Those running our flagship university—as part of its Strategic Plan 2025—have decided LSU has a responsibility to address the problems that so often make Louisiana 49th or 50th in national rankings that matter, says Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball in his latest column.
“It will do so by launching the Center for Collaborative Knowledge, which basically is an incubator where students and faculty across LSU’s campus will come together to research challenges, ponder solutions and find the money to execute whatever these smart folks come up with,” Ball writes. “Aiding in this cause, LSU has created a 15-member faculty advisory board, with expertise ranging from coastal studies, geography and engineering to Christian studies, chemistry and architecture. In short, a really diverse group.”
The center, Ball writes quoting LSU Provost Rick Koubek, “embodies the spirit of LSU’s strategic plan by helping to solve Louisiana’s most pressing challenges and developing future leaders for our state.”
The initiative kicks off on Thursday, April 12, with a conference focusing on sustainable cities and communities that will continue on Friday, April 13. Speakers will explore the challenges of life in modern cities and focus on opportunities for future growth and sustainability.
“That all sounds fabulous. It really does,” Ball writes. “That said, I’d like to make a suggestion: If LSU is really serious about tackling what ails this state then its focus should be clear—poverty.”
Ball says that “pretty much every malady dragging this state down” can trace its roots to poverty, from substandard education, escalating crime and the world’s highest incarceration rate to Louisiana’s high infant death rate and poorly trained workforce.
“The list goes on and on,” Ball writes. “Name a problem facing Louisiana and I’ll bet you can trace it back to poverty in fewer steps than it takes to play the Kevin Bacon game.”
Can LSU solve a problem that’s been unsolvable since man first began walking the earth?
“I don’t know, but can you imagine how fantastic—and lucrative—it would be if this all-in assault cut those rates in half?” Ball writes. “Imagine how much money LSU might generate—and world-class faculty it would attract—if Louisiana’s flagship institution became the leader in the fight against urban poverty. More importantly, think about how much better Louisiana would be as a state.”
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