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Some say our governor, Jeff Landry, has no love for Louisiana’s flagship university, favoring instead UL Lafayette, his hometown university and alma mater. Perhaps that explains his incessant negative actions and comments that attract national attention and upset students, faculty and alumni, not to mention humiliating our state.
Should I run down the list? Remember his tirade on X about coach Kim Mulkey not having her women’s basketball team on the floor for the national anthem? The team had never done so in the past, just like the football team, and was in the locker room praying before the game. And he threatened scholarships for athletes.
Or what about the showdown over having Mike the Tiger on the field despite objections from the LSU Vet School faculty? Undaunted, he rented “Omar” from a Florida circus. It was a seven-minute flop and an embarrassment.
Then, after getting cheers at a recent Turning Point Rally in downtown, he has another knee-jerk reaction and goes out to the LSU campus to make a late-night video challenging the LSU Board of Supervisors to make it the first university to erect a statue of Charlie Kirk to honor free speech. What about James Madison, who wrote the First Amendment? Will his LSU board dare defy him? I predict more words he will have to eat.
So, if this isn’t enough to make LSU fans and alums scratch their heads, then we have his most recent escapades with our football coach and athletic director. You know what happened. Everyone in America is aware of Landry’s clown show.
Those who love purple and bleed gold are angry and confused. Everyone else is simply laughing at Louisiana and LSU. They can’t believe our governor’s actions and comments. It was featured on every sports talk show and in numerous national newspaper articles and columns, with words like “circus” and “buffoon.” This damages the LSU brand.
Meanwhile, former coach Brian Kelly is suing LSU over his $54 million buyout. But don’t worry, our governor has declared that he won’t allow the next coach to receive a big-dollar contract and a jaw-dropping buyout, and he also wants the state attorney general to review the contract. What? He is out of control.
As I predicted: If LSU wanted a top coach, the market will set the contract terms, not the governor. Lane Kiffin will get $13 million a year vs. $9 million for Brian Kelly. And the “mouth of the south” will have to eat his words.
We all know that as this chaos was unfolding in the athletic department, the governor was also pulling the strings in selecting the next LSU president. It was over before it even started. His pick, Wade Rousse, president of McNeese State University, would be named president. While some say Rousse is a great guy, Landry and the “faux process” by his board minions (except for Laurie Aronson) have cast a shadow over Rousse’s head and qualifications to lead the flagship system.
Over the past month, I have heard from friends, LSU faculty, alumni and donors—both in-state and out—who are dismayed by the governor’s actions and how they have harmed LSU. As people laugh again about Louisiana politics, it reminds them of the old days.
As an LSU alum and native Louisianan, it angers me that Landry is damaging our flagship’s reputation. What you see is the “real Jeff Landry” I wrote about in 2023—but he has worsened, and the stories grow, a few of which I listed above. There are many more we don’t know about. It’s clear to me that with Landry in the mansion, these stories will keep coming, along with the shame. That’s not good for LSU or Louisiana.
BREC national search
Now that the new BREC Commission is finally in place, members can proceed with the national search for a new superintendent to lead the organization. The new superintendent must have a vision, much experience and a winning record. We wouldn’t accept anything less in a college football coach—so why not hold BREC to the same standard? We need a real winner to break the mold and stop doing things “the way we’ve always done it before.”
One positive move is BREC putting its Industriplex park up for sale for $1.3 million after determining it was underused and was being used as a camp for the homeless. Good. Many more of the 180 parks are poorly maintained and could be sold or donated to a nearby church or homeowners’ association, thereby removing high maintenance costs from the books. The savings could improve the remaining parks and make them safe. Quality, not quantity, is long overdue at BREC.
Let’s hope the commission will find that dynamic leader who is not afraid of change and can enhance our community. It’s long overdue.
Learn from the past: Think different
Austin, we met with expats who had moved their businesses there and asked them, “Why?” They said they were young entrepreneurs with new ideas trying to get started. But when they approached established community and business leaders to share their unconventional and innovative ideas, they were looked down upon because of their youth and told by the “gray hairs”: “That’s not the way we’ve always done it before.” They told us that this didn’t happen in Austin. Folks there judged them based on the strength of their ideas, and people were not tied to the past—they were willing to take a risk on them, despite their youth or being from out of town.
The mayor of Austin at the time was asked to share one thing we could take back to Baton Rouge. He said, “Find what it takes to attract the 25-year-old entrepreneur, and do it. Then support them.” That was in 2003, and we didn’t listen. Imagine how many new companies and jobs we would have 22 years later had we embraced that idea.
Imagine if we had been able to “think different” in 2008 and pass Mayor Kip Holden’s ALIVE project for the riverfront. (It lost 48% to 52%.) We would now have a strong brand and tourism as a major industry with 20,000 new jobs. Our love for the status quo and aversion to risk have kept us telling young people, “Well that’s not the way we’ve always done it before.” It’s maddening.
Times keep changing, and the “puck continues to move” for cities. I read an article online in Quartz that recapped what the writer discovered in Barcelona, Spain, at the Smart City Expo World Congress. The headline read, “The cities of the future will be built on code, not concrete.” It explains how cities are using AI to improve and speed up services while lowering staff and costs. It’s a new world, and alarms are sounding for cities.
Will Baton Rouge join the race and adapt to compete—or ignore the advice like we did in 2003 in Austin?
Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah
I pray you and your family have a safe and blessed holiday.
