While criticism continues to surface over Gov. Bobby Jindal’s prayer rally to be held on the University’s campus, one Board of Supervisors member remains supportive.
Rolfe McCollister was appointed by Jindal in 2012 and helped secure the PMAC as the location for the event, which will funded by the American Family Association, according to emails obtained by The Advocate last month.
“Mr. McCollister is a friend of the governor and Timmy [Teepell, a political adviser to Jindal] and supports the idea of a prayer rally for our nation,” said McCollister’s assistant Tara Jeanise in a prepared statement.
Teepell was among those included in the email chain.
She said the emails accurately reflected McCollister’s involvement, which included checking on dates and who was in charge of the facility.
The Board of Supervisors approved the AFA’s request in October to use the PMAC for the event on Jan. 24. The association will pay an estimated $3,500 for use of the location and $15,000 for setup and various staffing, according to the event contract.
In the emails, McCollister said he expected the event to draw about 10,000 people.
“He helped them as a friend,” Jeanise said. “He was never in contact with the AFA.”
The AFA is a Mississippi-based nonprofit that promotes fundamentalist Christian values. Some are opposed to the rally because of the association’s history of being anti-LGBT and against what it calls “the homosexual agenda.”
McCollister served as treasurer to Jindal’s gubernatorial campaign committee and gave $17,000 to the campaign at the time of McCollister’s appointment to the
Board.
Ann Duplessis, Board of Supervisors chair, was appointed at the same time as McCollister but did not financially contribute to Jindal’s campaign.
As a former state senator, Duplessis said the governor has held an annual prayer rally for as long as she was in the legislature but said she understands why this event has sparked controversy.
She said the rallies in the past have been held at various public locations.
“The University is a public facility and as long as it’s peaceful,” Duplessis said, “I just think that everyone deserves the right to be able to serve and worship in the manner they wish to.”
Duplessis said she would not attend the event, but her absence isn’t intended to “make a statement.”
“My work schedule and the other obligations that I have are not going to lend me the opportunity to be there,” Duplessis said. “But am I going to be praying? Yeah.”