2022 LSU Gumbo - Book - Page 141
Student Government President Javin Bowman
and Vice President Abbie Grace Milligan sat down
with President William Tate IV and Interim Provost
Matt Lee for a meeting packed with an array of topics
ranging from sexual assault awareness to COVID-19
protocols on Oct. 11.
The purpose of the meeting was for Tate and Lee to
receive updates on the status of campus while ensuring
student concerns are being met.
Milligan said she is looking forward to working
with Tate and hopes his administration enacts change
on LSU’s campus. She said she expects to see more
leadership from Tate than prior administrations.
“My biggest issue has always been addressing sexual
assault,” Milligan said. “We are still having protests
about this issue and seeing the repercussions of the
things that happened before Tate’s administration. So
I would like to see his administration address this issue
and I plan to hold members accountable if problems
go unaddressed.”
The sexual assault allegations against former French
graduate student Edouard d’Esalungue d’Arros were
not discussed during the meeting, Milligan said. Tate
previously said in a statement that he cannot comment
on the situation due to the ongoing lawsuit involving
the university.
Milligan said she hopes the new administration
won’t make the same mistakes that were made in the
past regarding Title IX.
“All of this neglect from so many different levels
of this university is just really unacceptable,” Milligan
said. “A lot of people, in my opinion, were not given
the repercussions that they deserved. What we really
need to be addressing is the culture that was allowed to
continue by those who were in power.”
Next steps for the Building Renaming Committee
were also discussed in the meeting.
The 16-member committee, made up of faculty,
staff, students and alumni, is in the process of
evaluating the buildings on campus names after racist
historical leaders and deciding whether any need to be
changed.
The committee, which was formed before Tate took
office, singled out all the buildings that might have a
controversial background.
“Members of the committee started brainstorming
ideas and they were making a lot of progress,” Milligan
said. “But since [former LSU president Thomas
Galligan] left, there hasn’t been a chair for the
committee which has limited further progress.”
Because there was so much pushback from
Middleton Library’s renaming, some university officials
fear that state legislators could cut funding, according
to Milligan.
In order to circumvent these issues, Tate suggested
that each building that was singled out by the
renaming committee should have a sign or plaque
which would acknowledge the history behind the
name.
“Instead of going through the process that we
went through with the library, the university can do
something that a lot of other schools did and add an
acknowledgement to highlight the history,” Milligan
said.
The group also talked about Tate’s “Scholarship
First” initiative and what it means for LSU in the
future. Milligan said it’s a five-to-10 year plan which
aims to boost the university’s academic standing.
“I’m so excited about this,” Milligan said.
“Everybody is well aware that LSU academically
doesn’t really compare to most other SEC schools. So,
I think it’s a really great way to rebrand our campus,
because it will create a new goal that everyone works
toward.”
Colin Raby, an SG senator representing the College
of Engineering, said that he is looking forward to Tate’s
“Scholarship First” approach.
“I think it is a great initiative,” Raby said. “I think
it is often misinterpreted because people say, ‘Oh
scholarship first, so we are not going to have football
or anything’ but it is pretty much saying that there is
room for improvement academically so we should try
to improve.”
He added that he is glad that Tate is willing to put
more focus on academics over other aspects of the
university.
“We come to LSU to be students first,” Raby said.
“I’m happy with Tate’s initiative to help raise the
university in the national rankings.”
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