On Wednesday, I received the opportunity to talk to the MAN himself. That’s right, the big C. The Godfather. Chancellor Sean O’Keefe. In an interview I took with him on Wednesday, I was able to pick the mind of the most powerful man on campus and peer into the inner workings of the LSU administration. Although I originally intended to provide the entire transcript in my column, the interview ran a little long, so I’ve decided to provide a small teaser from my interview and direct you to www.lsureveille.com for the complete interview, in both text and WMV format.
Some excerpts from the interview:
Jon Lo: How do you think LSU has changed, if it has been changed, by Hurricane Katrina?
Sean O’Keefe: Boy [pause] It has changed, no doubt. We’ve all fundamentally been changed. How we define normal in our communities, in this community, in the state, in the region, is different from the way we defined normal a year ago. People dimly remember what normal was like on Aug. 28, 2005. We ain’t gonna see that normal again. And maybe, in some ways, just as well. Because there are some things that were accepted, tolerated and dealt with that were not as positive as it could have been. So in many ways, in this respect, the change has been very positive. It has motivated: it shook our comfort zone, around the state, across the region, in the community we live in. I think that the other positive element, is that your generation, I think, of the student body today, has seen on display and participated actively and very willingly in a very proactive community service role that literally saved people’s lives and certainly rose to the occasion in a time of greatest need for so many friends and family, members of our community that would have never ever benefited from that were it not for better angels of nature that are existent in the student body today and this generation of community activists. And that bodes well for the future, is that this very formative phase of your lives, of the student body today, that this becomes an opportunity to really seize community activism, how it can be a positive force for change, and how it can be a life-saving benefit in some cases, and as a consequence, early on, seeing the results of that, augurs well for the future, because it motivates a lot of folks to think differently about community service, the value of public service and how fragile our communities really are, from all different kinds of directions, from social welfare challenges to urban sociology issues to, you name it. All of them are impacted by what’s happened here. This is a much more conscious generation among students today than the generation that preceded you because of the experience that we’ve all been through, but quintessentially, this new emerging generation of leaders. You all get a better understanding than those who preceded you, because you’ve lived it.
JL: What do you hope to accomplish this year?
SOK: Well, I think we have accomplished this year, already, and are well on the way to making more significant improvements, is launch of the capital campaign, only the second in the University’s history, and one that is going to help fund the objectives of the Flagship Agenda devised three years ago and intended for accomplishment by the end of this decade. This is the first time, ever, ever, in the state history of Louisiana, the specific amount of money was set aside in the legislative appropriations this year for implementation of the Flagship Agenda. It has never happened before. It is an acknowledgment that this is the flagship institution of the state and puts aside specifically earmarked dollars to go pursue improvements to attain that status with national peer groups. We need to continue that. Here’s something that says, “LSU is the flagship school, and here’s money to actually go proceed with that status.” God, we’re ought to be throwing confetti around here.
And that’s it for the excerpts.
Want to hear the reasoning behind the new W policy? Plans for a new Business Center and an engineering-only CEBA? About fostering more competitive jobs in Louisiana? His reaction to the negative ratings of LSU and Louisiana by Forbes and US World & News Report, respectively? The Flagship Agenda and Forever LSU? Are O’Keefe’s goals and expectations realistic? Or does he have his head in the clouds? I hope you’ll go to www.lsureveille.com for the rest of the interview. These are the goals and accomplishments that will affect you. These are the promises you’ll want to keep track of. This is your future at LSU.
—–Contact Jonathan Lo at [email protected]