Chancellor Sean O’Keefe announced Wednesday that Girls and Boys State will be held at LSU — just two days after the University said it would not.
O’Keefe met Wednesday morning with Bill Detweiler, past national commander of the American Legion, which funds Boys State, to talk about keeping the programs at LSU. Detweiler had threatened to move the annual programs to another University Tuesday after Louisiana Director D’Ann Morris cancelled them.
Detweiler said he and O’Keefe worked out the summer schedule conflicts that initially caused the cancellation.
Boys and Girls State are two eight-day programs that teach high school juniors from all over the state about government and political processes through mock elections, conventions and government services. The program began 65 years ago.
This year’s programs will begin on July 28.
Detweiler told The Daily Reveille Tuesday that the late-July dates keep the top-two Louisiana Girls and Boys State citizens from attending Girls and Boys Nation — a fact that made him consider moving the programs to another Louisiana university so they could occur earlier.
Detweiler told The Daily Reveille Wednesday that O’Keefe assured him they would work together in the coming months to set earlier dates for future programs.
“I’m surprised how prompt it was done,” Detweiler said. “I’m really impressed with the way [O’Keefe] handled this program.”
Morris did not return repeated calls from The Daily Reveille.
Jay Melder, Morris’ assistant, said he is happy the program will be at LSU, even if it requires the staff to work harder.
Melder said the staff may have to make some “concessions” because of time restraints.
“It’s gonna be a lot of work, and we may not have what we’re used to, but I’m very pleased,” Melder said.
Melder also said the media attention about the cancellation brought a lot of supporters — alumni, parents and students — who advocated that the program be continued at the university.
“Plenty of people with certain pull that care about this program put pressure on those that they thought could make it happen,” Melder said. “In light of these circumstances, we’re getting a lot of help for these programs.”