Business As Usual At LSU

Shady Back-Room Deals

     This past Sunday in the Baton Rouge Advocate there was an explosive story regarding a secret deal between LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert and the TAF http://www.theadvocate.com/stories/020903/new_chance001.shtml). Central to the story is the fact that Mark Emmert receives--in addition to his already exorbitant salary, what amounts to a $100,000 annual interest-free loan from the TAF. The interest-free loan deal likely would have gone undisclosed had not Scott Dyer of the Advocate issued a public information request to LSU attorneys requesting the information under the Freedom of Information Act. Dyer's assiduousness as a reporter has revealed a much different aspect to the plan that was originally laid out to the public when Emmert's pay package was approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors in July, 2002. At that juncture, LSU Board member Charlie Weems stated that if Emmert did not stay at LSU for five years that he would not get any of the $500,000 "bonus" money that was part of his lucrative new salary package making him the highest paid chancellor in the country above Harvard, Stanford, Yale and the other top academic schools in the country.
     Now we know that the statement by Weems was misleading. Moreover, according to U.S. News & World Report in 2002, LSU is ranked as a third-tier public institution of higher learning. Furthermore, the Advocate article revealed that the tax-deferred trust that enables the $100,000 annual interest-free payment to Emmert was established a full two months prior to the Board meeting on the issue of his pay, demonstrating clearly that the Board of Supervisors' authority on the matter was altogether circumvented, an obvious violation of university and state policy. These clandestine machinations by the TAF, the LSU Foundation and the Board of Supervisors cast LSU in a bad light, to say the least; but they also signal the need to clean house at LSU, because its business as usual at the Ole War Skule, and the people of Louisiana--especially the LSU students and fans--are the big losers in all of this political chicanery.

THE LOUISIANA WAY

     While the manner in which the LSU Board of Supervisors has gone about securing this payoff to their point man, Mark Emmert, is egregious, there are other implications to consider at this time. One consideration is the fact that up to six of the current Board of Supervisor members on the current board have not been replaced by Governor Mike Foster. Foster has refused to replace these board members, whose terms have expired, so that he can control the board to his liking. Each of these board members, oddly enough, have contributed greatly to Foster's campaign war chest, solidifying thier obsequious relationship with Louisiana's top official. In the summer of 2000, on the Atlanta-based Cable News Network (CNN) there was a fascinating expose' on Louisiana politics titled "The Louisiana Way" that chronicled our state's sordid political history of dealing with less-than-scrupulous politicians. The hour-long segment on the cable news network focused on the political shortcomings of Huey Long and Edwin Edwards and how the Louisiana political landscape has been dominated for over a century by unsavory politicians that ostensibly seek personal gain in their efforts to serve the general public.
     In retrospect, it appears that the "Louisiana Way" is indeed alive and well in Baton Rouge, with Governor Mike Foster and LSU's "Golden Boy" now perched squarely in the limelight. I imagine that we are now only weeks away from another national spotlight converging on Louisiana's most recent political escapade. The scenario is certainly ripe for a 60 Minutes or 48 Hours segment. Perhaps The Fox Factor's O'Reilly himself will take on the story. The headline could read, "Business As Usual at Louisiana State University: Board cuts secret deal to make LSU Chancellor highest paid in country--all for the sake of a winning football team."

BREAD AND CIRCUS

     What is ironic in all of this debacle is that the insatiable desire to field a winning football team has spawned much of this corruption and greed. Students of sports history will quickly realize that what is transpiring today in college athletics is exactly what late nineteenth century academicians feared, that athletics would eventually eclipse the larger, principal mission of the college campus--to educate and mold young people. Today, large public colleges are not focused on educating young people.
     Instead, thanks to renegade, self-serving chancellors like Mark Emmert at LSU, public universities like LSU have become diploma factories that serve only the administration and its rich and powerful cronies at the expense of the paying customers, the students. By openly promoting the success of the athletic department's many teams, especially the highly-visible football team, Emmert is placating the student body populace. Much like the ancient Roman emperors who advocated the ever-popular bloodsport of the gladiators to keep the rank and file in check, Emmert has a similar "Bread and Circus" agenda. Chancellor Mark Emmert summed up simply the new mission and purpose of LSU in late 1999 when Nick Saban was hired. His words, which will undoubtedly live in infamy in the annals of modern college sports history, were: "Simply put, success in LSU Football is essential for the success of Louisiana State University." Emmert's quip at the time was in response to the objections to Nick Saban's $1.2 million salary as the new LSU head football coach. Today, Nick Saban makes $1.6 million.

SEAT LICENSING, THE NEXT STEP

     As the LSU Press Relations department struggles with this developing PR nightmare, the 2003 legislative session looms large on the Louisiana political horizon. Soon 144 of Louisiana's most colorful characters will converge upon the phallic-shaped Capitol building built by Huey Long to again do the public's business. Already on the session agenda is legislation that would abolish the current 12 percent rule that precludes publicly-built Tiger Stadium from being controlled by a private organization like the Tiger Athletic Foundation, LSU's powerful booster group. Given that Chancellor Emmert's most recent braintrust, the TigerPAC, went over with the legislature like a lead balloon--it's now defunct--you have to wonder about the prospect for success for scaling Tiger Stadium. The Louisiana economy is in shambles due to a lackluster effort by the Foster administration in promoting economic development within the state, and people are hurting. Louisiana is last in the country in terms of jobs, and it seems unlikely that the legislature, in an election year no-less, will pass any measure with the TAF's now-tainted stamp on it. Accountability is the key word in this upcoming debate. How can the TAF as a private organization that spends public dollars continue to enjoy its secret practice of withholding donor and more importantly--expenditure information? Taxation without representation is a notion that was crushed during the beginning of our country's bloody battle for independence over two hundred twenty years ago.

Until next time...

     Chris Warner is a freelance writer who lives in Baton Rouge with his wife and family. Chris is the author of the SEC Sports History and Tradition Collection and compiler of "SEC Sports Quotes." Holding two degrees from LSU in Baton Rouge and a Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans, Chris regularly delivers a keynote address on the History of College Football in the South to SEC Alumni groups and other civic associations. Chris will appear on the History Channel this fall on a documentary on "The History & Tradition of Tailgating in America." The documentary, which will also feature comedian Tom Arnold, will air two weeks prior to the start of the NFL Football season. To contact Chris about a speaking engagement, or to find out more about his four books on the colorful histories and traditions of the SEC, visit his website at http://www.sectraditions.com. To send Chris comments, his email is: cewarner@sectraditions.com. [The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.]