I spent much of this week in Washington, D.C. with my colleague Craig Spohn of the Cyber Innovation Center. We arrived late Sunday and spent most of Monday on Capitol Hill visiting with our Congressional delegation staff and the Department of Homeland Security. These visits provided opportunities for us to update them on activities related to cyber, defense, education, R&D and economic development. It was good to run into several Tech alumni who are working in these congressional offices. Wednesday was the day that Rev. Billy Graham was recognized with a special service in the Capitol rotunda.  Our schedules did not allow us time to go pay our respects. The extra traffic from the thousands of visitors made getting around Capitol Hill much more challenging. I arrived back in Ruston late Wednesday and spent the next couple of days in the office meeting with members of my team. I also enjoyed several visits from prospective students, and spent some time in getting ready for Winter Quarter Commencement. I also spent quite a bit of time following the Louisiana legislature as they have been deliberating on bills related to our budget. It is crucial that they find a way to fully support higher ed including the full funding for TOPS. We do our best to help them understand why higher ed is so important to the future competitiveness of our State. Mr. Al Perkins, Chair of the UL System Board of Supervisors, served as our commencement speaker on Saturday and he gave an outstanding address to our graduates and their families. We also had the opportunity to recognize Mrs. Myrtis Orr as the Tower Medallion recipient. She joined her husband Vice President Emeritus Virgil Orr as two of only 80 members in the Louisiana Tech Hall of Distinguished Alumni. I am deeply grateful for their leadership, commitment and loyalty to Louisiana Tech over the past 7 decades.     Here are a few of my favorite pics for the week: