VP Rotary Club presents annual scholarship to LSUE

February 10, Meeting
Rotarian Dr. Willie Buller welcomed LSUE Chancellor Dr. William Nunez, along with Dr. John Couvillion and Executive Director of the LSUE Foundation Madelaine Landry to the February 10, meeting of the Ville Platte Rotary Club for the annual campus update and presentation of the Ville Platte Rotary Club Scholarship donation.
Dr. Nunez noted that tuition was increased by 10 percent by the state and that the student now pays a larger portion of higher education costs, with 70 percent on the student and 30 percent on the state, making scholarships very important to students. He said the situation is getting worse and that the state has a $1.6 billion deficit, with $400 million being taken from higher education. Nunez emphasized that Louisiana cannot afford to not be a player in the 21st century, stating that too much talent is leaving the state to go elsewhere.
Nunez then gave an update on the school, saying the school had no negative findings on the SACS-COC. He said the Pathway 2 Math program is very successful and a new math lab is needed to accommodate all of the students wishing to participate in the program.
Regarding the LSUE sports programs, Nunez noted the Lady Bengals softball team was the NJCAA softball national champions, giving them three national titles. He said the team wants to win a fourth in order to tie with the Bengals baseball team, which has four national titles. He commended the team members for being true student athletes and academic All-American students.
He then gave a general breakdown of student population, noting that the average age is 22.49 and that 80 percent of the students are 25 and under, with 20 percent being re-entry students. He said the student body is approximately 71 percent female and 29 percent male. He added that 14 percent of the students come from Evangeline Parish. He noted the average high school ACT score of students attending LSUE is 19.33 and the average high school GPA is 3.13.
LSUE will be the site of a new festival, Nunez stated. The Experience Louisiana Festival is a reactivation of the Folk Life Festival and is a project of the Eunice Rotary Club. He added that LSUE is a good place to start for an outstanding finish.
Nunez thanked the Ville Platte Rotary for their 30 years of partnership through their scholarship program and thanked them for the 19 years of working together before his upcoming retirement.
Club members also heard from Rotary District #6200 District Governor Yvonne Norman, who noted things were looking good and she was busy trying to help revive the Mamou club by getting the word out to the community about the good works done by the Rotary organization. She said a save the date drive will be held March 11, in order to help spread the word and garner interest in joining from local Mamou business owners. She also encouraged the Ville Platte club to seek candidates to attend Camp Ryla. Those students attending will receive three to four days of intense leadership training.
President David Mayeux stated the board will talk with Ronnie Landreneau about the placement locations of the new Rotary signs around town. He noted the Choices program will be held once again and asked for volunteers. He and Norman stated they hope to include the Mamou Rotary Club in the project. Mayeux also stated Janice Helmer will coordinate the Shots for Tots program and help with publicity for this important club project.