COMMUNITY St. Alban’s offers internships to students page 3
Reveille The Daily
FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2015 GREEK LIFE
lsureveille.com/daily
FOOTBALL Receivers seek improvement during spring practice page 6
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Volume 119 · No. 118
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ENDOWMENTS
Acacia Fraternity expelled from campus BY ROSE VELAZQUEZ rvelazquez@lsureveille.com The Acacia Fraternity national office released a statement Thursday announcing the closure of the University chapter after reported violations of the fraternity’s standards and policies related to the treatment of its members. The chapter’s campus registration has been revoked, effective immediately` and continuing through June 30, 2018, according to a statement from assistant vice chancellor of communications
Kristine Calongne Sanders. University officials’ decision came after hazing allegations surfaced during fall 2014. University Media Relations director Ernie Ballard confirmed Monday that Acacia’s interim suspension of activities after announcing the investigation into the chapter for allegations of “behavioral misconduct.” “The findings of an internal investigation raised serious concern regarding congruence with Acacia’s values, membership education programs, and Ritual,”
according to a statement issued by Acacia Fraternity executive director Patrick McGovern. McGovern visited the University chapter on March 17, determined chapter rehabilitation was not a likely possibility and recommended its removal from campus, according to the statement. According to the charge letter from the Office of Student Advocacy and Accountability, the University confirmed that activities occurred violating Policy Statements 78 and 108 of the Code of Student Conduct. Those activities include
forced alcohol consumption, personal servitude, meal restrictions during Initiation Week, a road trip to Auburn University in which various thefts occurred and hazing as outlined by Policy Statement 78. “I hope this sends a very strong message to all of our students who participate in Greek Life activities. This behavior is absolutely unacceptable,” said LSU President F. King Alexander in a statement. Acacia accepted all penalties, according to Ballard’s statement.
see ACACIA, page 15
Chemistry program tops diversity survey BY JOSE ALEJANDRO BASTIDAS jbastidas@lsureveille.com Chemistry is hard, but a recent study shows underrepresented minorities at the University may be up for the challenge. “Trends in Ph.D. Productivity and Diversity in Top-50 U.S. Chemistry Departments: An Institutional Analysis,” a study published in the Journal of Chemical Education in June 2014, ranks the University’s chemistry department as the top producer of African American and female doctoral graduates. The University’s chemistry graduate program currently comprises 132 students, 57 of which are female while the other 75 are male. Of those, 69 are U.S. citizens — 13 African American, four Latino, seven Asian-American and 45 white — and 63 are international students. When chemistry doctoral candidate Ciera Duronslet talks about her field of study with others, she said, more often than not people admire her intelligence. “I hear a lot of students say they like chemistry, but they’re afraid to keep going with it,” Duronslet said. “I would tell them that if they really enjoy it … lock out that outside influence that tells [them] chemistry is hard. If
CLAIM Y O U R SPACE
you really like it and see yourself doing it, go with it.” In recent years, universities across the U.S. experienced a decrease in the number of college students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields — like chemistry, said chemistry department chair Luigi Marzilli. Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives Isiah Warner said the University produces the largest percentage of women doctoral graduates in chemistry, but not the highest number, while producing the highest percentage and highest number of African American chemistry doctoral graduates in the nation. Warner said the diversification of the department’s faculty over the years and word of mouth explain the increase in minority students. “It has a lot to do with our faculty,” Warner said. “Ten years ago, we had no women in the faculty. ... [Now] we have at least half a dozen. Not as many as we should have, but the numbers are beginning to increase. Diversity is a process that feeds off of each other. As the student
see CHEMISTRY, page 4
EMILY BRAUNER / The Daily Reveille
Chemistry doctoral candidate Ciera Duronslet stands in a Choppin Hall lab on Thursday.
OTHER 13%
KENYA 2% NIGERIA 2%
chemistry graduate students by nationality
NEPAL 3% IRAN 3%
U.S. 52%
SRI LANKA 9%
CHINA 15%
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LSU endowments among SEC’s lowest
BY ROSE VELAZQUEZ rvelazquez@lsureveille.com From football to gymnastics, there is a long-standing tradition of athletic rivalry among SEC schools. Off the field, these academic institutions are competing in a different way. In a year when the University faces some of the largest potential budget cuts in its history, the race for academic excellence and financial superiority has never had higher stakes. For higher education, an endowment is the gift that keeps on giving. An endowment is a donor’s commitment to a fundraising entity that then invests the principal amount and makes a portion of the return on that investment available each year, creating a source of perpetual funding. When it comes to the business of fundraising, the University is one of the newer players in the game, and the LSU System’s relative youth shows in the value of its endowments. “LSU in general is new to fundraising in comparison to a lot of our peers,” said Sara Crow, LSU Foundation director of communications and donor relations. “[Other universities] have just been kind of in that arena longer.” She said endowments provide continuous funding for scholarships, professorships, chairs and other special projects or purposes designated by the donor. There are 16 fundraising foundations throughout the LSU System, and three of those are on the University’s main campus: the LSU Alumni Association, the LSU Foundation and the Tiger Athletic Foundation. “Unfortunately, we have not raised the funds that we need to raise as a flagship university,” said LSU President F. King Alexander
see ENDOWMENTS, page 15 1, 2, 3 & 4 BEDROOMS + TOWNHOMES