I lost a dear friend, too. Some people may be surprised to learn that our friendship began decades before Alfred led the university's first major fund-raiser. My wife Barbara was employed in the oil business by Cornell Inc. in 1957, and we went to various functions where oil men were present. Alfred was particularly involved in the Petroleum Club, and we met there.
Lafayette citizens probably will recognize the often-recounted story of how I asked Alfred in 1981 to help raise money for a $1 million endowment. At the time, the university had about $400,000 to invest. We were hoping he could help raise another $600,000. That $1 million would be invested; only the earned interest would be used by the university.
Alfred turned me down. The only way he would agree to lead the fund drive was if his goal was serious money ' say $10 million. Raising $600,000 was too much work, he explained. It was easier to get a few donors to donate large sums than to get many donors to contribute smaller amounts. That anecdote says so much about Alfred Lamson. He was generous, fearless, confident.
The significance of the sense of financial security that the $10 million endowment provided in the financially tumultuous 1980s can't be overstated. But the messages that Alfred sent by leading the campaign were more valuable.
By raising the stakes of the fund-raiser, he taught us to think big and to dream big dreams. Today, UL Lafayette has about $120 million in gifted assets. Without Alfred's leadership, that would not have happened.
He was also charismatic. His keen business mind, infectious enthusiasm and his sense of humor enabled him to persuade people to see his point of view.
It helped that he was a raconteur of the highest order. One day, Alfred and I were meeting with some potential donors in Houston. The meeting didn't seem to be going well. But then he smoothly slipped into his storytelling mode, and the atmosphere began to change. The businessmen were captivated by his humor and enthusiasm. When we left that meeting, we had solid commitments of hundreds of thousands of dollars for the university.
I was always amazed that Alfred could ask for money in so many ways. One day, he phoned me to ask if Barbara could plan to have coffee and pastries for a little gathering at our home on a particular afternoon. He said he wanted to invite some bankers and to get them to give money to the university.
So, a group of bankers gathered in our living room one afternoon. I did not know until later that Alfred had done some homework. He had spoken with B.I. Moody III at First National Bank; FNB had then pledged to donate $250,000 to USL.
Alfred made that announcement at this gathering. He then turned to the president of Guaranty Bank and said, "You're always saying that your bank is twice as big and twice as good as First National Bank. You need to give $500,000."
Throughout our friendship, Alfred was always there to help the university in any way he could. He never asked for anything in return.
One of the greatest loves of his life was the Lady Cajuns softball program. He was smitten the first time he went to a game, which was about 15 years ago. He and his late wife, Helen, later paid for construction of locker rooms at Lady Cajun Park, traveled to the College World Series to cheer for the team and promoted Cajun softball any way they could.
I plan to rename Lady Cajun Park in honor of Alfred and Helen.
It's the least I can do for a friend whom I will miss more than I can say. There will probably never be a bigger fan of the softball team or the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
- Dr. Ray Authement is the president of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
MAY 23 Here's a story in the Picayune about some statistics that must come as a blow to folks who believe that any private school can do a better job of educating kids than any public school: Danielle Dreilinger reports that only 30 percent of the voucher kids are passing. That's less than half of the state wide average, she says. It's an interesting statistic because most of the schools (if not all) taking voucher kids have never had their students' standardized test scores released to the public before.
MAY 23 Stephen Sabludowsky blogs on Bayou Buzz about auditor requests here. Recently the state GOP started crowing about a request from the Legislative Auditor, claiming they were being targeted because of their anti-tax stance. (Uh, your what?) Denial and hyperbole aside, the state Democratic party blew holes in that theory with an email announcing they'd received the same request, Sabludowsky writes here.
MAY 23 Jim Brown blogs about the senate race in this post. He says that, given Bobby Jindal's "lack of traction" on the national stage, it might make more sense for the governor to consider running against Mary Landrieu for the senate seat. Since Tim Teeple left the Cassidy team, it makes sense he might land on a Jindal for Senate team, Brown opines.
MAY 23 In this Louisiana Voice post, blogger Tom Aswell writes of rumors that his nemesis, state Superintendent of Education John White, may be soon departing Louisiana for a federal post. It's hard to believe, given his performance, Aswell says, but stranger things have happened. An anti-White BESE member says that, if true, White is quitting before he can be fired.
MAY 23 In this post on American Zombie, blogger Jason Berry writes about the Mother's Day shooting. Mayor Landrieu said that "this is not who we are," but the fact is, this is New Orleans, Berry writes. The violence infused in the city is the result of a culture created by "sins of omission or sins of commission," Berry writes. It's not a problem that can be solved by legislating, policing, praying or publicizing, he says: Someone's got to understand what's happening first.
MAY 23 This post in the Westside Journal tells us what Port Allen Mayor Deedy has been up to lately: vetoing ordinances, apparently. This story is most interesting, however, when it delves into a petition that has been circulating around the city lately. It accuses the former mayor of a lot of nasty things; the former mayor says it is full of lies and "broken syntax" which may be a larger offense in his eyes.
MAY 23 This editorial posted in The Advocate is a bit confusing. The writing is poor - definitely not up to the usual editorial writing standard there - and the point is hard to grasp. Apparently, the writer is saying that privatization of state efforts is OK, as long as there is oversight and transparency, but Jindal's not good at that, and the legislature shouldn't over-react. Okey Dokey. Can't they get one of them Pulitzer-winning people to write an editorial?
MAY 23 This post on The Lens gives you links to a new Google Earth tool that allows you to see any spot on earth transform over the past 30 years. Bob Marshall, who covers the coast for the paper, says that in the case of Louisiana's coastline, it's possibly something you don't want to see, because it's not a pretty picture. There are several clips here, showing critical areas erode away. For Marshall, it was vindication for all those times he was met with eye-rolling when he talked about erosion.
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