LSU'S Biweekly Newsletter for Faculty & Staff
January 13, 2006 |
VOL. 22, NO. 9 |
|
| Above are three examples of the campaign’s print ads, which will be featured in national print publications. |
As outlined in the Flagship Agenda, LSU is vested in increasing its national and international visibility and prestige. To achieve this, the LSU Office of Public Affairs has been working to bring a fresh, new look to LSU’s visual identity, which includes an update of the LSU logo, revised brand standards for the university, a redesigned Web site and a new multi-media image and recruiting campaign.
“A strong visual identity program combined with effective communications outreach garners attention and recognition. Heightened visibility improves both awareness and knowledge, all resulting in favorable increases across the board for LSU,” said Michael Ruffner, vice chancellor for communications & university relations.
The new campaign carries the theme “Welcome to the Now” and invites people to experience the vibrant, exciting atmosphere and happenings taking place at LSU right now. It focuses on competitive undergraduate and graduate experiences, research opportunities, the picturesque campus setting, athletic accomplishments and important partnerships and collaborations.
“With this campaign, we are encouraging prospective faculty, students, parents, donors and peer institutions – as well as members of the campus community – to take a closer look at LSU,” said Risa Palm, executive vice chancellor and provost. “World-renowned faculty are joining LSU, academic standards are steadily increasing, graduation and retention rates are rising, academic and research programs are garnering national and international accolades and incoming freshmen are on par with their counterparts at peer institutions. Despite this success, national audiences are unfamiliar with LSU and why it is so special.”
To enhance the campaign’s messaging and impact, LSU Public Affairs worked with a local band, The Terms, on the concept for music and lyrics, resulting in an upbeat, contemporary track titled “Welcome to the Now, Evo Devo.” The Terms is a rock band of five LSU students who, like LSU, are on their way to national acclaim. The band currently has one CD out in stores and will release its second album later this spring, in which “Welcome to the Now, Evo Devo” is slated to be released as the title track. The song will be co-owned by LSU and used in a series of 30-second television spots.
Utilizing vibrant color, witty text, powerful imagery and catchy music, the campaign presents LSU as an energetic, progressive and unique university worth considering.
“People connected to LSU – our students, faculty, staff, alumni, fans, and supporters – know what makes this campus so unique,” explains Ruffner. “But now it’s time to come together, unify our efforts, and tell the world about the great things happening at LSU. That is what this initiative is designed to do.”
LSU’s cohesive identity and improved presence in the marketplace will also help to reassure outsiders that LSU remains a strong and vital resource after the devastation caused by the 2005 hurricanes. Ruffner added, “This is an ideal time to introduce LSU to national audiences as a competitive university, while reminding Louisiana residents of the outstanding resources available to them through LSU.”
The campaign will also set the stage for LSU’s upcoming fundraising efforts. “We are preparing to embark on the largest capital campaign in LSU’s history and national and international visibility will significantly improve our ability to secure private gifts and donations,” said Chancellor Sean O’Keefe. “LSU fans and supporters are fiercely loyal and willing to lend a hand, but we must prove to them that we’re worthy of their financial support.”
The redesign of LSU.edu will launch on Tuesday, Jan. 17, and will include the updated LSU logo and some graphical elements of the image and recruiting campaign. The campaign will officially be presented to faculty, staff and students in late January and the revised brand standards will be released in mid-February.
The campaign is slated to be pushed out to the public in three phases: (1) a grass-roots initiative involving e-marketing, (2) use of national media placement donated or sponsored by LSU supporters and (3) use of additional national media provided through private funding.
“If each member of the LSU community sends an e-mail to five of their friends asking them to check out LSU’s new campaign, that’s more than 1 million people,” explains O’Keefe. “This campaign will heighten appreciation all across the country about what is happening now at LSU, generating a buzz about the tremendous strides the University is taking on many fronts. We will instill pride in those who know us well, and to those who are unfamiliar with LSU, introduce ourselves as an institution that has it all.”
LSU’s 2006 celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. will involve several events and activities. The events will follow the theme “Beyond the path of injustice on the journey to empowerment: 20 years of excellence at LSU” given to this year’s celebration. The commemoration to King is highlighted by the visit of Clayborne Carson, scholar, author, Civil Rights historian and MLK biographer.
The events will commence on Monday, Jan. 16, with a Candlelight Vigil/Forum beginning at the LSU Memorial Tower at 6 p.m. The vigil begins with the lighting of candles and proceeds with a march around the LSU campus, ending at the LSU Student Union Atchafalaya Room. It concludes with a forum to discuss and celebrate King’s work as it relates to contemporary issues relevant to us locally, nationally and globally. Panelists for the forum will include Herman Kelly, LSU professor; Mark Thompson, LSU professor; Michelle Gieg, LSU student government president; and two community activists. Aaron Appleberry, program director for WYLD AM/FM radio station in New Orleans, will serve as the moderator.
On Tuesday, Jan. 17, there will be a Unity Celebration at the Baton Rouge Community College Magnolia Pavilion Arts Theatre at 6:30 p.m. The celebration targets leaders in the LSU, Southern University, Baton Rouge Community College and Greater Baton Rouge communities who possess the ability to build bridges across racial, ethnic and religious lines in an effort to truly unite. The event is by invitation only.
On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Commemorative Celebration will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the LSU Union Theatre featuring guest speaker Carson. The program will also include performances by the LSU Gospel Choir and the MLK Dance Ensemble, and a presentation of the MLK Humanitarian Award. Additionally, the MLK Committee will present the 2006 MLK Unsung Hero Awards, which honors individuals who have contributed to scholarship, leadership and service through community service, mentoring and stressing academic excellence.
Carson is a professor of history and director of the King Papers Project at Stanford University. He is also a noted author. His scholarly publications have focused on African American protest movements and political thought of the period after World War II. His writings have appeared in leading historical journals and numerous encyclopedias, as well as in popular periodicals. His first book, “In Struggle: SNCC and the Black Awakening of the 1960s,” a study of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, was published in 1981. “In Struggle” won the Frederick Jackson Turner Award of the Organization of American Historians.
Carson also served as senior advisor for a 14-part, award-winning, public television series on the civil rights movement titled “Eyes on the Prize” and co-edited the “Eyes on the Prize” Civil Rights Reader. In addition, he served as historical advisor for “Freedom on My Mind,” which was nominated for an Oscar in 1995, as well as for “Chicano!” and “Blacks and Jews.”
In 1985, Coretta Scott King invited Carson to direct a long-term project to edit and publish the papers of Martin Luther King Jr. This project was initiated by the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta and is being conducted in association with Stanford University and the Martin Luther King Jr. Estate. Under Carson’s direction, the King Papers Project has produced four volumes of a projected 14-volume comprehensive edition of King’s speeches, sermons, correspondence, publications and unpublished writings.
More recently, Carson collaborated with Roma Design Group of San Francisco to create the winning proposal in an international competition to design a national memorial in Washington, D. C., for King.
On Friday, Jan. 20, a Performing Arts Night will be held at 7 p.m. in the LSU Union Royal Cotillion Ballroom. The event will allow students, faculty and staff to recreate the character of King through poetry, dance and musical expression. The poetry portion consists of both “open mic” and professional poet performances.
A Day of Service will conclude the series of events on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 8 a.m. The event draws from the fundamental principles of volunteerism employed by King with a host of LSU student organizations, faculty, administrators and staff. Their time and service will benefit the LSU community and Old South Baton Rouge. Together with the LSU Community - University Partnership, Day of Service will include capital improvement projects at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, located in the Old South Baton Rouge Community.
 |
| Kathleen C. White |
Kathleen C. White, who has been serving as interim dean of students, has recently been named to the position on a permanent basis. The appointment became effective Dec. 1.
In this position, White will lead the Office of the Dean of Students, which includes judicial affairs, career services, Greek affairs, student government, student organizations and orientation.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the LSU community to enhance our students’ experiences as they engage themselves in academic pursuits,” White said. “The Office of the Dean of Students will strive to provide opportunities that promote student involvement, leadership development, a responsible and respectful campus community, and students’ long-term success.”
White holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Stetson University, a master’s degree in education with a focus on student personnel services in higher education from the University of South Carolina, and a doctoral degree in education with a focus on higher education from Florida State University. She has held student affairs positions at the University of Miami, University of South Carolina, Florida State University, Mercer University and Samford University.
“Dean White is exceptionally qualified to be LSU’s next Dean of Students based on her extensive experience in student life at multiple institutions,” said Neil Mathews, vice chancellor for Student Life and Academic Services. “She will serve the LSU community well in her new leadership role.”
At LSU, White previously served as Associate Dean of Students, providing oversight for the Center for Student Leadership and Involvement. She has also been an invited presenter at a number of leadership and student-affairs related national conferences and workshops.
The LSU Vision Louisiana Residential College was recently awarded the Irene W. and C.B. Pennington Foundation Grant. Vision Louisiana, a program for students who have an interest in making an impact in Louisiana, was awarded $27,590, which will help fund its research and faculty.
Vision Louisiana Residential College students are prepared for leadership roles in the economic and community development of Louisiana. The four-year program is open to all majors; it provides academic courses and practical experience that supplements the typical LSU curriculum. During their first two years, Vision Louisiana students reside together in Acadian Hall, allowing supportive co-curricular activities; common courses in the history, politics and economics of Louisiana; training in leadership and teamwork; and close contact with program faculty and state leaders. In their final two years, students work in small research teams on problems facing Louisiana and then present their work to LSU faculty and local leaders in public presentations.
The grant will fund four main areas of the program. The majority will be allotted for faculty stipends. Students are assigned LSU faculty members, who serve as research mentors and support the students in their final projects. Presently, these faculty members, though they dedicate many hours to the program, are not paid. Vision Louisiana hopes to attract more research mentors now that funding is available.
Other areas where the grant will be used are student field trips, research team expenses and presentation equipment. Throughout the school year, the program’s students are taken out of the classroom to see what is going on in Louisiana. The most recent field trip took the students on a tour of New Orleans, where they saw the destruction of Hurricane Katrina and spoke to local leaders about the relief efforts. Student groups working on their projects during their last two years will be given a sum to help with travel and research expenses. Student groups will benefit from the grant for their presentations of their final projects, as the grant will purchase presentation equipment.
The foundation grant focuses on education and community development. Vision Louisiana fits right into that focus. “One of the main goals of Vision Louisiana is to produce a cadre of individuals prepared and motivated to help their community,” said Perry Prestholdt, who was rector of the Vision Louisiana Residential College until his retirement in December.
 |
| Stacey Simmons |
 |
| Katrice Albert |
Katrice Albert, vice provost for equity and diversity at LSU, and Stacey Simmons, assistant director for strategic advancement at LSU’s Center for Computation & Technology, were recently named to the Baton Rouge Business Report’s “Top Forty Under 40” list for 2005.
The list recognizes individuals under 40 years old who are successful in their careers, who give back to the community and who are working to make Baton Rouge a better place.
As vice provost for equity and diversity, Albert is the chief diversity officer for LSU. She works closely with university administrators to identify and implement policies and practices to increase LSU’s diversity at all levels.
Albert has previously served as assistant director and director of the LSU Office of Multicultural Affairs, and serves as an affiliate faculty member with the counseling program in the LSU Department of Educational Leadership, Research and Counseling. She is on the Board of Directors of several civic organizations, including the Mid-City Dance project, which brings the performing arts to children of under-represented groups and children with special needs; the Baranco Clark YMCA; and the Greater Baton Rouge Volunteers of America. She is a facilitator for the Greater Baton Rouge YWCA’s “Dialogues on Race” program to encourage workplace discussions about race relations, and was appointed by Gov. Kathleen Blanco to the Louisiana Cultural Economy Initiatives Committee, which explores the idea of using Louisiana’s cultural diversity as a basis for economic development. She is a two-time nominee for the Greater Baton Rouge YWCA’s Young Woman of the Year, in 2004 and 2005, and was named the 2005 TRIO Achiever by the Louisiana Student Support Services Association.
Albert holds a bachelor of science degree in psychology from Xavier University, a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Southern Mississippi, and a doctorate in counseling psychology from Auburn University. Before arriving at LSU, she held a pre-doctoral internship at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology at the Boston Medical Center, where she conducted diversity and sensitivity training for clinical and non-clinical staff. In addition, she served as program coordinator with the Office of Multicultural Affairs at Auburn University. As coordinator for the African-American Peer Mentoring Program, she implemented university-wide social, cultural and academic multicultural programming.
Simmons, assistant director for strategic advancement at CCT, manages the strategic planning, business development, public relations, intellectual property issues and education efforts for the center. She believes that CCT, LSU’s international research and supercomputing center, is an economic force that can propel Louisiana forward.
She is a member of the Laboratory for Creative Arts & Technology team that helped to spur interest in the animation and video game industries in Baton Rouge, and served as director of the Red Stick International Animation Festival, which brought more than 1,800 animation enthusiasts together in Baton Rouge, including representatives from Pixar, Sony Imageworks and PDI Dreamworks.
Prior to joining the staff of CCT, Simmons worked in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and New Orleans, during which time she received an Emmy for her work on the reality television show “Tribe TV.” She also worked as an adjunct assistant professor at Tulane University in the Department of Sociology.
She is a member of the St. Joseph’s Academy Technology Advisory Board and works with the Women and Gender Studies program at LSU. With both of these organizations, she hopes to encourage increased female participation in the technology, engineering, science and mathematics fields. She is also active in the local equestrian community, where she has helped to raise funds for horse-related causes, particularly the Equine Health Studies Program at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
Simmons received a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology in 1996 and a Ph.D. in urban studies in 2000, both from the University of New Orleans.
 |
|
Pictured above (left to right) is LSU Vice President for Development Jeff McLain presenting the Volunteer of the Year award to recipients Susan and Richard Lipsey at the LSU Foundation’s President’s Awards for Lifetime Support of LSU. |
The LSU Foundation was proud to honor 13 individuals and groups with its President’s Awards for Lifetime Support of LSU at its 46th Annual meeting on Nov. 4. This year’s awards were presented in the new Manship Theatre at the Shaw Center, home of the LSU Museum of Art.
More than 200 LSU Foundation members, staff and supporters were on hand to see awards for individual lifetime giving go to Ron and Gail Cambre, Patrick and Phyllis Taylor, Margaret Womack, “Bo” Campbell Jr., Billy and Ann Harrison, and Sean and Jennifer Eplett Reilly. Corporations and organizations honored at this year’s ceremony were Landmark/Halliburton, the Irene and C.B. Pennington Foundation and the Intergraph Corporation.
This year’s awards ceremony included several new awards. Charles and Jean Siess and Richard and Susan Lipsey were the recipients of the LSU Foundation’s first “Volunteer of the Year” awards for their exceptional leadership and effort on behalf of LSU. Larry Jones, the LSU Alumni Association’s longtime fundraiser, was honored with the Foundation’s Fundraiser Emeritus Award.
The Foundation also honored the late Ernie Hill with a special “Legacy” award, honoring Hill’s lifetime of dedication to LSU. Hill’s wife, Kathy, was on hand for the unveiling of a bronze plaque, which will be featured at the LSU Foundation’s headquarters honoring Hill, one of the Foundation’s most beloved employees.
The Foundation’s guests were also treated to a performance by the LSU A Capella Choir, under the direction of Ken Fulton.
For the first time ever, LSU donors were presented their awards by the very students who receive their support. Presenting awards for the LSU Foundation that night were students Amaka Agochukwu, Michelle Gieg, Patrick Downs, Lucas Lane, Laura Cancienne, Brennan Kluka, Amelia Cormier, Gabby Martinez, Wendy Wright, Christine St. Germaine, Autumn Caldwell and Brandon Suarez.
Along with the awards, the LSU Foundation made a bit of history on Nov. 4. The high-definition video presentations featured in the evening’s program, produced by LSU Foundation Director of Public Relations Scott Madere and videographer Bill Rodman, marked the first high-definition video projection ever attempted at the Shaw Center.
The Foundation wishes to thank everyone involved for making the Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony an unforgettable evening and an outstanding success.