BATON ROUGE \u2013 LSU will undertake a fundraising effort with a military focus in the near future. The initiative, spearheaded by the LSU Military Excellence Fund Commission, has two major goals \u2013 to provide a state-of-the-art Veterans and Military Services Student Center and to renovate Memorial Tower to house the new LSU Military Museum.<\/p>\n
LSU President F. King Alexander announced the projects on Friday, Nov. 13, during LSU Salutes, a university event honoring all veterans \u2013 alumni as well as current students.<\/p>\n
Alexander also announced commission co-chairs: Laura Leach, a principal owner of Sweet Lake Land & Oil Co. Inc. in Lake Charles and former LSU Board of Supervisors member, and U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Lee K. Levy, commander of the Air Force Sustainment Center, Air Force Materiel Command, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.<\/p>\n
Remaining members of the commission will be appointed in the near future.<\/p>\n
\u201cLSU wants to honor its military heroes, support its veterans and strengthen the LSU Corps of Cadets \u2013 the young men and women who are the nation\u2019s military future,\u201d Alexander said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of our alumni \u2013 both men and women \u2013 were in Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC and were an integral part of the LSU Corps of Cadets,\u201d said Alexander. \u201cIt was here they became part of \u2018the Long Purple Line,\u2019 and it was here they gained leadership skills and a competitive advantage for success. It is here that many veterans are returning to complete their educations. LSU is quickly becoming the \u2018university of choice\u2019 where veterans can realize their educational dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Richard Lipsey, president of Cadets of the Ole War Skule, the museum will be the repository for artifacts and memorabilia reflecting the university\u2019s rich military history and heritage and an appropriate setting in which to honor its military heroes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe LSU Military Museum will offer visitors a nostalgic stroll through the military history of the university \u2013 from its first president, Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, to its last military president, Gen. Troy H. Middleton \u2013 and will acknowledge the contributions of LSU men and women who have served and are serving their country in the armed forces,\u201d Lipsey said.<\/p>\n
The Veterans Center, located on Raphael Semmes Drive, adjacent to the Barnes & Noble at LSU bookstore, will serve as a dedicated space for veterans, active duty military, reservists and National Guard members, as well as their dependents. The center will feature an administration office, study lounge\/computer center and main meeting room. It will provide space for individual or group study sessions and computer and print capabilities, and it will be a focal point on campus for students to form supportive communities during the transition from military to civilian life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want our service men and women around the world to know that when they come home from duty, LSU is a place for them,\u201d said Alexander.<\/p>\n
Memorial Tower, also known as the Campanile, was dedicated in April 1926. Financed and constructed through the efforts of American Legion posts throughout Louisiana, the building was donated to LSU as a memorial to those who died in service to the nation during World War I. Inscribed on plaques in its rotunda are the names of Louisiana citizens who made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. Today, Memorial Tower is home to Cadets of the Ole War Skule, the organization responsible for the proposed military museum.<\/p>\n
Capital donors will have a variety of naming opportunities for galleries, exhibit rooms, walls of honor, interactive computer kiosks, sponsorship of permanent and temporary exhibitions, a library and an office. Initial plans include recognition and acknowledgment of those alumni responsible for the funding and construction of the LSU War Memorial located on the Parade Ground; exhibitions and collections related to the history of ROTC at LSU; involvement of LSU faculty, staff and students in America\u2019s wars and conflicts; the university\u2019s military leaders; and Cadets of the Ole War Skule.<\/p>\n
Contact Randy Gurie
\nCadets of the Ole War Skule
\n225-578-0420<\/p>\n
More news and information can be found on LSU\u2019s media center, www.lsu.edu\/mediacenter<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BATON ROUGE \u2013 LSU will undertake a fundraising effort with a military focus in the near future. The initiative, spearheaded by the LSU Military Excellence Fund Commission, has two major goals \u2013 to provide a state-of-the-art Veterans and Military Services… Continue Reading LSU Planning Veterans Student Center, LSU Military Museum<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1259"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1263,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1259\/revisions\/1263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/olewarskule.lsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}