LSU is doing a great job … maybe too good … for its own good.
LSU System President William Jenkins was thinking about leaving to assume the presidency of the University of Florida, a job equivalent to our chancellor.
He did not get the job, but he was one of three finalists who interviewed yesterday.
Sound familiar?
We see this as the ultimate case study in the ever-so-cliché “brain drain” that plagues our state’s education system.
Jenkins has been here for 15 years. In that time, he has served as the dean of the Vet School, the provost, the chancellor and the system president.
In short, he has built his career here, and was thinking of leaving to advance himself. Jenkins is like so many soon-to-be LSU graduates, willing to leave the state for better opportunities elsewhere.
Simple problem. Talented students are leaving an excellent institution and migrating to other states because they have been taught to strive for the best the world offers.
We cannot find the jobs this University has taught us to seek out. Louisiana is struggling to find jobs for those already in the workforce.
Simple solution. The government should jump through hoops to keep the fruit of its labor in-state and prosperous.
We see a conflict in the way the students and their outward migration have been handled thus far by our state.
To this point, the government and the citizens of Louisiana have been reckless with the invaluable resource that is its recent college graduates.
However, when our leaders decide to explore other options, such as in 2002 when Chancellor Mark Emmert was offered a job in South Carolina, they are met with more incentives to stay here than they know what to do with.
We wonder if a payraise or some other financial incentive is on its way for Jenkins too.
The chancellor and the president are vital parts of this University and deserve much hoop-jumping. But, so do we.
We are the future of this state and are looking for opportunity – we know this and the government knows it too.
With the gubernatorial runoff looming, it is our obligation as students to force the candidates to realize that we are a non-renewable resource just like the coastline. We are just as important as the economy.
As a matter of fact, we are the economy or at least the future of it.
As a student body that is at the doorstep of the job market, we need to vote (and actually vote) for the candidate who we think will bring us the jobs and the companies we are looking for.
Soon, we as students will make the choice to stay in this state or leave it for greener pastures. We think we need to force the government to plant new grass in this state.
Education was a major issue during the primary election.
We simply cannot allow the new governor to forget about the promises made concerning higher education.
We can control our future. All we have to do is work hard and demand a better state to stay in. The government of Louisiana should will realize this is not too much to ask.
Our message is clear. Jump through hoops for us or we have no choice but to leave.