Kathy and I decided to take advantage of the long Memorial Day week-end to drive over to Jacksonville, FL to visit with Bret, Christy and the kids. Since I had to be in Baton Rouge on business last Wednesday, we decided to leave from there and make a detour up to Hattiesburg on Thursday to watch the Bulldogs participate in the Conference USA Baseball Championship Tourney. We were so glad that we did so we could watch the Diamond Dogs beat UNC-Charlotte. Even though we had to leave Hattiesburg for Jacksonville right after the game, we were able to listen to the Dogs play and win the next two games over top-seeded Florida Atlantic University and then Rice University before losing out in the semi-final round to Rice. The team made all of us proud, and then we were even more proud to learn that the Dogs were selected to participate in the NCAA Regionals in Starkville, MS for the coming week-end. No one predicted that this team would achieve this level of success this year, and we are all excited to see what lies ahead for this team and Bulldog baseball program in the future! Kathy and I really enjoyed the special time that we had to visit with Bret and his family in Jacksonville. Christopher (3) and Everly & Elizabeth (1) all just recently celebrated birthdays. The worst part of the trip was having to leave them as we headed back to Ruston. I returned to Ruston for a couple of days in the office this week and most of that time was spent in meetings with my Deans and VPs reviewing budgets and projects. We were pleased to welcome our students back to campus on Thursday for the beginning of the summer quarter and the campus begins to return to life. Here are few of my favorite pics for the week: