The Honors College invited Chancellor Sean O’Keefe to speak to honors students Wednesday about their concerns for the University’s future as it strives to return to normal.
O’Keefe’s comments about the University’s plan for dealing with a spending freeze echoed what he said to the Faculty and Staff Senates and other campus organizations in recent weeks.
“We’re facing challenges, yes, but when you think about the circumstances that have afflicted so many of us in a permanent way, these are small inconveniences,” O’Keefe said in his opening remarks before moving into open dialogue with the 45 students who attended the meeting.
Mark Dochterman, graduate student and student activities coordinator for the Honors College, asked O’Keefe whether the University’s response efforts during the days following Hurricane Katrina will be used to increase its national prominence.
O’Keefe said the success of the actions taken by the University will do more to increase national prominence than any type of public relations campaign could.
“To be frank, we’re going to let our actions speak volumes about what kind of University we are,” O’Keefe said. “This has been a test of our ability as a flagship university. We have shown what we are made of, and other peer universities are taking notice. I prefer to let our actions speak for themselves as opposed to tooting our own horn.”
Dochterman said he was pleased to hear the University will not try to use its response efforts as an advertising centerpiece.
“This is the right way to go about it,” Dochterman said. “Any type of PR campaign about what we did would have tinted the glass of what we accomplished. It’s good to hear that other universities in the SEC are recognizing us, as well.”
Several students told O’Keefe they were concerned about the University’s plans to address Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s executive order, which called for a freeze on state agency spending to offset the nearly $1 billion hole in the state’s budget.
“We are keeping an open dialogue going among state universities about how to best address the situation,” O’Keefe said. “We have a clear understanding with Joe Savoie, the commissioner of education, that if we followed the order to the letter, we’d essentially put LSU into a standstill,” he said. “We’re not going to the extreme and cut off the spigot entirely. We’re just going to use our best judgment.”
Nancy Clark, dean of the Honors College, said she was impressed by the “caliber of the comments,” because they show how informed the Honors College student body is about the economic struggle the state is going through.
“These students are pretty familiar with the broader context of the issues going on,” Clark said. “They have substantive questions about how LSU fits into Louisiana as the state’s flagship university, and it’s good to know they are paying attention.”
Contact Jeff Jeffrey at [email protected]