Located on Nicholson Drive, a three-story building overlooks Tiger Stadium. Its outside exterior, covered with glass windows, holds within its walls financial opportunities for all LSU students. It houses the LSU Foundation.
According to its website, the LSU Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides philanthropic support to LSU through the work of a team of development officers and a support team of advancement services, communications and marketing, donor relations and financial and talent management personnel.
Sara Whittaker, assistant vice president of communications and marketing at LSU Foundation, has worked at the Foundation for over 12 years. The LSU Foundation Center for Philanthropy, she said, was built in 2016 and was the first building to go up within the 28-acre site between West Chimes Street and Skip Bertman Drive that now includes apartments, retail and restaurants.
“At the time, this site was the largest underdeveloped tract of university-owned property that is adjacent to the campus core, and the LSU Foundation was involved in developing the site, which now includes our building, several residence halls, and retail,” Whittaker said.
Whittaker said that the LSU Foundation receives donations from alumni, friends, industry partners, faculty, staff, students and parents.
“Everyone who cares about LSU and wants to be part of driving its impact can make a difference through philanthropy,” Whittaker said. “Even small donations have a big impact because, collectively with other Tigers’ generosity, they change lives.”
A few areas that donors can choose to give to are scholarships, faculty support, research, capital projects, proven programs and new initiatives, Whittaker said.
Since the Foundation’s founding, LSU alumni have provided academic funds for the benefit of students, with about $50.3 million contributed by donors from July 2020 to June 2021, according to their annual giving report. Whittaker believes that alumni support gives LSU the ability to compete with other universities nationwide.
“Philanthropy elevates LSU’s impact, and LSU’s impact elevates my home state and every community where LSU students and alumni live, work, and serve,” Whittaker said. “I received a scholarship as a student, so I have also been personally impacted by donors’ support through the LSU Foundation. And I am a very proud, loyal LSU donor.”
Krista Allen Raney, LSU Foundation senior vice president, worked with the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the E. J. Ourso College of Business before leading the LSU Foundation’s development team. She connects with donors as they invest in students and the university.
She believes that philanthropy removes financial barriers for students.
“I’ve never forgotten the scholarship I received from LSU, and I’m grateful that I’m able to be part of advancing that impact for other Tigers in collaboration with our incredible team at the LSU Foundation,” Raney said.
Karina Ramirez, a 2022 graduate, benefited from an LSU Foundation scholarship.
While in college, Ramirez changed her major from chemical engineering to environmental chemistry during her second year. Consequently, she lost her scholarship from ExxonMobil, and it became financially straining for her to pay for tuition.
She then received an email saying that she was awarded the Patrick F. Taylor Scholarship in chemistry.
“I thought receiving this scholarship was a mistake because I was no longer an engineering student,” Ramirez said. “I later learned that the award came from the donors and members of the LSU Foundation.”
She encourages everyone to apply and to look for opportunities within the LSU Foundation.
“Sometimes we look for such help outside of our state and home, yet such help can be closer than we think, especially at LSU,” Ramirez said.
The LSU Foundation sits Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, on Nicholson Drive.
