LSU President William Tate IV laid out his scholarship-first agenda in front of the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee earlier this month. His plan directs the university in five crucial focus areas: agriculture, biotechnology, coast, defense and energy.
If passed, the entire package would constitute a monumental investment from the state into the flagship, something that has been elusive in recent years. The ambition of the plan meets the needs of a university still bleeding from Bobby Jindal-era funding cuts, which brought 16 budget reductions in the span of nine years. 
The scholarship-first agenda would fund everything from a new artificial intelligence supercomputer to expanding the extension services offered by the university’s Agricultural Center. These investments will help the university fulfill its mission of serving the state and its residents.
Louisiana should be a state where students want to stay and build a life—not a place to escape the moment graduation is over or visit only for Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. Investing in the flagship will help create a state residents can imagine a future in.
For this “pentagon plan” to be a success, the funding for it must make it through an arduous legislative process that has not been kind to the flagship in recent years. Just last session, the legislature wouldn’t appropriate a measly $1.5 million in planning funds to design a new library for the university.
This year, the university may have better luck. The legislature has over $3.5 billion in surplus and American Rescue Plan funds awaiting appropriation. If the university’s proposal for a small chunk of that pie is denied by the legislature, know that it is not from lack of money, but rather a stubborn refusal to invest in the flagship.
One of the smartest investments the legislature could make with these available funds is putting money into the university. For every dollar the state invests in the university, $13.25 comes back, according to a study by the Economics and Policy Research Group at the E. J. Ourso College of Business.
Legislators from both parties have attended flashy announcements from the university in recent weeks celebrating aspects of Tate’s plan. Now it’s time for those lawmakers to follow through and fund the president’s proposal.
This is a chance to make up for years of neglecting one of this state’s most vital resources. An investment in LSU is an investment in Louisiana’s future.
Lawmakers, choose wisely.
Charlie Stephens is a 21-year-old political communication junior from Baton Rouge.