The Reveille 7-31-23

LSUReveille.com @lsureveille

CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION

What will and won’t be finished when students return this fall

BY JAYDEN NGUYEN & WILL NICKEL @jaydenguyen_ & @WilNickel

Campus may look a little different when students return to LSU in August.

Construction on various parts of campus started earlier this summer, with holes being dug in the Quad and streets like Tower Drive completely blocked off.

“I’ve been here 20 years and I’ve never seen this much disturbance on campus,” Dennis Mitchell, LSU’s campus landscape architect, said. “This is a good thing. When campus is changing, it’s changing for the better.”

But what exactly is changing on campus, and more importantly: when will it be done?

The biggest project currently underway is a utility project that involves piping for several buildings on campus. Parts of the Quad, roads and other areas on campus are being dug up in order to reach these pipes.

“All this work underground is to bring new chilled water from the central plants so we can cool buildings,” Greg Lacour, Director of Campus Planning, said. “Those pipes were 80, 90, 100 years old. So these are new pipes to replace all of that, which is why it’s such a big deal.”

Other changes include new lamppost bases around campus as part of LSU’s lighting initiative. The LSU Law Center, Highland Road, Touchdown Village, the Quad and lights around the campus lakes will all be upgraded.

“We’ve been talking about lighting forever,” Mitchell said. “I think you’ll notice a difference this semester when you come back.”

General repairs will also be made to certain buildings on campus, including the Student Union, Nicholson and Law Center roofs.

Each of these projects contributes to a larger plan for LSU’s campus.

“Every project is filtered through the master plan,” Mitchell said. “Everything we do is the master plan. It gives us guidance.”

LSU’s master plan for campus was created in 2017 under former LSU President F. King Alexander.

The goal of the master plan, according to its vision statement, is to “provide a practical and flexible framework that sustainably guides and integrates development and capital investment on the campus and in the community over the next decade and beyond.”

The plan uses previous planning efforts as a guide, including the 2003 master plan which saw around $1.4 billion invested into LSU over 14 years. Space on LSU’s campus increased by 23% under the previous plan.

The new master plan began being developed in 2015 and took nearly two years to make. It considers multiple aspects of LSU’s campus that need improvement to help accommodate more students as the university continues

to grow. The plan has five guiding principles:

• Connect Campus and Community

• Celebrate Distinct LSU Campus and Context

• Support High Performance Academic and Research

• Enhance Student Life

• Promote Environmental Stewardship

Every project to improve LSU’s campus is run through the master plan to see if it aligns with the university’s long term goals.

“That’s the whole point of doing a master plan,” Mitchell said. “If we just made decisions without it…”

“We end up with a library in the middle of the Quad,” Danielle Mayeaux, LSU’s campus civil engineer, said.

Construction not only impacts campus, but parking and transportation as well. The main projects currently impacting parking and on-campus transportation are the Utility Project, Union Hub Project, Fieldhouse Drive Construction and Coates C Lot Construction.

“The biggest thing that’s impacting campus right now, when it comes to construction, is the utility project which is touching every little piece on campus,” Brian Favela, LSU’s Director of Parking and Transportation, said. “They’ve taken up 300 commuter spaces. Luckily we’ll get that back at the beginning of school.”

The Coates C Lot will also reopen before the semester begins, and the Union Hub is scheduled to be finished by August 11. The construction on Fieldhouse Drive will not be finished, but the plan is to gravel over the road and pause construction during football season to not impact game days. After football season, it will be closed again and construction will continue.

“It’s just 150,000 [people] on campus during game day, it’s the

only thing that made sense,” Favela said. “The players are still getting dropped off, I think, at Victory Circle.”

Favela said that he understands that there will be issues with parking and bus routes that will need to be fixed during the semester, but there’s no way to avoid some disturbances while campus undergoes so much construction.

“Parking is the first and last experience,” Favela said. “We have to understand everything that’s going on on campus in order to make sure we do this right.”

Parking and Transportation will be putting an emphasis on communicating with students during the semester, according to Favela. He said that the department will continue sending out its weekly newsletter to update staff and students.

There are projects that have been completed in lieu of the ongoing construction. The French House’s walkway is complete and the Huey P. Long building’s renovations are finished.

New signage around campus featuring braille has been installed in several buildings as well, as part of a student government initiative.

LSU Planning, Design and Construction expects to take on more projects after Louisiana Legislature granted $232 million to the university in its most recent session.

“It’s all been assigned, identified by specific projects, and those projects will be implemented over time,” Lacour said. “One of them is the library.”

The LSU Library, which will become the Library Learning Commons, will be built where the current electrical engineering building is. Students and faculty have made many complaints about the library’s condition, and LSU has finally received the money to accomplish its needed renovations.

An architect for the new library will be selected in September, ac-

cording to Lacour.

The new library won’t begin being built anytime soon though, and many planned projects won’t start until next year.

One of these projects is the new interdisciplinary science building, which will cost around $150 million, according to Capital Projects Director Paul Favaloro. The new building will be where the current Dairy Science building is, and demolition of the Dairy Science building is currently scheduled to start in late spring of next year.

Dairy Science, including the Dairy Store, will temporarily be in the old Food Science building until construction is completed. Then, it will be moved into the new science building when construction is finished, essentially in the same spot.

“There may be a small period of time when you can’t buy [ice cream],” Mitchell said, but LSU Planning, Design and Construction is hopeful that this won’t happen.

But what can students expect campus to look like when they come back in August?

“The goal is for when students come back in August, to have the dust settled and have paths that are open,” Mitchell said.

Some of the construction will not be completed when students return, but some projects, such as the Fieldhouse Drive construction, will be put on pause during the semester.

Other projects will continue throughout the semester, but alternative paths around the construction will be built to help the flow of traffic and pedestrians.

“There’s going to be some growing pains, there’s going to be some things that are not going to be prim and proper as they walk through campus,” Favaloro said. “If there’s any issues with any of that or any disturbances, please let us know. We certainly don’t want to be creating disturbances for students and whatnot along the way.”

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An excavator sits near a large hole on July 7 on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La.

DEANS DECIDED

LSU appoints four new deans

BY JOHN BUZBEE @thebuzzbuz

Fall semester begins with four new deans supplanting the longstanding interims of their respective schools.

The new deans are for the College of Agriculture, the College of Music and Dramatic Arts, the Paul M. Hebert Law Center and the Manship School of Mass Communication. They were named starting at the end of the spring semester through the summer.

On the other side of things, two colleges are now under the administration of interim deans: the College of Engineering and the College of the Coast and Environment.

All but one of the new deans fill vacancies of at least two years.

Senior Vice Provost Jane Cassidy said that’s because of transitions in LSU’s upper administration. Deans are hired by the provost, who they directly report to, with some input from the university president. The current provost, Roy Haggerty, was hired in August 2022.

“That’s the best way to do it is to have the very most senior leadership in place and then hire the leadership team underneath them,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy, who’s witnessed the hiring of all current deans, said it’s a little unusual for four deans to be hired concurrently, but that the university is generally in a search for one or two deans at any given time.

These dean searches are thorough, she added, generally lasting from six to nine months and even up to a year. The university employed multiple firms specifically tasked with finding, researching

POLITICS

and contacting candidates.

Contenders meet with committees of faculty and students from their prospective college. These committees complete surveys that find preferred candidates. There’s public forums, and candidates undergo many interviews with a few interest groups and the university’s upper administration. It’s a stressful process to coordinate on the university’s side, Cassidy said.

Even once a dean is named, it can still take some time before they begin their post. If they’re coming from another state, they have to wrap up their work and relocate.

Cassidy said the number one reason the need for an interim dean emerges is because the more permanent dean of the college is nearing retirement, thus seeking to relinquish administrative duties.

The current wave of deans were all hired with LSU President William F. Tate IV’s “scholarship first” agenda in mind, Cassidy said. To be considered, Cassidy said, candidates needed to be “good scholars in their fields” with administrative experience.

“I wish students understood how important this was to them,” Cassidy said. “The dean is in charge of hiring the faculty that teach you. They are the architects for you and your college, they have to be great advocates for your college.”

Often, undergraduate students don’t recognize the amount of guidance a dean can have on their college’s direction, Cassidy said, both while students are enrolled and years past graduation.

Alumni are the biggest source of a college’s prestige, she said, but deans are responsible for creating many of the opportunities students

leverage to succeed, like seizing grants or opening programs

“It’s the dean’s responsibility to make sure people know how good the education is so that people know how good the school is, how good the education is so that students can get jobs,” Cassidy said.

Cassidy and Kristine Sanders, interim vice president of communication and university relations, provided information regarding the university’s new deans and interim deans:

College of Agriculture

Matt Lee became dean of the College of Agriculture on April 4. Prior to becoming dean, he served as the interim dean of the college for seven months. Another interim dean, Luke Laborde, preceded him for a year. The AgCenter’s last longterm dean was Bill Richardson, who returned to the faculty shortly after Tate became president.

Prior to serving as interim dean, Lee was LSU’s interim vice president and provost and worked in the university’s administration and as a research administrator.

Lee has a background in social science; he earned both his doctor-

A24 movie filmed in Baton Rouge

BY JAYDEN NGUYEN @jaydenguyen_

An A24 film that was partially filmed in Baton Rouge now has an official release date.

“The Iron Claw,” a sports drama movie starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White, will be released in theaters nationwide on December 22.

ate and master’s from LSU. College of Music and Dramatic Arts

Eric Lau started his term as dean of the College of Music and Dramatic Arts on July 1. There had been an interim dean since January 2021,Kristin Sosnowsky, who’s since returned to her job as an associate dean of the college.

The last permanent dean of the college, Todd Queen, left LSU to pursue a job at another university.

Lau was previously dean of the University of New Mexico’s Honors College and University College where he secured record funding for the university’s music department.

Lau earned his bachelor’s from LSU and is a Tiger Band alumnus. He’s an active saxophonist and performer who’s played across the United States, Europe and Latin America.

Paul M. Hebert Law Center

Alena Allen’s term as dean began on July 17. LSU Law had been under an interim dean, Lee Ann Lockridge, since January 2020 af-

The movie is based on the true story of a family of professional wrestlers who made history during the 1980s, the Von Erich family.

Efron and White portray brothers Kevin Von Erich and Kerry Von Erich, respectively.

The family rose to prominence in the wrestling world, but soon became more associated with tragedy than the sport.

Five out of six of the Von Erich sons died by the time their father, Fritz Von Erich, died in 1997. The reasons for their deaths vary from suicide to overdose to drowning.

“The Iron Claw” was filmed in areas of New Orleans and Baton Rouge, and it will even feature Baton Rouge extras in parts of the film.

A24 began filming in the Baton Rouge area in November 2022. Pictures of Efron on set in Louisiana went viral for his drastic change in appearance.

Efron’s presence in Baton Rouge also went viral amongst LSU students, who were eager to catch a glimpse of the “High School Musical” actor. see APPOINTMENTS, page 4

LSU placed on shaky legal ground after firing grad assistant

BY CLAIRE SULLIVAN Louisiana Illuminator

Several free speech experts say LSU is on murky legal ground for firing a graduate assistant after his profane voicemail to a state senator went viral online.

The student, Marcus Venable, called Sen. Mike Fesi, R-Houma, after the lawmaker helped override the governor’s veto on a ban for gender-affirming care for trans youth. In a 50-second message, Venable told Fesi he “can’t wait to read your name in the f—–g obituaries” and called him a “big fatheaded motherf—er,” among other profanities.

Many on social media expressed displeasure with Venable’s rhetoric and said his words constituted a threat. Several conservative statehouse members called

for Venable to be fired, and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins tweeted that he would be Venable’s huckle bearer — the person who carries a coffin.

The Illuminator spoke to four lawyers with expertise in free speech to understand whether LSU was within its legal rights to dismiss the sociology student from teaching.

They said offensive language is protected by the Constitution and generally agreed Venable’s words couldn’t be considered a threat under the law. The legality got more complicated for some when considering his status as a graduate assistant and whether he was a public employee.

‘Absolutely protected’

Venable’s firing came less than 24 hours after conservative commentator Greg Price shared the voice message on Twitter. Price’s

post, which incorrectly identified Venable as a professor, sparked instant outrage.

LSU released a statement explaining the choice to dismiss the sociology student from teaching.

“Like everyone, graduate students with teaching assignments have the right to express their opinions, but this profanity-filled, threatening call crossed the line,” LSU spokesperson Abbi Rocha Laymoun said. “This does not exhibit the character we expect of someone given the privilege of teaching as part of their graduate assistantship. The student will be allowed to continue their studies but will not be extended the opportunity to teach in the future.”

Daniel Canon, a civil rights lawyer and assistant professor at the University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law, said “the circum-

stances under which the First Amendment would not protect Mr. Venable for making a phone call to an elected official are very few, and this isn’t one of them.”

“Sure, if he had threatened the Senator with harm, or even if he had called in his capacity as a public employee, then you’d be getting closer to a situation in which the Free Speech Clause would not protect him (though even then it could be a close question),” Cannon said in an email. “But just cursing at him — even calling him names — for a legislative decision that the Senator made in his capacity as a public official is absolutely protected.”

Canon said there was “obviously not an imminent threat to the Senator.” Clay Calvert, a First Amendment scholar at the University of Florida, agreed.

“He wasn’t using fighting words, he was simply outraged,” Calvert said. “… So he’s expressing his views in an offensive manner. But the fact that they’re offensive, you know, doesn’t mean that they fall outside the scope of the First Amendment.”

Employee status

Many of the legal questions in this case hinge on Venable’s status as a graduate assistant and whether he was considered a public employee, said Joseph Tomain, a senior lecturer at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law.

The National Labor Relations Board has gone back and forth on whether teaching assistants are employees.

“The issue has been of recent interest to universities who oppose see LEGAL ISSUES, page 4

GRAPHIC BY MADDIE FITZMORRIS

APPOINTMENTS from page 3

ter then dean, Tom Galligan, was named the university president. Both Lockridge and Galligan have returned to the law faculty. She is LSU Law’s first Black dean.

Allen was previously a professor and interim dean at the University of Arkansas School of Law. She’s also worked as the deputy director of the Association of Ameri-

LEGAL ISSUES, from page 3 graduate students from unionizing because if they’re not employees, then they can’t unionize,” Tomain said.

LSU graduate assistants have a union, United Campus Workers of Louisiana.

If Venable wasn’t considered an employee, then his speech is protected, and he likely could not legally be terminated, Tomain said. But “if (teaching assistant’s) are considered employees, then there is a line of Supreme Court cases that addresses when the government employer can take an adverse action against the government employee based on their speech,” he added.

Assuming Venable was an employee, a court would consider several factors if it heard this case, free speech lawyers told the Illuminator.

First, was Venable speaking on

can Law Schools.

Allen earned her bachelor’s from Loyola and her law degree from Yale Law School. Manship School of Mass Communication

Kim Bissell is the new dean of the Manship School as of July 24. She relieves Josh Grimm, who became interim dean in October 2020 after Dean Martin Johnson died of a heart attack. Grimm has since re -

a private or a public matter? He was calling Fesi about a vote he cast, so it’s a matter of public concern, the lawyers said.

Second, was he speaking from his position as a public employee or as a private citizen? He was speaking as a private citizen, lawyers agreed.

Finally, the court would “have to balance his interest in speaking out against the university’s ability to effectively and efficiently carry out its duties,” Calvert said.

“When the government employee speaks as a citizen on a matter of public concern, the government employer has limited ability to punish the employee based on their speech,” Tomain said. The university can only do that if it would be “necessary to stop him from teaching so that LSU could operate efficiently and effectively.”

A federal appeals court laid this out in a 2005 ruling. “So long as employees are speaking as citi-

turned to the faculty. Bissell is the college’s first female dean.

Bissell was an associate dean of research and communications professor at the University of Alabama for over 20 years. She’s worked as a reporter and photojournalist in various cities.

Bissell earned her doctorate from Syracuse University and a master’s from Binghamton University.

zens about matters of public concern, they must face only those speech restrictions that are necessary for their employers to operate efficiently and effectively,” the court ruled.

Tomain said he thinks “LSU would face an uphill battle” to prove Venable’s firing was necessary to keep the university running smoothly.

Eugene Volokh, who teaches First Amendment law at UCLA, said the situation is complicated because “the law is not completely clear about government employees’ free speech rights when they involve vulgarity, personal insults and maybe borderline threats.”

On one hand, “it is quite clear that the First Amendment protects people’s rights to complain to government officials and complain about government officials,” Volokh said, “and that includes, generally speaking … the rights of government employees to do that,

College of Engineering (Interim Dean)

Judy Wornat returns to the faculty after a year as interim dean and over six years as dean for the College of Engineering.

Karsten Thompson began his term as interim dean on May 29. Thompson has a background in chemical engineering and previously chaired the petroleum engineering department.

especially off the job, without being fired for it.”

Universities have prevailed

But it’s not as clear to what extent government employers can ask its workers to remain professional off the job, he said.

Volokh pointed to a 2015 federal court ruling in favor of an employee’s free speech rights over a university’s claim of disruption.

Steven Salaita had had a job offer rescinded by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign because of tweets he made about Israel that sparked outrage from some. A judge ruled the university was wrong. But there are older rulings from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Louisiana, that sided with universities over employees, Volokh said.

In a 1976 case, the court sided with a university that fired an assistant professor for using profanity at a public meeting, saying his

College of the the Coast and Environment (Interim Dean)

Chris D’Elia, who was the dean of the College of College of the Coast and Environment for 14 years, has returned to the faculty. The current interim dean is Clint Willson, who started on July 1. Willson has a background in environmental and civil engineering. He’s also the director of the Center for River Studies.

disruption of the meeting spoke poorly to his qualifications.

In a 1972 case, the court sided with a university for withdrawing a job offer as a teaching assistant from a student who used profanity while criticizing the administration to a crowd. Again, the court decided this reflected a lack of qualifications.

Volokh said he’s inclined to believe LSU is “on solid ground” if it fired Venable for his profane language and not his views.

A national free speech group, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, called Friday in an open letter for LSU to reverse its dismissal of Venable, saying the university can’t punish him for political speech.

So far, the grad student’s only public comment on the matter has been a quote he attributed to his grandfather, Joseph Venable: “The duty of the strong is to protect the weak.”

ENTERTAINMENT

What is girl dinner? We tried our readers’ go-to girl dinners

BY WILL NICKEL & JAYDEN NGUYEN | @WilNickel & @jaydenguyen_

It’s late at night. You’ve had a long day at work and school, but you still need to eat. You don’t have the energy to cook. You don’t have enough ingredients to make a real meal. What do you decide to eat instead?

Girl dinner.

Girl dinner is a TikTok phenomenon where girls film the odd food concoctions they’ve created for their dinners. The possibilities are endless for girl dinner creations. From granola bars and cheese to ramen and wine, anything lying around your house can become part of a girl dinner.

We decided to ask our readers what their go-to girl dinners are and try them for ourselves.

Here’s what we would and would not eat again.

For clarity, italics indicates that Will is speaking. Sushi

We started our girl dinner journey off with something classic: sushi.

I’m not really sure if this qualifies as girl dinner? Sushi is expensive and enjoyed by millions of people at high-end sushi restaurants and cats in alleys behind high-end sushi restaurants. But I am neither a girl nor a dinner. What do I know?

I am a man, so I like sports and football and dirt and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

And I am a woman, so I like shopping and makeup and flowers and Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

But I actually do not like sushi, and I knew that Will picked this option to try because 1) he loves sushi and 2) he hates me.

This was not my least favorite girl dinner, but it wasn’t the best. I

ate one piece of a crunchy roll and stopped.

This was easily my favorite girl dinner. Sushi is good. What do you want from me? Was it supposed to taste different because I said “girl dinner” to myself before eating it? It’s good.

I got something called a Madonna roll from the restaurant we ordered from because that seemed girl power-ey. Is girl dinner empowering? Much to consider.

Texas toast, a Gatorade and a Pop Tart

This is not a meal, but, like, it’s good. I like all three of these things. Having them together shouldn’t change that. I do think this dinner is about one gram of protein to 60 grams of carbs though.

We each had a glacier cherry Gatorade and a s’mores Pop Tart alongside our pieces of Texas

toast.

I also took two gummy vitamins for my hair with it. It seemed like a girly thing to do. Will stole my hair vitamins after I said I needed to take them. At least it’s recommended that you take them with food, so girl dinner really helped out there.

The vitamins were good, but a Flintstone gummy would’ve been better. (I strongly disagree with this.)

Pepperoni and saltines

This is also not a meal. We really didn’t enjoy this that much. I don’t usually eat just raw pepperoni without it being on a pizza or in a calzone. Also the crackers were stale, which I think is a metaphor for something, though I’m not sure what.

The metaphor is that these were the only crackers I had in my

pantry.

We would not recommend this girl dinner.

Two bubble teas and a popsicle

Again, this is not a meal.

I was really excited about this girl dinner because I love boba. There are so many people I’ve introduced to boba, and I’ve tried almost every place that sells it in Baton Rouge. Will is probably the only person I’ve taken to a bubble tea place who doesn’t like it.

I don’t like tea and I also don’t like boba. I like the texture of it because it’s fun to chew, like gum you can swallow, but I didn’t like the tapioca flavor.

I got a strawberry green tea with tapioca and Will tried a mango green tea with tapioca. We also tried ICEE-flavored popsicles to go with the teas.

The popsicle was good, but it

gave me the worst brain freeze of my life because I eat food at the same speed of a starved dog who is also stupid.

The Popeyes girl dinner

After the term “girl dinner” started going viral, Popeyes responded by creating a tab on its app where users can have their own girl dinner of just Popeyes’ side items.

You can order its homestyle mac and cheese, Cajun fries, mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, coleslaw and biscuits.

Will and I decided to order everything except the coleslaw and red beans and rice.

This is the closest we’ve come to a meal since the sushi. It’s Popeyes, so it’s good.

I would have liked to get chicken along with the sides, but I am beginning to feel like having a protein source with your meal changes it from a girl dinner to just a regular dinner.

Honorable mentions

We received several responses to our Instagram story asking for girl dinner suggestions, but could not try them all.

Someone said that their goto girl dinner was watching Joe Burrow TikToks (which Will likes because he is a man and he loves sports. I liked this because have you seen Joe Burrow?).

Another reader said theirs was just Diet Coke (mildly concerning).

Our favorite response was “12 metric tons of topsoil.” Will really wanted to try this one, but I think that would have been a more appropriate boy dinner meal.

‘Barbie’ proves Barbie never needed Ken, but isn’t man-hating

BY SAM SEDILO @samsedilo

Barbie has always been whatever she wanted to be. The imagination we have gives us the power to imagine Barbie as how we want to.

Smashing box-offices with the biggest opening weekend of the year and the biggest opening weekend for a female director, many people have come out of the movie with thoughts on Greta Gerwig’s direction on the doll.

Barbie over the years has been diversifying herself. Mattel created lines of Barbie’s of different races, disabilities and shapes.

Gerwig points the movie in the direction of Barbie experiencing the real world and the societal problems that women face everyday.

“Barbie” gives us a reflective look into what women deal with in the real world. Simply being catcalled when just walk-

ing around in public, expected to wait on men – I think most women can say they have had an experience like this in the world.

Many viewers have come to say that “Barbie” gives a bad view on men and that it’s “influencing women to pour hatred towards men.” But how cracked up is that statement actually?

The movie does not give the bad representation to men, but their own immorality displayed on women has given the bad representation.

The movie is centered around women. Men bashing the movie and creating a false narrative about it can almost be compared to what Barbie has to deal with when Ken decides to turn Barbieland into his Kendom.

As Barbie experiences real world problems, Gerwig opens discussion for many double standards women are faced everyday.

A conversation that gets swept under the rug far too often, the

movie follows a direction where Barbie finds herself.

So what Barbie doesn’t need Ken? She’s never needed Ken. She always was able to do and be whatever she wanted to be without him.

Barbie is what girls imagine her to be. Barbie is an astronaut, a teacher, she is anything that can be imagined. Pushing a “women hate men” agenda on a movie about dolls is just ludicrous.

The narrative was never about Barbie and Ken being together. Ken needed her more than she needed him. Women who are able to handle problems on their own should not be frowned upon. Not everything needs to be with the assistance of a male and that’s okay.

Barbie being able to be all these amazing things gives girls the courage to go after dreams in the future. Dreaming big became the idea behind her, so why try and change it?

GRAPHIC BY MADDIE FITZMORRIS

C l a s s i f ieds

SPORTS & OPINION

LSU football preview: RB room to be one of the best in the SEC

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

LSU comes into the 2023-24 season with arguably one of the deepest running back rooms in the country. With Jayden Daniels being a true dual-threat quarterback, LSU’s run game overall will pose a threat to many opposing teams.

In fact, Daniels led the team with 885 rushing yards, more than any other running back. But the immense depth at running back will be where the Tigers separate themselves when Daniels is limited.

With many different options at running back, including having Daniels able to run the ball at times, let’s take a look at each running back that will likely get playing time this season.

Josh Williams Williams’ come-up story may be the largest of any running back on the depth chart. He was a former walk-on, and since earning a scholarship in 2020, he’s become a primary option at running back. He’s entering his fifth year at LSU.

This season will be no different, as he’s expected to take the largest workload at running back along with Noah Cain and Logan Diggs. Last season, Williams led the running backs with 532 rushing yards. He was tied for second in the running back room with

six rushing touchdowns and added 132 receiving yards. Williams will likely be the primary option early in drives.

Noah Cain

In contrast to Williams, Cain was the primary option late in drives. He led the team with 10 rushing touchdowns, along with 409 rushing yards, which was the second most in the running back room.

In addition, Cain appeared in all 14 games. This being said, he and Williams will surely be the leading returners in the running back room. Cain played his first season at LSU last year after transferring from Penn State. He’s entering his senior season.

Logan Diggs

Diggs was arguably one of the biggest victories for LSU this offseason in the transfer portal. The junior running back is returning home to Louisiana after transferring from Notre Dame. He played at Archbishop Rummel High School, and is from Boutte, Louisiana.

Diggs will provide additional versatility to the running back room. Last season, he ran for 820 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns along with 211 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Diggs can easily have a lot of playing time early on, as he poses both a threat in the backfield and catching the

ball.

Armoni Goodwin

Goodwin was riddled with injuries last season, as he missed three games before suffering a season-ending injury later in the season. However, when Goodwin was on the field, he produced. In seven games played, he rushed for 267 rushing yards along with five rushing touchdowns.

With Williams and Cain both being not only productive, but experienced, and also with the addition of Diggs, it’s unclear how much playing time Goodwin will be able to get. But having him available and healthy seems like it will work in the Tigers’ favor at several points this season.

Trey Holly

Holly comes to LSU with a remarkable high school resume, and is arguably one of the most accomplished running backs in Louisiana high school football history. In his senior season at Union Parish High School, he ran for 2,694 yards and 38 touchdowns, and led Union Parish to a Division III State Championship runner-up season.

In his whole high school career, he ran for 10,523 yards, which broke the state’s all-time rushing record by a mile. The record was previously held by Nick Brossette at 8,704 rushing yards.

He comes to LSU as a for-

mer four-star recruit and a top 15 ranked running back in the country. While this season may primarily be a learning season for Holly, he’ll still likely appear at several points throughout the season and gain valuable experience for his remaining time at LSU.

Kaleb Jackson Jackson and Holly were the “two-headed monster” in LSU’s

2023 recruiting class. While they both play different styles from each other, this will also likely be a learning season for Jackson. However, he’s coming off a limited senior season due to an injury in his season opener. But in his junior season, he ran for 2,031 yards and 29 touchdowns. But he also thrived at track his senior season, as he placed fourth in the Class 4A 100-meter dash with a time of 10.89 seconds.

Letter From the Editors: Student media is rewarding, essential

BY JAYDEN NGUYEN & WILL NICKEL @jaydenguyen_ & @WilNickel

For clarity, italics indicate that Will is speaking.

When I started at the Reveille in January 2021, I honestly couldn’t believe I landed the job. I’ve always loved all things social media and journalism, so getting a spot on the digital team was like a dream come true for me.

I was able to combine my two biggest passions, and for the first time my freshman year, I finally felt like being at LSU started to make sense for me.

Then, later that October, I suddenly got promoted to digital editor and I was a lot more out of my depth. I had no idea what I was doing or really what it meant to be a boss.

EDITORIAL BOARD

Will Nickel Editor-in-Chief

Managing Editor Jayden Nguyen

John Buzbee News Editor

Lauren Madden

That all changed when I finally hired my first staff member: Will.

I started at the Reveille in January 2022, not with aspirations to be the next Editor In Chief, bigshot journalist or even to get my name in paper. I just wanted something on my resume. And to not get fired.

I started in the digital section and every post I made was nerve racking. What if I messed up? Most jobs don’t send a notification to around 30,000 people that you made a typo.

My first stories weren’t bad, but they weren’t special. Just playing it safe so I didn’t get in trouble. But as I continued to work and learn the ropes, my goal shifted from not wanting to make a mistake to just wanting to make something worthwhile.

My boss (Jayden Nguyen, the best digital editor in the history of the Reveille) encouraged me to make stories I wanted to make. When people at the Reveille saw some of my work they also encouraged me.

Will and I have been through every possible journey at the Reveille together: employee and boss, coworkers/co-editors, EIC and managing editor. We’ve helped the Reveille earn millions of page views, written and edited hundreds of stories together and separately, managed our employees together (shoutout to our kids!) and done so many weird, wild and creative experiments during our time here it’s hard to keep track of them all.

Most jobs don’t reward you for being different or think-

ing outside the box. Follow the rules and do what you’re supposed to is the motto. But at the Reveille, being creative and different (dumber perhaps) gets you promoted.

Not only can you execute an idea, your articles can also make a major impact within the LSU community and beyond. I know this may be difficult to believe, but yes, people do read and care about newspapers. Even student-run ones. Will is known as the “Quad car guy” for a reason. You will also meet, learn from and maybe even compete with some of the most talented writers at LSU. Almost every professional journalist who I have met lights up when I mention the Reveille because they have fond memories of working here.

The Reveille is one of the best, most supportive communities I’ve ever been part of. Before joining student media, I didn’t know that I was cut out for journalism and wondered if I would ever find my place in such a vast field.

But after three years working here, I can proudly say that the Reveille taught me that there’s no one right way to do journalism and anyone can succeed, even Will.

In all seriousness, the Reveille is a wonderful, life-changing experience that will teach you not only about journalism and writing, but about yourself and working with others.

Applications can be found on the Reveille website under the “applications” tab on the homepage. Apply today.

Editorial Policies and Procedures Quote of the Week

Opinion Columnist

The Reveille (USPS 145-800) is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication. Signed opinions are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editor, The Reveille or the university. Letters submitted for publication should be sent via e-mail to editor@lsu.edu or delivered to B-39 Hodges Hall. They must be 400 words or less. Letters must provide a contact phone number for verification purposes, which will not be printed. The Reveille reserves the right to edit letters and guest columns for space consideration while preserving the original intent. The Reveille also reserves the right to reject any letter without notification of the author. Writers must include their full names and phone numbers. The Reveille’s editor in chief, hired every semester by the LSU Student Media Board, has final authority on all editorial decisions.

American author

“Remember me and smile, for it’s better to forget than to remember me and cry.”

Dr. Seuss

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille

LSU football junior running back Josh Williams (27) pushes off Georgia defensive back Kamari Lassiter (3) Dec. 3, during LSU’s 30-50 defeat to Georgia at the Southeastern Conference Championship in the MercedesBenz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.