This week began for me in the office meeting with VP for University Advancement Brooks Hull. Brooks is diligently working on organizing our alumni relations and fund-raising initiatives. Brooks joined me and College of Engineering and Science Dean Hisham Hegab in a lunch meeting with Tech alumnae Jenny Johnson who brought a check from the ExxonMobil Foundation that represents the matching funds for those gifts that we receive from ExxonMobil employees. The company has one of the most generous matching gift programs in the country, and we are so grateful for all of our alumni who take advantage of that to maximize the impacts of their gifts. Thanks to Jenny for making the trip to Ruston to present the check to us! The funds will greatly benefit our students! After lunch and a couple more meetings with some of my administrative team, I was pleased to join our faculty and students in a University Research Awards program at the DAC. VP for R&D Stan Napper did an excellent job of organizing and emceeing the event to recognize some of our outstanding research faculty from each of our colleges. It was great to hear each the faculty talk about the things that inspire them to conduct research, and many referred to the impacts on their students who are involved. Dr. Napper also recognized some of our leading faculty innovators and recent student research symposium award winners. Thanks to our faculty for giving such great educational experiences to our students. I always enjoy it when students stop by the office for a visit. Freshman business management student Jacob Guillot came by to introduce himself in between classes on Monday. It was helpful for me to hear about his background, why he came to Tech and how things are going for him. Thanks, Jacob, and come back again! I also enjoyed another visit from a prospective student from New York. It is fantastic to see students who are coming here from all across the nation to take advantage of the great programs and the great experiences that we have to offer! Late Monday afternoon, I welcomed Mr. Kelvin Bowen and other civilian leaders from Barksdale’s Global Strike Command, who were in the University Hall Auditorium to talk about internship and job opportunities open to our students. We are so pleased with the cooperative activities that we have established with Barksdale and the opportunities those activities provide to our students and faculty. On Tuesday, I had a couple of meetings in my office before Kathy and I headed over to the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City to review some of our LTRI partnership activities with Craig Spohn and Chris Yeaw. Kathy and I left there late in the afternoon to go to Baton Rouge for Board meetings. The Board of Regents met Wednesday morning and the University of Louisiana System Presidents met together with ULS staff on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening, we were invited to a reception honoring ULS Board members hosted by Interim President Dan Reneau and his wife Linda. Dan’s son-in-law Jim Bernhard and his wife Dana provided their beautiful Baton Rouge home, a wonderful buffet and tremendous hospitality for the reception. Kathy and I returned to Ruston after the ULS Board meeting on Thursday. We had several items that were approved by the Board including some campus demolition and renovation projects. One of those projects is the Early Childhood Education Center which is being relocated to a larger and more accessible facility on Louisiana Avenue. Kathy and I made it back to Ruston in time to make it to the “Love’s Labour’s Lost” Shakespeare play at the Stone Theatre. We were amazed with the talents demonstrated by our theatre students. And we returned home after the play in time to see the Bulldogs defensive tackle, Vernon Butler, selected as in the first round of the NFL draft. Congratulations, Vernon, we are all very proud of you! I want to encourage all of you to participate in the Bulldogs Give4Good Day, in coordination with the Community Foundation of North Louisiana’s annual Give for Good Day on Tuesday, May 3^rd. During this 24 hours of giving, the Louisiana Tech University Foundation will appeal for online gifts designated to the University Fund to support scholarships for current and future students. The donation website is giveforgoodnla.org and will be available only on that day, from midnight to 11:59 p.m., Central Time. The minimum gift amount is $10 and our goal is $5,000. During the day, our staff will be monitoring live donation results, engaging followers on social media, and hosting an awareness event on campus. Besides supporting scholarships, this event will promote awareness of the Foundation, provide an opportunity for students to thank donors, and enable faculty, staff, and students to make a gift and/or think about their future giving to the Louisiana Tech University Foundation. We hope you decide to give on May 3^rd and make Bulldogs Give4Good a tremendous success for the Foundation and the students of Louisiana Tech University. Please read below for instructions on how to give. TO GIVE:

1. Visit giveforgoodnla.org – Choose Louisiana Tech University Foundation
2. Give any gift – $10 and up
3. Share with friends on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram