now and what they’re doing, consider this: They’d like to read about you, too.

Please fill out the form below and mail it back to UL Lafayette or go to louisiana.edu/lalouisiane to submit the information online.

NAME FIRST

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Distinguished Professor honorees in 1972. Hauser was a member of the board of directors of Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center; he was the first lay person to serve as board chair.

Hauser retired from USL in 1994.

Hauser’s wife of 69 years, DORIS CONZELMANN HAUSER, ’51, a retired educator, preceded him in death.

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ALLISON “BOB” MECHE, ’61, died April 26, 2022. He was 88. He served in the U.S. Air Force before completing a bachelor’s degree in business from USL. In 1976, Meche founded Amko Fence in Gonzales, La., and operated the business until his retirement in 2001. He served on the Ascension Parish Library Board for 25 years and was president of the Gonzales Chamber of Commerce. A daughter, ROBIN KUBE, ’86, is among his survivors.

BUSINESS NAME DR. KAM MOVASSAGHI, BUSINESS ADDRESS

’63, retired professor of civil

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CURRENT DATE Please mail this form to P.O. Box 43567, Lafayette, LA 70504-3567 or email your information to lalouisiane@louisiana.edu

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LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

engineering and former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, died Nov. 2, 2023. He was 83.

Movassaghi held a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from USL; he later earned master’s and doctoral degrees from LSU. He was a member of the USL engineering faculty when Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster appointed him DOTD secretary in 1998. During his tenure, Movassaghi initiated some of the largest projects in state history and was instrumental in the creation of the Interstate 49 Corridor Task Force. His term ended in 2004; he joined Fenstermaker as president the following year and retired in 2015. He was married for 57 years to DR. MAZIE BODDEN MOVASSAGHI, who taught in the University’s Department of Modern Languages. She held a doctorate in French literature; she also taught Spanish and English as a second language. A master gardener who was active in the

development of Moncus Park in Lafayette, Mazie Movassaghi died Dec. 3, 2023, at age 79. The couple had two children.

DR. EDWARD C. BABIN, ’65, a

retired geography professor, died March 5, 2023, at age 78. A native of Donaldsonville, La., he earned three degrees in geography: a bachelor’s from USL, a master’s from the University of Arkansas in 1967, and a doctoral degree from the University of Georgia in 1974.

He taught geography at USL before joining the University of South Carolina Upstate as a professor of geography. Babin was department chair twice before his retirement in 2015. His wife, Joanne Walsh Babin, survives him.

LT. BILLY RAY ABRAMS, a 23-year veteran of the UL Lafayette Police Department, died Oct. 11, 2023, at age 61. At the time of his death, he was the department’s public information officer. Abrams was a graduate of Breaux Bridge High School. Before joining ULPD, he was an officer with the Houston Police Department and ran a security company.

DON ALLEN, longtime “Voice of

the Cajuns,” died Dec. 6, 2023.

He was 76. Starting in the early 1970s, the Oklahoma native provided play-by-play and color commentary alongside Ron Gomez, the original “Voice of the Cajuns,” before he assumed the lead broadcast role in 1979.

Allen retired in 2001. He reported some of the most memorable moments in Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns history, including the upset of nationally ranked Texas A&M football in 1996. Allen was the lead announcer for the Cajuns’ five NCAA Tournament appearances between 1982 and 2000.

DR. CHIU YEUNG CHAN, professor

emeritus of mathematics, died Jan. 16, 2024. He was 82. Chan held a bachelor’s degree from the University of Hong Kong, a master’s

degree from the University of Ottawa, and a doctorate from the University of Toronto. He joined the USL faculty in 1982. He was a 1988 recipient of the Distinguished Professor Award, the highest honor the University bestows on faculty.

He retired in 2016. Chan’s research interests included nonlinear partial differential equations, applied analysis, mathematical modeling and computational mathematics.

He mentored 21 doctoral students at UL Lafayette and authored 135 refereed research publications.

DR. THOMAS D. SCHOONOVER,

professor emeritus of history, died Dec. 24, 2023, at age 87. A native

of Winona, Minnesota, he earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and a doctorate in history from the University of Minnesota in 1958 and 1970, respectively. Schoonover received a master’s degree in history from LSU in 1961. He joined the USL history faculty in 1969 and taught until his retirement in 2005.

A prolific international scholar who conducted research throughout Europe, Mexico and Central America, he published several books, including The Banana Men (1994), Uncle Sam’s War of 1898 and the Origins of Globalization (2003), and Hitler’s Man in Havana (2008).

He also wrote or edited numerous book chapters and refereed journal

articles. His wife of 57 years, EBBA W. SCHOONOVER, ’79, ’83, a retired

instructor in the Department of Modern Languages, survives him.

DR. MATTHEW J. SCHOTT SR.,

a retired professor of history, died Aug. 22, 2023, at age 88.

His research interests included Louisiana Gov. John Parker, early 20th century U.S. history and the experiences of German prisoners of war incarcerated in Louisiana during World War II. He was past president of the Louisiana Historical Association. A New Orleans native, Schott was a graduate of Loyola and Tulane universities. He completed his doctoral degree in history at

Vanderbilt University before joining the faculty at USL, where he taught for 35 years. Among his survivors is his daughter, KATHLEEN ESPINOZA, a geography instructor at UL Lafayette.

DR. JOHN TANNER, a professor

of marketing in the B.I. Moody III College of Business Administration, died Sept. 17, 2023. He was 79. Tanner was a faculty member since 1990 and received two of the highest recognitions the University honors faculty with – the Ray P. Authement Excellence in Teaching Award and the Distinguished Professor Award.

EMMY WINNER

ALUMNA MAKES HISTORY

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

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SUBMITTED PHOTO

Before Natalie Kingston won an Emmy for her cinematography on the Apple TV+ miniseries Black Bird, before she was named a “rising star” by the American Society of Cinematographers and before she collaborated on music videos with Billie Eilish, she graced the Burke-Hawthorne Hall Theater stage — covered in gold feathers — in a 2003 adaptation of Aristophanes’ The Birds.

Kingston, who made history at the 75th Emmy Awards as the first woman to win for Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, admits the stage ultimately wasn’t her calling. Still, her time as a mass communication major and theater minor at the University left a lasting impact.

“That community just really had an effect on me as an artist,” said Kingston, over a video call from her home in Los Angeles. “I really got to just let go and tap into my inner artist.

It was a magical time.”

Natalie Kingston, ’04, said her experience in the mass communication and Kingston recently wrapped production on a feature film, performing arts departments shaped her perspective as a cinematographer.

The Shallow Tale of a Writer Who Decided to Write about a Serial was a documentary-style show for KDCG television in Opelousas, Killer, directed by Tolga Karaçelik and starring Steve Buscemi, where she leaned on skills acquired in her broadcast journalism John Magaro and Britt Lower. courses. The experience became her working film school and led to Life, she says, has been moving especially fast since she got other opportunities to collaborate with Lafayette-area creatives. the call for Black Bird, which was developed for television by There’s still a soulful south Louisiana aesthetic to her work, no Dennis Lehane of The Wire and gave Kingston the opportunity matter where she’s filming. to film in New Orleans. The 2022 drama earned three Golden “There’s just such a grit and a texture to where we’re from,” Globe nominations and four Emmy nominations, including its said Kingston. “I tried to bring that to my imagery and never make cinematography recognition. Kingston’s win made her the first anything so clean and perfect. And let it be a little rough around woman in Emmy history to receive top honors in cinematography the edges.” for a work of fiction.

Kingston said even though she didn’t always know she wanted “It really felt surreal, just going back home,” said Kingston of to be a cinematographer, she was raised to appreciate the power her time shooting in her native Louisiana. “It was a hard shoot. We of creative storytelling. She credits her family and community for were in a prison for a long time. We went through Hurricane Ida. cultivating the empathy that is so crucial to her artistic process.

We went through COVID. I’m really proud and really honored for “We’re storytellers at heart,” she said. “We tell stories around the nomination.”

Originally from New Iberia, La., Kingston said her Cajun roots the table eating gumbo. We tell stories through music and through our culture. It’s just so ingrained in us.” shaped her work behind the camera. One of her first productions

PRESCRIPTION FOR SUCCESS

Donor support is the lifeblood of Health Sciences Campus’ development

H

ailey Frank is a historymaker. Over 200 other nursing students are historymakers, too.

At the start of the Fall 2023 semester, Frank and her fellow juniors and seniors became the first to occupy the University’s new Health Sciences Campus. It’s adjacent to the main campus on a 25-acre tract formerly occupied by Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center.

“It feels like a new beginning,” Frank said in an interview before graduating with her bachelor’s degree in nursing in December. “We’re in a space designed for our needs and dedicated to helping us succeed.”

Donor support is proving to be just what the doctor ordered for the Health Sciences Campus’ development. Such generosity is also a prescription for student success.

The fourth floor of the former St. Francis Medical Office Building – now known as James D. Moncus Hall – welcomed students last fall. Extensive renovations created six classrooms, two conference rooms, a student lounge and wellness space, a faculty and staff lounge, and office space for faculty.

Renovations were made possible by a philanthropic investment from LHC Group, part of the largest single gift UL Lafayette has ever received. The University announced the $20 million investment from the in-home health services company in 2021.

“We remain very grateful to LHC Group for its generous investment in health sciences education at the University,” said Dr. Lisa Broussard, interim dean of the College of Nursing & Health Sciences and a professor in the LHC Group • Myers School of Nursing. “A portion of their historic gift enabled these renovations and allowed us to begin transferring students to the new Health Sciences Campus more quickly.”

Another gift – $7 million from the James Devin Moncus Family Foundation – also will enable the campus’ continued growth and fund an endowment to support the College 46

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

of Nursing & Health Sciences. The University recognized the foundation’s generosity last year when it renamed one of the Health Science Campus’ buildings after Moncus, a philanthropist, businessman and community leader who died in 2021.

Debbie Spallino, Moncus Foundation trustee, said the University “always held a special place in Jim Moncus’ heart.”

“The Moncus Foundation is proud to carry on his legacy by investing in the College of Nursing & Health Sciences and helping to fulfill the University’s vision for the development of its Health Sciences Campus. We are confident that the students who learn within the walls of James D. Moncus Hall will improve the quality of life for so many in the communities in which they serve through this very vital career choice,” Spallino added.

The $20 million investment from LHC Group and the $7 million gift from the Moncus Family Foundation are part of Together: The Campaign for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the largest comprehensive fundraising initiative in University history.

Such support – and the continued generosity of donors – will enable UL Lafayette to fulfill its vision for the campus while also strengthening the region’s health care landscape, said Dr. Joseph Savoie, University president.

“Developing the Health Sciences Campus opens a new era for health care in the region. Over time, it will become a center for health sciences education, research and practice,” Savoie said.

Donor support “lets us dream big,” Broussard added.

“Donors are providing opportunities that will benefit our students and faculty and enhance the college’s reputation as the primary producer of the region’s health care workforce.

They’re helping us write a new chapter – and we’re excited and grateful.”

‘A WONDERFUL LIFE’ Gift honors couple’s love for the University – and each other

BY CHRISTI LANDRY BELL

W

hile touring the University of Louisiana at Lafayette under a clear February sky, Dr. Harold Travasos, ’48, was surprised – and proud – of how the campus has grown since his time as a student nearly 80 years ago.

The 98-year-old retired veterinarian recalled the dairy barn – which once stood where Moncus Park is now located – where he worked to earn tuition. He remembered Evangeline Hall, a women's dormitory, where he first met his wife, the former Theresa Russo, ’48. They were married for 75 years before she passed away in 2023. A shared love of their alma mater led Theresa to leave nearly $1 million to UL Lafayette to support scholarships and student veterans. It was a decision he happily agreed with.

“Giving back was very important to her and to me, too,” Travasos said.

An Avoyelles Parish native, Travasos enrolled at what was then Southwestern Louisiana Institute in 1942 to study dairy husbandry.

With World War II underway, Travasos received a deferment that enabled him to attend college rather than be drafted into the U.S. Army. Two years into his studies, however, he enlisted. “I just wanted to go,” he said.

Travasos soon found himself at Camp Beauregard (now Training Center Pineville) in central Louisiana. Travasos’ infantry division was sent first to England and France, then to Belgium, where he fought in the Battle of the Bulge in late 1944. During the battle, his “best buddy” was killed, and Travasos was shot in the chin. The bullet entered one side and exited the other.

“Every morning when I shave, I remember it,” he said. After a two-week convalescence, he returned to the thick of the action.

Travasos received the Purple Heart for his bravery.

The war ended in 1945, and Travasos returned home. He

By the numbers

resumed his studies at SLI and reunited with Theresa, who was completing her bachelor’s degree in Dr. Harold and the late business. In 1948, they Theresa Travasos graduated and married.

An Abbeville native, Theresa then taught at Forked Island Elementary School and handled bookkeeping for the Abbeville Adult Education Program.

By 1950, the couple headed to Auburn University in Alabama, where Travasos was one of six Louisiana students selected to attend veterinary school. Theresa found a job at the university and settled into their new surroundings. Travasos said she often joked that Auburn should have awarded her a Ph.T. – Putting Husband Through.

Following his graduation, the couple returned to Abbeville.

Travasos practiced veterinary medicine and served as one of the first commissioners of the Teche-Vermilion Fresh Water District. Theresa was at his side during his 35-year veterinary career, managing the practice, assisting with research projects and supervising her family’s real estate holdings. The couple had one son, the late Todd P. Travasos.

Through the years, their love for their time at SLI never wavered. It was where they met, established goals for their professional lives and built their foundation.

“We had a wonderful life,” Travasos said. “College meant so much to Theresa, to the both of us. That’s why she wanted to leave something to the University. I think that’s one of the biggest accomplishments of our lives.”

Estate and planned gifts make up

THE TOGETHER CAMPAIGN HAS REACHED $426.4M OF ITS $500M GOAL

Endowed Chairs

Endowed Professorships

180

Endowed Scholarship Funds

47

Visit together.louisiana.edu to give today.

These numbers are as of March 27, 2024.

313.8

$

MILLION

has benefited academics and research

MILLION in pledged support

8

The campaign has resulted in the creation of

36.8

$

112.6

$

MILLION has benefited the

athletics program

NEARLY

29K

individuals and organizations have made campaign gifts

59%

employees & alumni friends, parents & students

7%

corporations, foundations & organizations

34%

LA LOUISIANE | SPRING 2024

47

PAUL KIEU

The Ragin’ Cajuns Water Ski Team is turning the sport upside down. It has won four national championships in a row, for a total of 10. That translates to the second most titles in the intercollegiate club sport’s history. Since 1994, the team has placed first or second at every national championship other than in 2002 (third) and 2009 (fourth). Read more about the team — and its dominance — on page 36.

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t

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