LSU: Do We Have a Problem?

By Chuck Owen, State Representative, LSU Alum 2009 and 2011

Over the past 5 years, I’ve been a member of the House Committee on Education. This committee, thus the members, oversees educational activities in the State, including higher education. As a result of the questions I’ve posed and the things I’ve learned, I have facts about our flagship university that I think the average citizen of the Bayou State would find troubling. Louisiana’s love of all things LSU compels me to write about some of the findings that should be brought to light and discussed.

Political strategist and commentator James Carville has a great saying I love to quote. Roughly speaking, he says, “The heartbeat of Louisiana runs right down Nicholson Drive in Baton Rouge.” For most in our State, Mr. Carville is exactly right on that assessment.

For those unfamiliar, Nicholson Drive in Baton Rouge is one of the main approaches to our beloved Louisiana State University, which is an excellent source of pride and morale. The thought of LSU to most Louisianans engenders a smile and a GEAUX TIGERS whenever you speak of it. People plan their year (and even their weddings!) around Tiger football, arrange trips to Baton Rouge to watch Coach Mulkey’s Lady Tiger basketball team, marvel at our gymnasts during the winter, and rally with our baseball team in the Spring.

And, by the way, they do college stuff there, too. Right? It’s called the “flagship” because the State of Louisiana commits to ensuring LSU has all the funding and resources it needs. By and large, it’s LSU and we trust those in charge because, well, it’s LSU.

My first big issue

Four categories of issues have come to light in recent years that should be relayed to the public. There are more, but I’ll only address four in this series. We’ll discuss two issues now and two more next week.

The first and most shocking issue that has come to light for me is whether or not LSU has become a landing zone for countries that pose threats to the United States of America.

LSU has a perplexingly high number of instructors and staff members from threat countries. Before I proceed, let us be clear that I am not crowing about foreign nationals. Universities SHOULD have faculty from around the world who contribute to the betterment and excellence of the colleges. However, through a sequence of queries to all state universities in Louisiana, we have discovered that LSU has over 100 faculty/staff members from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). There are small numbers from Iran, Russia, and Venezuela. LSU has four departments within the system, most of which are faculty members from Communist China. Two are at the medical center in New Orleans, and two are at the main campus. Should this be concerning? I don’t know. I’m hoping we can find out.

Foreign adversaries in national defense?

However, I do know that LSU actively pursues research with US government entities that work in defense, cyber, agricultural, transportation, and other areas. Should we, as a state, host over 100 PRC nationals in the same areas where we are conducting research that could have national defense or significant economic implications? LSU also hosts about 40 “visitors” from the PRC each year to do research and collaborate. To be clear, these are not people of Chinese ancestry pursuing American citizenship. They are citizens of the Communist People’s Republic of China.

I suspect most Louisianans think universities should be left alone to educate the next generation. Sadly, this has gotten us to a strange point and the need for me to pen this article. Yet, another thing I will write about here has led me to want to ask Louisiana’s citizens what they think should be happening at the State’s flagship university.

The second issue

We have had a long tradition of welcoming people from out of State who want to join our Louisiana family. One of my colleagues in the House recently asked LSU questions about the number of freshmen attending LSU each year, and she discovered something astonishing. In the past 4 years, we went from having 17 percent out-of-state freshmen at the flagship to over 40 in this most recent school year. We went from fewer than 1 in 5 to approaching 50 percent. I certainly don’t lump out-of-state students in with faculty from foreign-threat nations, but I am puzzled by this revelation.

Should we be or ARE WE prioritizing and pursuing these students to the detriment and opportunity of Louisianans? I’d kinda like to know. I’m guessing most citizens in our State would also like to know.

My colleague also discovered that LSU awarded over 80 million dollars in scholarships to students from out of State and other countries in the most recent school year. In a year where we are struggling to balance our state budget and at a time when LSU is doing all it can to garner more state appropriations from the legislature, this is a problem. I asked LSU’s President these questions a few days ago in an Oversight Hearing, but I’m unsure I got an answer. I’m still trying to sort out what he said, and they still owe me some analysis. I want to see the math that shows where it’s good for us to spend THAT much on students who aren’t from Louisiana.

A majority of Louisianans want conservatism.

In the fall of 2023, the voting taxpayers of Louisiana elected a Republican and VERY conservative Governor and installed a super-majority of Republicans in both houses of the legislature. In the Fall of 2024, Louisiana’s voters elected Donald Trump with 60+ percent of the vote. On the surface, it seems as though Louisiana wants a conservative government. If the State wants a conservative government, what does it expect of its prized flagship?

My most compelling reason for writing this series is to determine if our citizens know about some of these issues. I want to see if it is okay with them that we have many visiting faculty from America’s biggest threat countries sitting in and around Nicholson Drive and near sensitive American research. Is LSU on the right track when they are actively recruiting seemingly as many out-of-state students as we are in-state students?

Or is it enough to pull for the Tigers in hopes of another national sports title?

I think LSU and all of our public institutions ought to reflect the people and, thus, the values of the people of the State of Louisiana. I can’t imagine a citizen from Ville Platte, Natchitoches, Oil City, Rayville, Bogalusa, Raceland, or Jennings being okay with all this. This discussion needs to continue.

PS  Geaux Tigers

Chuck Owen is a 2nd term Legislator and represents Vernon and Beauregard Parishes, who sits on House Education, Appropriations, and Municipal and Parochial Affairs Committees. He is a member of the Rural Caucus, the Central Louisiana Delegation, the Republication Delegation, and is a Founding Member of the Louisiana Freedom Caucus. Owen also Chairs the House Select Committee on Military & Veterans Affairs and is Vice Chair of the House Select Committee on Homeland Security. He holds a BS and MBA from Louisiana Tech and a MS and Ph.D. from LSU. Owen is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel; he served 20 years on active duty as an Intelligence Officer, deploying to 4 wartime engagements and receiving decorations for each action.

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