MIRACLE WORKER
LSU baseball’s Chris Stanfield’s Miracle League partnership gets children with disabilities involved on the diamond.
IMPACT PLAYER
How LSU’s Chris Stanfield spreads his love for baseball with others
BY ISABELLE CALLAHAN Staff Writer
In the world of college baseball, Chris Stanfield has made a name for himself with his speed, fielding and power. Everyone knows about his natural talent as a player.
However, Stanfield’s dedication to Miracle League, an organization that allows children with disabilities the opportunity to play baseball, has solidified his legacy not only as an athlete but also as a champion for inclusion.
A standout in high school, Stanfield’s raw talent and athleticism made him a highly soughtafter recruit. When he arrived at Auburn University in 2023, he wasted no time proving that he was a force to be reckoned with on the field.
But for Stanfield, baseball has always been about more than personal accolades. It’s been about impact, both on and off the field.
In the seventh grade, Stanfield saw a flyer for an event with Miracle League in Tallahassee, Fla. He was immediately drawn to the organization because of his love of baseball, so he and his friends attended the game.
“Immediately, it hit me,” Stanfield said. “I didn’t really know what I could do for the athletes, but I knew everyone deserved to do something they love.”
Since then, he hasn’t looked back. Throughout high school, he continued volunteering at games to support the athletes with his family alongside him, but he craved to do more for Miracle League.
In 2024, Stanfield introduced a unique initiative, the “Hats Off 3” campaign, which combined his athletic prowess with philanthropy. The concept was simple yet impactful: Every time his hat fell off as he ran, a moment that had become a humor-
ous tradition among Auburn fans, he pledged donations to the Miracle League of East Alabama.
During his 2024 campaign, Stanfield continued to visit the East Alabama Miracle League athletes on off days, even with a busy baseball schedule. He was at the games, supporting and building relationships with the kids.
“Chris is just an amazing young man at his age,” said Michele Dean, the director of the East Alabama Miracle League chapter. “He has a vision of what he wants to do with his life. He has such a servant’s heart.”
Hats Off 3 quickly gained momentum. Fans, teammates and even rival players eagerly followed along, counting the moments when his hat would tumble off mid-sprint. But beyond the lighthearted fun, the campaign sparked a crucial conversation about the vital role of inclusion in sports and the ne -
cessity of organizations like the Miracle League.
By the end of the 2024 season, the campaign had raised an impressive $11,770 for the East Alabama Miracle League chapter, a testament to the power of his initiative and the generosity of his supporters.
The Miracle League is nonprofit and provides children with physical and cognitive disabilities the chance to play baseball in an environment tailored to their needs. One of its key innovations is the design of rubberized, barrier-free fields that allow for full mobility. These fields, unlike traditional ones, pose no challenges for children who use wheelchairs or walkers or have sensory sensitivities.
Using cutting-edge technology, the teams are able to have balls that beep and make noises for visually impaired athletes, which helps make their time in the box easier.
“We cannot change or cure the medical issues life has dealt children with disabilities. What we can do is provide them with an opportunity to experience the joy and benefits that come from playing our national pastime — baseball,” Miracle League’s website reads.
The organization also ensures that each player has a “buddy” to assist them during the game, further enhancing the experience’s inclusivity.
With over 300 Miracle League organizations across the U.S. and beyond, the goal remains the same: to give every child the joy of stepping up to the plate, swinging the bat and running the bases, regardless of ability.
For the 2025 season, Stanfield brought his inclusive spirit
B-16 Hodges Hall
to LSU along with his impressive skill set. His transfer was not just a change of team but a continuation of his mission to make a difference in the world of sports.
Stanfield wanted to improve his game at LSU and command more respect as a batter, so he found a way to do so while also giving back.
He launched a new initiative called “Be the One,” pledging $100 to the Miracle League of Louisiana for every game in which he recorded an extra-base hit, a stolen base or a home run.
“It hit home for me, so as I grew up, I would volunteer at events because I always knew everyone deserves to play baseball,” Stanfield said. “In the fall, [LSU baseball] went and volunteered with Miracle League, and it really brought me back to my first time out there.”
Stanfield’s efforts to bridge the gap between high-level athletics and inclusivity show his belief that stats on a scoreboard don’t measure true greatness. Rather, it’s about the lives one touches along the way. His fundraising efforts have given children the opportunity to experience the thrill of baseball in a way that might never have been possible otherwise.
As he continues his journey in college baseball and beyond, one thing remains clear: Stanfield isn’t just playing for himself; he’s playing for every child who dreams of stepping up to the plate, no matter their obstacles.
With every stolen base, every extra-base hit and every time his hat tumbles to the ground, Stanfield’s not just making plays, he’s making a difference.
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COURTESY OF EAST ALABAMA MIRACLE LEAGUE
TORI HILL / The Reveille
LSU men’s baseball junior outfielder Chris Stanfield (1) speaks to an assistant coach during LSU’s 7-6 win against Missouri on March 15 at Alex Box Stadium on Gourrier Avenue in Baton Rouge, La.
SUPPORT THE REVEILLE
BY JASON WILLIS Managing Editor
It’s the Reveille’s annual fundraiser week, and we need your support to keep the newspaper producing our award-winning work. But what is it that we do here?
At the Reveille, we’re cultivating the next generation of
budding journalists. I can say firsthand that because of my time at the Reveille, I feel infinitely more prepared in the classroom and, eventually, in the professional world.
I started here as a sports reporter covering the volleyball team, and I was floored at the opportunity to get up close and personal. Two years later, I became the sports editor, helping give other students those same experiences, and now I’m the paper’s managing editor.
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Express – a campus staple –would be returning.
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All of it will go toward making our newspaper better and enriching the experience of the nation’s next journalists.
NEWS OUT AGAIN
STUDENT GOVERNMENT
No concrete guidelines for DEI compliance, dean says to Student Senate
BY MORGAN VANNOSDALL
The LSU dean of students advised Student Government’s legislative branch on navigating diversity, equity and inclusion rollbacks and defended the decision to reinstate the Foret-Tatman: Forward campaign during an open questionand-answer forum at SG’s meeting Wednesday.
Nearly one month after the deadline for LSU’s compliance with the Department of Education’s DEI mandate, SG was still unclear on how its legislative process would be affected. With potential funding hanging in the balance, Fran’Cee Brown-McClure, the dean of students, said careful adherence to state and federal law is the safest way forward.
Court disqualifies Foret-Tatman: Forward once more
BY JASON WILLIS & AIDAN
ANTHAUME Managing Editor & Staff Writer
The Student Government Election Court disqualified the Foret-Tatman: Forward campaign Tuesday, marking the second time the campaign has been disqualified. The University Court unanimously denied the campaign’s request to overturn the decision Wednesday night.
The Election Court issued Foret-Tatman: Forward 17 penalties for exceeding the university’s campaign spending limit and reporting several donated items, including jambalaya, gasoline for two generators and custom buttons, as costing $0. The court unanimously said those items should’ve been listed at market value.
“By overspending, they are violating one of the most central principles to our code,” said John Michael Sweat, the counsel for the Forward campaign, who brought the case against ForetTatman: Forward.
Foret-Tatman: Forward was previously disqualified before the elections because of bribery allegations, but that decision was overturned by the dean of students. State Sens. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, Gregory Miller, R-Norco and Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, lobbied in favor of having the campaign reinstated.
In its case brief, Foret-Tatman: Forward argued it shouldn’t be penalized because it made its donation listings at the direction of the SG Election Commission.
“The rules aren’t very clear,” said Caroline Hardy, Foret-Tatman: Forward’s counsel for the case. “If you go to this person, who is the chair of the Election Commission … you would think they would give you the answer that you need whenever you have any questions regarding financial reporting.”
The Henderson Layrisson campaign was also assessed a penalty Tuesday by the Election Court. Foret-Tatman: Forward accused it of physically tampering with a voter’s ballot by interacting with the voter’s phone while discussing the election.
In an affidavit, a student said Lavar Henderson, the ticket’s presidential candidate, con-
vinced him to edit his vote after it was submitted. However, the student also said he entered and changed the vote on his own free will.
The court said the campaign “aid[ed] the alleged voter in a less than ethical manner which cast a cloud of impropriety.”
Three penalties were issued to Henderson Layrisson, which didn’t bring them to the required eight to disqualify. The ForetTatman: Forward campaign appealed this decision, saying the Henderson Layrisson campaign should be assessed more penalties. In its ruling late Wednesday night, the University Court unanimously upheld the original ruling.
The Forward campaign, which brought the campaign spending case against ForetTatman: Forward also offered an alternative dispute resolution in which only Alex Foret and Isabelle Tatman, the presidential and vice presidential candidates of the ticket, would be disqualified. Foret-Tatman: Forward rejected this offer.
“Alex Foret and Isabelle Tatman will never stop fighting for their rights and the rights of all LSU students, wherever that fight takes them,” the campaign said in its rejection. “This was not a good-faith offer.”
The SG elections were held March 20 and 21, and the announcement of the results has been delayed because of these ongoing cases.
“That doesn’t mean that the work that you all are doing and the things that you all care about can’t still happen,” Brown-McClure said. “They need to happen though within the guidelines of the state law and federal law.”
Brown-McClure warned that academic institutions across the country have already received federal funding cuts for supposedly failing to follow the recent directives and said she doesn’t want LSU to join them.
To best avoid any potential legal or financial risks, she said the senators will have to word all future legislation, resolutions and more in a way that complies with federal mandates. When Sen. Hannah Alm Gibson asked for a list of specific words or ideas to avoid in case they could cause a failure to comply, Brown-McClure had none.
“We have asked for those things. We have shared that these are questions that are coming up on a regular basis… Every time we get questions about that, we are running that up to those folks and saying, ‘If we had something we could tell people, this would make things a little bit easier.’” she said. “But it’s all still very new. This all went into effect 30 to 45 days ago, so it is still in progress.”
Gibson expressed concern that SG trying to comply with rules that don’t have a concrete scope would be difficult, especially without knowledge about how the university would evaluate compliance.
“Everything really is happening case by case, so that’s the only thing I can offer there,” Brown-McClure said.
College of Music and Dramatic
Sen.
asked whether or not the new laws will hinder how SG serves and advocates for the student body.
Despite the lack of clear guidelines, Brown-McClure said that SG’s job will remain to advocate for the students, but there will be modifications to how they achieve that going forward.
“Do I think it will hinder? No,” she said. “Do I think it will change? Absolutely.”
Following the DEI discussion, College of Business Sen. Corbitt Driskell asked Brown-McClure if she felt pressured to reinstate the Foret-Tatman: Forward campaign prior to the election.
“Clearly some of J-Branch, some of the students, some of the senators feel that there was a lot of outside pressure in some of the decisions made by J -Branch,” Driskell said. “Do you feel like that translated into your office too and into general council?”
Following its disqualification, State Sens. Alan Seabaugh, R-Shreveport, and Gregory Miller R-Norco, and State Rep. Dixon McMakin, R-Baton Rouge, had advocated for the Foret-Tatman: Forward ticket.
Without naming any specific figures, Brown-McClure said she hadn’t been contacted by “any of those folks” and denied any pressure from outside sources. The decision was made in consultation with LSU’s Office of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, she said.
The decision, she said, was fair and followed the rules set in place by the system.
Additionally, Brown-McClure disagreed with last month’s unanimously-passed Senate resolution condemning her decision to reinstate Forward: Foret-Tatman and urging her to overturn it. The Senate was still, of course, entitled to the feelings expressed by the resolution, she said.
“At the end of the day I would like for whoever y’all as students have voted for to assume the position,” Brown-McClure said.
Towards the end of the meeting Driskell proposed a resolution to condemn Sens. Seabaugh and Miller and Rep. McMakin for their involvement in the SG election. This will be debated and voted at next week’s meeting.
The next student senate meeting will be April 16 at 6:30 p.m. It will be the branch’s last meeting of the semester.
Arts
James Williams III
Staff Writer
PHOTO COURTESY OF FORETTATMAN2025 ON INSTAGRAM
MORGAN VANNOSDALL / The Reveille
The Student Government Senate meets April 9 in the Red River Room of the Student Union in Baton Rouge, La.
PAYTON PRICHARD / The Reveille
LSU agricultural business junior Alex Foret campaigns on March
19 in Free Speech Alley on Tower Drive in Baton Rouge, La.
ENTERTAINMENT
Local artist brings attention to Louisiana’s criminal justice system
BY LAURA ALLEN Staff Writer
“Exonerated” by Becky Gottsegen brings attention to the horrors of the criminal justice system while recognizing the men who have faced wrongful convictions.
Independent artist Becky Gottsegen’s exhibition “Exonerated: Portraits of the Wrongfully Convicted” is a collection of 23 busts of men who were falsely imprisoned in the Louisiana prison system for crimes they did not commit. The exhibition is currently being displayed at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center in Baton Rouge.
The purpose of the exhibition is to draw attention to the devastating shortcomings of the criminal justice system in Louisiana that allow for the wrongful convictions of innocent people, Gottsegen said.
“There was particularly a period of time where if you were young and Black and maybe had done some minor infraction— here are these guys who got in a little trouble for something minor, and then they got serious crimes pinned on their backs,” Gottsegen said.
The exhibition also serves as a way to bring more attention to the stories of the individual men, putting faces and bringing humanity to the disheartening statistics, Gottsegen said.
Gottsegen’s exibition “Exonerated” lines the wall of the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center on April 8 in Baton Rouge, La.
“The thing that is so upsetting to me is when I started working with them, working on these busts, they felt like it was so wonderful for these men to be honored because you spend all these years in prison, you’re exonerated, it’s an article in the newspaper and then it goes away,” Gottsegen said. “It might be on TV that night and then it’s over and it goes away.”
Because of their wrongful imprisonment, the exonerees have been forced to readapt to life post-incarceration after decades in the prison system, rec-
onciling their new lives with the lives they could have led, Gottsegen explained. One of the exonerees, Jarvis Ballard, was an athlete and had dreams of making it to the NFL.
“He played football at Angola, he was an athlete there,” Gottsegen said. “And when he got the bust, he said, ‘I wonder if I hadn’t been sent to prison for 30 years, if I would have been able to play in the NFL and have a portrait done for me for that reason.’”
Gottsegen began her series of clay sculptures in Novem -
ber 2022 when she was commissioned by her friend Frank Neuner, a board member for the Innocence Project New Orleans, to sculpt the bust of Jerome Morgan, one of the men exonerated by the Innocence Project. From there, she created even more sculptures that she then gifted to the men themselves.
“I had always done them to give to the men,” Gottsegen said, “My son kept saying, ‘Mom, you need to have an exhibit of these. You need to draw attention to the horrors of the criminal system in Louisiana.’”
Gottsegen collaborated with her friend to create molds of the original clay sculptures, which she then cast in hydrostone and painted with brown acrylic paint and finished with a gold glaze to give the appearance of bronze. The whole process of creating the replicas from start to finish took about six weeks.
“So those are the ones that are in the exhibit at the arts council,” Gottsegen said. “They’re copies. The originals are with the men. And the nice thing is if they ever break them or anything happens, that I could produce another one.”
“Exonerated” was first exhibited at The Building’s art gallery in New Orleans in May, and is now being exhibited for the second time in Baton Rouge, garnering even more attention than before. However, Gottsegen’s goal with this collection was never to earn acclaim for herself.
“I didn’t do this because I wanted recognition as an artist,” Gottsegen said. “I did this because I wanted recognition for the Innocence Project New Orleans and the men.”
“Exonerated: Portraits of the Wrongfully Convicted” is open for public viewing at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center at 233 St. Ferdinand Street, Baton Rouge. The exhibit is free of charge and open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day until May 14.
College content creation: The rise of student influencers
BY LANA LAWSON Staff Writer
College is full of new experiences and challenges, so some students are forced to find ways of balancing the pressure of academic success, while also keeping up with a social presence.
LSU freshman Danica Flores, 18, is a business marketing major from Pennsylvania who has adapted to her new life at LSU by turning to social media. Flores has completely transformed her social life at college from day to day and on social media. As an influencer with over 6,000 followers and more than three million likes on TikTok, Flores is navigating the world of creating viral content, while managing her academics.
“Growing up, I would watch influencers, and I always knew I wanted to be one,” she said. “With my major, you have to get out there and network and learn how to promote stuff, so I wanted to tie in marketing with my social media, because I’m very friendly and outgoing.”
For Flores, social media is more than just a hobby. It has become a side hustle that allows her to express her creative side, while making new connections and some extra money.
“A lot of people think it’s easy because you’re just posting videos, but it’s more than that,” Flores be-
gan. “It’s a little hard, especially balancing school and influencing, because you have to think of what people would want to watch. You have two seconds to catch someone’s attention, or they’ll scroll.”
Despite her current love for content creation, Flores doesn’t want to be known on campus as a TikToker. Her main goal is to be perceived as a role model. Flores is a self proclaimed businesswoman, who has a dream to start her own real estate firm after college.
Another student navigating the balance between content and classes at LSU is freshman Juliette Amara, a communication disorders major from California whose dream is to become a speech pathologist.
Amara began posting on social media for fun after seeing some of her friends posting. Amara has a heavy school workload and said she is always in Himes Hall or the math lab, so she finds that time management is crucial. Her biggest priority is to post frequently, but sometimes it’s just not realistic for her busy schedule.
She aims to post on TikTok every two days, and content is always on her mind. To reach her social media goals, some planning must go into the content creation; however, many of the videos create themselves with Amara and her friends recording be-
fore they go out or when she gets a new product in the mail.
“I used to have a set schedule before I came to college, but since I got here, I’ve been more focused on school than anything,” Amara said. “ I really try to plan it out. Other than that, it’s usually just spontaneous.”
Amara’s social media journey has grown throughout her freshman year at LSU with over 4,000 followers on TikTok and 400 thousand likes. She said TikTok has allowed her to feel more connected with people on campus.
“I meet a lot of nice people and also people from LSU that find my TikTok, and they reach out to me and hang out in person, so I would say I like the interaction,” she said.
Even though she receives lots of positivity, one downside that comes along with being on social media are the hate comments. Amara deals with them by simply blocking the negativity and focusing on the positive.
“Whenever I see something I don’t like, I just scroll,” she explained. “So it’s interesting to me that people just go out of their way to comment crazy stuff, but it doesn’t affect me. It’s just weird,” Amara said.
Flores also mentioned that while sometimes the hate can be bother-
some, they still help in a positive way by boosting her videos.
“I receive hate comments all the time, and it’s easier said than done, but I just ignore them, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones that are commenting and watching my TikToks, which is the reason why I blow up and get paid for what I do,” Flores said.
Both Amara and Flores are uncovering their own niche on TikTok, hoping to achieve various career paths beyond the platform. Amara’s advice for students who also want to
give content creation a try, is to just start and to not be afraid of hitting that block button.
“Don’t give up, because you have to have faith in what you want to do, or else it’s not going to work and your end result is not going to be what you want it to be,” Flores said.
Amara and Flores are just two of many students on campus who represent a new generation of student influencers, using their platforms to spark creativity and create a stepping stone towards future careers.
STACEY PEARSON/ The Reveille
AP PHOTO / Stephanie Scarbrough
Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris hold up their phones as she delivers a concession speech Nov. 6.
Photos by Payton Prichard Spread by Emily Boudreaux
Baton Rouge Zydeco lost to the Watertown Wolves 7-3 on April 5 at the Raising Canes River Center on River Road in Baton Rouge, La.
The referee drops the puck for a face-off.
Baton Rouge Zydeco forward Jake Cox (34) battles for the puck.
Baton Rouge Zydeco goaltender Sammy Bernard (35) watches the puck.
Baton Rouge Zydeco defenseman Cole Ouellette (23) attempts to score.
Baton Rouge Zydeco defenseman Nick Ketola (7) skates with the puck.
Malynn Cooper Communication Studies Weston, Louisiana
Eddy Danneker Biochemistry Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Brian Gage Marketing Maurice, Louisiana Henry Hanks Anthropology and Sociology Zachary, Louisiana
Luke Arabie History Cameron Parish, Louisiana
Louisiana
Jayden Bates Microbiology Stonewall, Louisiana Madison Cain Chemistry Geismar, Louisiana
Keana Howard
Paradise Kellem Political Science Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Christopher Mengis Sociology Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jaylon Milton Psychology Shreveport, Louisiana
Emma Monroe Political Science Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jada Mukes Political Science Chicago, Illinois
TyJanae Quite Political Science Prairieville, Louisiana
Jordyn I. Wilson
Communication New Orleans, Louisiana
Landon Zeringue Political Communication Thibodaux, Louisiana
SPORTS
FOOTBALL FOR ALL
Here’s how two seniors are bringing women’s flag football to LSU
BY GABBY GRAY Staff Writer
Women’s flag football is taking the country by storm – so where can you find this sport on LSU’s campus?
Well, as of last semester, LSU seniors Alex Hicks and Rachel Odom teamed up to host a flag football game in association with Refuge, a college ministry on campus affiliated with The Chapel.
Hicks – a member of the ministry’s leadership team –described last semester’s game as a trial run, where at least 25 women competed against each other, with male students act-
ing as coaches.
Since then, the trial run has moved forward, and a Powderpuff Tournament for the sport will be held this semester. The number of girls interested in its production has practically doubled.
“When we sent out the form this time, there were like 60 girls interested,” Hicks said.
“Obviously, some had to drop based on availability, but I remember just being like, ‘this is so sick’ and getting so excited.”
A game of intramural flag football was hosted on the fields of LSU’s $62 million University Recreation Center last semester, and Hicks and Odom
Nick Saban named to
BY ROSS ABBOUD Staff Writer
The Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame class of 2025 added legendary college football coach Nick Saban to its list of inductees Wednesday.
Saban was elected to the LSHOF’s class of 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed that year’s ceremonies. The pandemic also changed the NCAA football recruiting calendar, preventing Saban from being inducted at the annual June ceremonies.
Saban joins Andrew Whitworth, Herb Vincent, Glenn Guilbeau, Ed Daniels, April Burkholder, Dale Weiner and George “Bobby” Soileau in the class of 2025.
Saban and the Tigers won a national championship in 2003
before he departed for the NFL to coach the Miami Dolphins.
Saban won the SEC championship in 2001 and 2003 and compiled a 48-16 record in Baton Rouge.
He was named the National Coach of the Year in 2003 and 2008 and went on to win the SEC Coach of the Year award in 2003, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2020.
In his 28-season career as a head coach, Saban won seven national titles, the most in college football history.
He became the first coach in college football history to win a national championship with two different FBS schools since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936.
Saban posted a 292-71-1 record as head coach before retiring after the 2023 season. He now serves as an analyst for ESPN’s College GameDay.
found themselves on the sidelines, cheering on members of their church who were participating. While watching them play, an idea hit Hicks right in the face.
“Wait, wouldn’t it be so cool if we had a thing like that for girls?” Hicks said.
“That’s a great idea,” Odom said.
“We thought we could have the guys be coaches and cheerleaders,” Hicks said. “We could have a ref, and we could have it on a Saturday night. We could actually do this thing.”
From there, the trial run was born, and now they’re working with other Refuge members
to transform it into something more significant for its congregation, something to bring women together.
“When we came up with Powderpuff, we knew it was not only going to establish Christian principles, but it’s also going to be such an amazing outreach opportunity,” Hicks said.
Hicks is a kinesiology and sports administration major, which makes putting this event together even more special to both her and Odom.
“Seeing how seriously society is beginning to take women in sports such as flag football has been super encouraging,”
Hicks said.
One of the most significant factors that Hicks emphasized is how this event has brought students together in both fellowship and sports.
“This is now a tradition,” Hicks said. “And it’s going to be a place where people already feel welcome and warm, but now it’s going to be something that fosters camaraderie and unity in athleticism and in sports.”
Refuge’s Powderpuff Tournament will be held on LSU’s Parade Grounds this Saturday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., with students invited to attend to watch.
the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
KARLI SMITH / The Reveille
Alabama head coach Nick Saban communicates with his players and staff on Nov. 5, 2022, during LSU’s 32-31 victory over Alabama in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX HICKS
The lost organ of Alex Box
Why LSU baseball has been organ-less for 30 years
BY GORDON CRAWFORD Columnist
Look for Kenny Kleinpeter’s musical works on the streaming app of your choice, and you’ll be greeted with a lovely lineup of albums, such as “Spirits of Highland” and “Louisiana Odyssey,” whose names and cover art evoke distinctly Louisianian scenes of quiet tranquility. The music fits the theme, with most tracks being just peaceful piano, sometimes accompanied by lush strings.
Kleinpeter’s works are meant to relax, to transport the listener to a calm riverboat ride or the tranquil grounds of a castle. Few would expect he also soundtracked the meteoric rise of a sports dynasty, and that his hands produced music which shook stadiums.
Kleinpeter had never even seen a baseball game when he read that LSU was looking for organists in the paper. However, the opportunity stirred something in him. When he showed up, he only had to contend with two other players, and soon became the official organist for Tiger baseball.
His hiring in 1989 coincided with a baseball renaissance at LSU, with legendary coach Skip Bertman bringing the Tigers to only their third College World series in program history. And for the next five years, Kenny’s keys sounded throughout Alex Box as they went on to notch two national championships.
It took him a bit to get the hang of the job.
“It takes a special person to be a baseball organist because you don’t have any time to look at your music. You can’t even really think about what you’re playing. It’s so spontaneous that you might only have time for a few bars,” Kleinpeter said.
It was a difficult job at times.
“The toughest was February, with how cold it was. My hands would freeze up, and I would have to try and play with gloves on.” Sometimes the crowd would freeze up too.
“There were a lot of games, when we were doing pretty badly, and there wasn’t anything I could play to rile up the crowd,” Kleinpeter said.
He came to appreciate the paradoxical nature of his power as an organist.
“I loved when they won a series, or when they went to regionals. The crowd would always clap and engage. If the team was doing well, I did well, and if they were doing badly I did badly.”
However, one day, he was simply cut. The official reason was never exactly clear. Kleinpeter himself still doesn’t fully know to this day, although it didn’t help he had attracted the ire of athletics department officials when he played “Three Blind Mice” during a coaches’ committee meeting.
“I went to Skip Bertman, and he said there wasn’t really anything he could do. That was it. I hadn’t missed a game in five years.”
Kleinpeter didn’t do much baseball work after that. He was later hired by Southeastern University to do its organ parts.
“They eventually had to stop using my tape because they said it sounded too much like LSU,” Kleinpeter recounted.
Visit Alex Box Stadium today, and you’ll hear a small group of pre-recorded canned organ tunes, a small reminder of the real man that once held its job. The tunes are simple, and if the crowd is feeling good they might clap along.
For many fans, Kleinpeter and his organ are footnotes in the history of a monumental program. But for many others, the music he played is the backing to core memories.
“Sometimes I would let a few well-behaved kids come up and play on the organ a bit. They really liked it. I always hoped a few would pursue music down
the road.”
Occasionally, if you browse SEC and LSU fan forums, you’ll find a thread or two still pushing for the return of the live organ. It may not be the cause celebre of many, but the resurgence of the art of the baseball organ means it’s seriously worth considering.
“It adds a lot to the spontaneity of the event, it separates moments from the run-of-the-mill processes. The canned organ tends to cut out at random, it doesn’t really sound spontaneous. It sounds cheap,” Kleinpeter said.
Reviving the live organ would set the program apart from college contemporaries and give Alex Box Stadium a totally unique environment within the SEC. It would add a dynamic quality to games, as the flexibility of a human player can allow for music to adapt quickly to big moments and provide added intensity during great games.
Furthermore, a live organist could significantly boost the LSU brand. St. Louis Cardinals organist Jeremy Boyer has received millions of views across social media for his playing, and a live organist could too provide LSU baseball with a number of viral moments.
The organ is indelibly tied to baseball. It should be celebrated more, especially by a program with the history and prestige of the LSU Tigers.
Kenny Kleinpeter sits at his organ in 1989 at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA.
OPINION
Lockett Hall is miserable, and it needs a major makeover
GARRETT’S GAVEL
GARRETT MCENTEE Columnist
LSU’s campus has a myriad of flaws and interesting (read horrible) design choices. But LSU isn’t made of money, and in its defense, it’s a historic place full of rich history and memories.
In fact, LSU’s halls are bordering on ancient relics, remnants from a time far gone. Most, in my experience, feel old, perhaps a little dusty, but one is far more sinister: Lockett Hall.
Built in 1968, Lockett Hall stood as a brand new mathematics hall and administrative building. Perhaps at the time, it was pretty.
Nowadays, however, this hall is in dire need of a redo. Almost everyone can agree that Lockett Hall is miserable.
It’s a hot, stuffy, labyrinthian math hall. The struggles of Lockett are endless.
The basement floor isn’t level and continues to go downhill, seemingly perfect for audito -
rium-style rooms. However, for some reason, the floors are uniquely suited to poisoning my poor peers and professors with
profound vertigo.
The upper levels manage to be cramped and tiny yet, imposing. They defy reality and boggle the sane mind.
Several times, classmates and I have gotten lost on our mission of attending class on time in Lockett.
The argument could be made that I am dumb, which—yeah, maybe; however, when almost every student I ask confirms and relates my experience, surely that theme holds some ground.
Moving on past the insidious and hideous architecture, I have come to the realization that Lockett may have been built over a portal to Hell. Spooky.
I’ve known this deep in my soul ever since I laid eyes on Lockett. I can hear the whispers of the damned in my ears saying, “Don’t take Geography.”
Even for those not as spiritually inclined as myself, the common signs of infernal possession are clearly etched into the walls of Lockett.
Just recently, I saw a deadly swarm (one bug) sent by the
great fiend himself to bring ruination to my lecture on Paradise Lost by John Milton. Very fitting as, at the time, we were analyzing the introduction speech made by Satan himself.
Another startling and morbid image is the seemingly endless throngs of dazed and confused students leaving classrooms of misery and suffering at all hours of the day. The faint cries of agony and sobbing can be heard everywhere from the deserted hall.
Lockett is one of the few locations on campus and in the world that bridges the gap between Hell and Earth. I don’t know if we need to call in the Pope or a bulldozer, but something must be done.
Only after sealing off this fiendish portal can we begin to turn our eyes to the building Satan has made his castle on Earth: The Himes Hall Testing Center.
Garrett McEntee is a 19-yearold English sophomore from Benton, La.
The Second Amendment protects marginalized communities
ANDREW’S ANGLE
ANDREW SARHAN Columnist
The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution grants citizens the right to access firearms, which is necessary for people to keep true freedom in this country.
Despite the fact that my political beliefs are left leaning, the Second Amendment is truly important in the fight against the rise of fascism.
Those who are subjugated to oppression, whether it be by the government or the current cultural shift, should have the right to arm themselves if they see fit. A wellarmed populace is an authoritarian regime’s worst nightmare, and we, the people, will revolt against tyranny with these firearms.
Guns aren’t just weapons of warfare; some smaller handguns exist to protect our families or our communities, while other larger weapons may be used in recreational sports or hunting.
However, no matter how useful this tool may be, measures should be put in place to prevent
EDITORIAL BOARD
Colin Falcon Editor in Chief
Managing Editor John Buzbee
guns from ending up in the wrong hands.
For one, there is no reason why someone should be able to buy a gun from Walmart. Guns should be regulated similarly to alcohol or weed in some states; they can only be sold in speciality stores, and the age limit should be raised to 21.
Unless the United States wants to lower the age of vices, enforcing an age minimum of 21 federally is a good compromise; we can’t trust 18 year olds with access to recreational drugs such as alcohol or weed. Why should we trust them with firearms?
Similarly to how in Louisiana, an 18-year-old can be a bartender, an 18-year-old who has enlisted in the U.S. armed forces should still have access to their weapon. I believe they should be the exception and not the rule. This is because the enlistee is trained to operate the tool for its intended use.
Furthermore, if we are to have a right to bear arms, we should also have a right to equal access to education about firearms. How can we know how to use them if we aren’t taught? I would feel a lot more comfortable with firearms if
I also knew that my armed neighbor was taught the best way to use the tool.
I think that if you are armed in this country, you should be required to take a course similar to driver’s education — but for guns.
This would entail showing videos of what can happen if a weapon isn’t kept up properly and instructions on how to clean and maintain the weapon. Ultimately, this certification would allow for more accountability if something goes awry.
An educated populace helps ensure the safety of everyone involved. In fact, I believe the school system should integrate a gun safety course during civics classes in high school. If we teach the population basic gun safety measures, the risk of accidents related to firearms can decrease.
The leading cause of death in children and teens in the U.S. are gun-related injuries. If we inform younger generations about guns, we can hopefully see this number decline.
Nevertheless, I’m glad that we have the Second Amendment. I genuinely think that an armed populace is the best way to pre -
vent authoritarianism from taking over in this country.
However, I’m not blind to the problems gun ownership has. If we are to have the Second Amendment, we should limit where they can be sold along with an increased amount of education and licensing required before one can arm themselves.
Since guns are for personal protection, gun control laws existing would be for communal protection.
Andrew Sarhan is a freshman mass communication major from Baton Rouge, La.
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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.
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A police officer shoots a pistol during a police training exercise at the Eagle Creek Firearms Training Facility in Findlay, Ohio.
MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille Desks sit empty on Feb. 9, in Lockett Hall on Field House Drive in Baton Rouge, La.