The campus has been full of exciting activities this week as our faculty, staff and students have been getting ready for the Christmas holidays. Many of the colleges, departments and units took some time to get together to celebrate the end of the calendar year and the beginning of the holiday season. Kathy and I hosted a Christmas party at our house on Tuesday night for our administrative team and spouses. Mary Rudd, a freshman music education student from Quitman, played the piano beautifully for our guests. Throughout the week, I had meetings with Maggie Brakeville – SGA President, Ronny Walker – the incoming Mayor of Ruston, Brandon Bowles – BCM President, MacKenzie Potts – SGA officer, and several other students and prospective students. I always enjoy having students stop by for a visit. It really helps me to keep in touch with what is going on around campus and I am glad to be able to help the students over a hurdle when I can. I also attended a Ruston/Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Board meeting, spoke to faculty and staff at the University Senate, and held a meeting of our Administrative and Planning Council. We had some consultant teams come to campus for a report on the graphics package for our new South End Zone facility, planning for campus IT infrastructure, and planning for a major fundraising initiative.  I also enjoyed a visit from the CEO of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital. VP Stan Napper and I went to Bossier on Wednesday afternoon to do some planning for major projects with our Cyber Innovation Center partners. Kathy and I also attended home basketball games with the Lady Techsters and Bulldogs, and were pleased that both teams won their games. It is exciting to see the progress that our teams are making, and I expect that both teams will be making some noise as we near tournament time at the end of the season. At the end of the week, Dr. Randy Sorensen, Coordinator of Music, sent me a couple of music videos developed by students in his class. We have just recently received equipment that allows our students to compile and edit content and Randy has developed a couple of classes to teach students about this aspect of their profession. Here is the link to one of those videos which also showcases the vocal, instrumental and creative talents of our students.

Department of Music Holiday Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fOejZ5lRs

I also hope that you received the holiday message from Kathy and me, a video developed by our students and starring our great mascot, Champ!

Happy Holidays!  http://www.latech.edu/holidays/