Author’s Note: This is the second in a 2 part series entitled “LSU:  Do We Have a Problem?”   The series is intended to ask the citizens of Louisiana what they expect from their “Flagship” University.  In the first part of the series, we addressed a seemingly bizarre high number of faculty and staff from our biggest threat on the world stage and offered up a revelation on LSU recruiting and paying for the education of students from out of state.  In this edition, we address misbehavior and tyranny in COVID and a penchant for something known as DEI. 

College campuses should be safe, certainly fun but orderly environments.   Campuses in Louisiana—-including LSU—are places where young people go and have fun. People ought to be comfortable sending their students to a college, knowing the administration and state are, indeed, looking out for their students. But safety can often be used as a cover for tyranny. During the COVID pandemic, LSU, like many government institutions, went to an arguably extreme level in terms of managing the first-in-a-century health emergency.

Like most citizens, I tried to give institutions the benefit of the doubt when COVID first hit. I really did, encouraging folks to pay attention to all government direction and to try to cooperate and figure out what was happening. I was chastised by my political allies for trying to support the then-Democrat Governor in the early stages of the crisis.   We were all in a state of caution.

Caution turned into a lifestyle of mandated dictates became the order of the day. My tone changed quickly when I figured out that “flatten the curve” really meant “shut your mouth and do as we say.” LSU, like many institutions, was faced with daunting challenges of trying to create a safe environment and yet maintain an educational institution. Sadly, as I see it, they embraced the notion of tyranny and with the clarity of hindsight, it’s easy to see they turned into a cruel and burgeoning mini-police state.

The following are examples of what happened on LSU’s main and other campus’:  (1) They repeatedly/consistently denied religious exemptions for taking the COVID (experimental) vaccine; (2) They mandated students take COVID shots to go through sorority and fraternity rush; (3) Enforced a campus-wide mask mandate without informing students that the masks were under an Emergency Use Authorization, thus part of an experimental activity; (4) Required students to offer up vaccine documentation to get into outdoor football games; (5) At the School of Dentistry, FAMILY members were required to submit proof of vaccination to get into a graduation ceremony; (6) Forced children as young as TWO to wear masks at an on-campus day care facility; (7) Created a checklist/script for how to remove students who refused to wear masks in classroom;  (8) Suspended a 4^th grade student at an on-campus elementary school for not wearing a mask; (9) Forced an entire DORM to take COVID tests; and (10) Directed students via email to fill out a Daily Symptom Checker, which was used for gaining access to campus. There are many  more examples, but you get the point.

Prior to 2022, I received reports about students being physically harassed and having tables turned over at recruiting events for conservative student groups. The reports were myriad, and I decided to pass legislation (HB 185/Act 727) to ensure that LSU would give equal protection for all students and ensure they treated all students the same. To date, I haven’t heard of any violations. Governor Landry also issued an Executive Order underscoring this requirement just this past fall.

Let us not forget, either, that LSU has had several faculty members who have been accused of or even recorded levying profanity-laced insults at students over politics and some have made political activity tied to class grades. There was a professor on campus who forced students to go the Union and try to encourage/shame other students to take the experimental vaccines that came along during COVID.

The State is now thankfully under new leadership and hopefully LSU is behaving better.  I hope they never go back to what they did during COVID. The heavy-handedness was disturbing, and they would not be wise to go down those paths ever again.

DEI:    What Is LSU Doing?

LSU’s website has a sub-page called “Visions, Mission and Values.” That page has a sub-section entitled “Our Commitment.”   The university proudly proclaims its 4 foundations of commitment as: (1) Student-Centered Applied Learning, (2) Strong Science Practice Focused, (3) Diversity and Inclusivity, and (4) Excellence.   I find it odd, however, that Excellence is the last of the four, but that’s a topic for another day; you would THINK that the FLAGSHIP would put Excellence at the top, but they don’t. And they rank Diversity and Inclusivity before Excellence.

Two years ago, this would not have been surprising. A year ago, it may have not seemed surprising. Seeing this in early 2025 is very surprising and makes me wonder if LSU is not paying attention to the tone and tenor of the state and the nation. A year ago, in fact, LSU reportedly dismantled or re-named their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department to something now called the Division of Engagement, Civil Rights and Title IX. Other moves during the year included actions by the Board of Supervisors (the School Board of LSU) to cut and or re-purpose DEI programs across the campus.  According to Yahoo News, The Board’s resolution required LSU to conduct a comprehensive review of all its “programs and bureaucracies” in which classifications are maintained based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, political views or national origin. The measure specifically names diversity, equity and inclusion programs.  Programs found to confer “any preferential treatment in violation of the rule of law…. will be eliminated. DEI statements in hiring were also to be banned by the university.

A passive search of LSU’s websites indicates a lot still needs to be done. The LSU Psychology Department has a “Committee on Diversity and Outreach in Psychology.”  The Faculty Senate has its very own DEI Committee. The Consortium for Innovation in Manufacturing and Materials has a Diversity Advisory Council. The School of Veterinary Medicine proudly displays their 2023 Award for Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award on the school website. The Office of Academic Affairs trumpets the university’s link to an organization called The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity and provides an easy route to affiliating with the organization.

The list could go longer, but hopefully the reader gets the point.  There is a LOT more that could be disclosed.    The things supposedly ended in a reorganization a year ago are seemingly thriving at LSU in apparent defiance of university and system leadership.  A House colleague recently posed questions about this topic to LSU’s President a few days ago in an Oversight Hearing, but the responses left a lot of us scratching our heads.

This conversation could continue, but I hope the reader sees the concern and those examining what you’ve just read will hopefully begin to ponder what is happening at your Flagship university – LSU.

These Words are Meant for the Taxpayers of Louisiana

Most people know who live in the bubble of state government, whether elected officials or state employees are aware of much of what we’ve talked about in this mini-series.  Some of these things will be new, but to anyone who has hung around the Capitol in recent years, you probably heard me speak of these concerns. The average citizen simply has not, and that’s why I’ve penned this lengthy article.

As we mentioned in the last piece, the voters of Louisiana elected a Republican and VERY conservative Governor in 2023. The voters/taxpayers also installed a super-majority of Republicans in both houses of the legislature. The House has a strong majority of very conservative Republicans, and the Senate does, as well. In the Fall of 2024, Louisiana’s voters elected Donald Trump with 60+ percent of the vote. Louisiana is a conservative state.    Louisiana is red, conservative and, when you get down to it, very much an “American First” state.

With all of these concerns on the proverbial table, let me pose a rhetorical question to my fellow citizens: Is this stuff, okay? Specifically,

• Is it okay that we have a very high number of visiting faculty from our biggest threat sitting in and around Nicholson drive and near sensitive American research?
• Is it okay that we are giving away millions of dollars each year to students who are NOT from Louisiana?
• Were you aware of the tyranny LSU dropped on the heads of their students and faculty during COVID? Do you think they went too far?
• And how about DEI? Is DEI okay at the Flagship—-or ANYWHERE in State government?

There are other things I’d like to talk about right now, but this article has gotten long. My most compelling reason for writing this is to try and find out if our citizens really are concerned with the “Flagship” or if it’s okay to just pull for the Tigers and hope for athletic hardware?

I think LSU and all our public institutions ought to reflect the culture and thus the values of the people of the State of Louisiana.  Citizens from Lake Arthur to Lake Providence, from Benton to Brusly, and from Leesville to Leeville ought to be proud of what is going on at the flagship and that flagship needs to reflect the values of those citizens.

This discussion needs to continue.

PS Geaux Tigers

Chuck Owen is a 2^nd term Legislator and represents Beauregard and Vernon Parishes.  He 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.  Representative Owen 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.