I began writing columns for The Daily Reveille in the fall of 2010, right when budget cuts seemed to rise to their notorious fame.
Before I began writing, I knew the University’s backbone — the men and women who run the flagship — was screwed up just as bad as most Louisiana public entities. But I didn’t realize how deep the corruption went until I began researching for stories.
As time went on, I covered LSU’s administration. I sat through numerous vapid meetings, listening to the LSU Board of Supervisors — a group of wealthy white guys and one black woman — “debate” on how to direct the University. I witnessed them approve the University’s reorganization and saw them vote to merge the chancellor and system president position without public input, a move the Board was forced to repeat after complaints were filed.
Earlier this semester, I investigated a series of appointments written by former System President John Lombardi and former System General Counsel Ray Lamonica, which favored their friends by giving them a year’s notice before they could be fired.
I also realized how the top dogs hook themselves up too. For example, Lombardi’s contract contained a clause saying if he was fired, he would still make about a quarter million dollars as a tenured history professor.
And most recently, I watched Reveille Editor in Chief Andrea Gallo sue the University after the Board of Supervisors refused to reveal candidate names for the system president/chancellor merger. She lost after LSU attorney Jimmy Faircloth made the ridiculous argument that only one person applied for the position.
Basically, my opinion of most people who run the University has disintegrated over the past three years. The System is so political that most of our administrators care more about their own gain than the students attending the University.
How did it get this way? Probably through complacency at every level. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is fixing it. And the only way it can happen is if someone starts the conversation.
With the reorganization, the University should have a fresh start. Almost 20 administrators have left or have announced they will step down. If all goes smoothly, they’ll be filled with better people who will stand up to the good ol’ boys in the LSU System, not act as wimpy puppets.
I know The Reveille will be there along the way — as it has the past four years — doing everything it can to hold people accountable.
But we’ll need help. So I challenge you, the students, to hold those in power accountable. When someone at LSU tells you that you can’t do something, question them — again and again. Don’t take no for an answer. Tweet about it. Facebook about it. Make the problem known.
The University is a wonderful place with wonderful people and has potential to be better than it is — but it will never be unless we raise our voices.
Don’t let the University’s administration continue to operate the way it has. Don’t be silent.
Chris Grillot is a 22-year-old mass communication senior from New Orleans.
