The Reveille 4-11-24

OUTNUMBERED

Six students tell the Reveille what it’s like to be a woman in engineering.

BY MADDIE SCOTT @madscottyy

IMBALANCED

since it was the end of his office hours, and he didn’t want anybody else to come in.

tion and “to discuss appropriate behaviors with students and to set expectations going forward.”

There’s opportunities for LSU women in engineering, but also mistreatment Editor’s note: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault.

The LSU College of Engineering’s student body was 76% male and 24% female in the fall of 2023, according to the university’s website.

Organizations have increasingly spread awareness and advocacy in recent decades for more women to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The Reveille interviewed six women who have or are currently enrolled in LSU’s College of Engineering.

While six women aren’t reflective of every woman’s experience in engineering, their stories speak volumes on both victories and issues within the field. Among the six women, we found that:

• Two of the six women reported experiencing potential gender-based discrimination in the field. Two women said they weren’t sure, and another two said they had not.

• Of the two women who reported experiencing potential gender-based discrimination, one changed her major as a result, and the other changed her workplace.

• Two of the six women in this story opted for anonymity, one for safety, and the other for job security.

• Five of the six women are undergraduate students. One of the six is a doctoral candidate.

• Three of the six women are women of color. Here are their stories.

Minnie

Choosing anonymity for safety reasons, this student chose to be referred to as “Minnie” for this article.

Minnie visited her engineering professor’s office hours in the fall semester of 2022 because of her slipping grades. She walked through his office door in Patrick F. Taylor Hall on Oct. 11, 2022. The professor asked if he could close the door

“I didn’t know how to respond to it, so I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, I guess,’” Minnie said.

Expecting to sit across from him on the opposite side of his desk, Minnie noticed there was already a chair right next to him, on the same side of the desk. She sat down, not wanting to protest.

The professor noticed a symbol on the thigh of her sweatpants, and he traced his finger along the symbol, she said. Minnie said she was confused and uncomfortable with the interaction. She decided to dismiss the interaction and went back to his office a week later to discuss her exam grade, sitting in the same chair beside him.

“He was telling me that if I didn’t start doing better in his class, he was going to have to, like, spank me or something along those lines,” she said.

Minnie said after their meeting, he opened the door for her and spanked her bottom as she walked out. No students were in the hallway, she said, so nobody saw.

Already in a rush to go to work, Minnie said she didn’t fully process what happened until she arrived at her workplace. With encouragement from some friends, Minnie worked up the courage to submit an anonymous incident report to the LSU Title IX Office a couple of months later.

After several meetings with a case manager, she was told that the Title IX coordinator “can’t make a 100 percent decision on whether to investigate or dismiss without first reviewing the formal complaint,” according to an email that Minnie provided to the Reveille.

If Minnie decided to make a formal complaint, the professor would be notified, which was ultimately the reason why she only submitted an anonymous complaint. In another email, the case manager told Minnie that this professor had met with Title IX and the department chair the semester before to address concerns brought to their atten-

The case manager continued to say in the email that Minnie should reach out to the office if anything else happens so that the office can reevaluate the situation.

Feeling like the Title IX department couldn’t help her and that she couldn’t go to her own professor about falling grades, she eventually switched her major. Multiple factors went into her degree change, but her professor was a leading cause, she said.

The communications director of LSU College of Engineering, Joshua Duplechain, said that all faculty and staff must take annual training regarding power-based violence.

“Secondly, as employees of LSU, if a student reports such an incident to us, we are mandatory reporters to the Title IX office,” Duplechain said. “Those reports are then shared with the Office of Human Resource Management.”

Duplechain said the college also has one faculty member, called a confidential supporter, who has received additional training to support students and employees who experience sexual or power-based violence.

Dana

Requesting anonymity for job security, this graduate student chose to be referred to as “Dana” in this article.

Dana began working an assistantship with a professor during the spring of 2022. She felt misled when he allowed her to sign a contract agreeing to receive pay under the minimum requirement for an engineering doctoral candidates. She signed the semesterly contract to work 20 hours per week for $6,000.

Looking back, Dana remembers the professor said he was paying her the appropriate minimum for doctoral candidates, which made her feel like she was lied to. However, pay isn’t the only issue Dana ran into.

The professor scheduled weekly meetings with all of his other graduate student researchers, except for her, Dana

said. The professor wasn’t her lead advisor, but she was working on research projects for him, meaning she should’ve had weekly meetings as well, she said.

The professor told Dana that she had communication issues, but she felt it was the other way around. When the professor needed to speak to Dana, he’d send her an email, summoning her to his office, she said, instead of scheduling a meeting ahead. She was expected to drop what she was doing and go see him, she said.

Other students told her that the professor would talk badly about her to other students during one-on-one meetings.

“If you need to know about my progress, ask me,” she said with frustration in her voice. “Nobody can talk about my work like me because I did the work.”

At a poster fair where students presented research, she said the professor treated only her unfairly by questioning her project more than the other projects. Since she was treated differently than the male graduate students, Dana believes the professor treated her this way because she is a woman.

“I didn’t expect at all to be treated this way here,” Dana said.

Every morning, she had to convince herself to get up and go to work, she said. The professor would threaten her job by saying he could replace her position with six undergraduate student researchers.

The professor, the department chair and the graduate adviser are all friends, Dana said, so she felt there was nowhere to go. After a year of work, Dana did not renew another semester contract and is now satisfied with her new job in another lab.

“For me, it was an easy out,” Dana said. “He was not happy. I wasn’t happy.”

Eva Counts

Formerly an environmental engineering major, bioengineering senior Eva Counts said it can be disheartening to see only

see ENGINEERING, page 4

‘PARTY WITH A PURPOSE’

Dance Marathon at LSU raises $71,000 for hospitalized children

BY COURTNEY BELL @courtebell09

The student organization Dance Marathon at LSU held an eight-hour dance marathon in Tiger Stadium’s South Stadium Club on Saturday, April 6 to raise money for pediatric patients at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.

The dance marathon is known as the organization’s “Big Event.” In addition to the dancing, the event had stations with games, food and merchandise. There was one booth with posters detailing the stories of some of the kids the organization has helped through their fundraising.

One of these patients was 15-year-old Kelli Guillory, who has been attending the Big Event for eight years. Soon after she was born, Guillory was diagnosed with VLCAD, a condition that prevents the body from converting fats to energy, her poster read. Guillory has been in the hospital 78 times throughout her life.

Guillory said she enjoys the dance marathon because it gives her a break from her time in the hospital. She also says that the students involved with the event give her support throughout the year.

“They come and see me when I’m in the hospital, so I have fun with them,” Guillory said. “Even

STUDENT GOVERNMENT

not here, they do other events, and I can get a break from all of my health issues, especially if I am in the hospital. They come see me, so it’s really fun.”

Guillory’s mother, Jennifer, also spoke to the influence of the organization’s volunteers on her daughter. In addition to visiting her in the hospital, the students also reach out to the family to check in.

“Just that alone means so much to these families,” Jennifer Guillory said. “If they’re struggling in school, or they’re struggling personally, they are going to reach out to the parent and show up for these kids outside of the Big Event, outside of Dance Marathon. They show up when needed, and it’s incredible.”

In recent years, Dance Mara-

thon at LSU’s funds were used to create a room with games for the teenage patients at OLOL. Kelli Guillory has enjoyed these games purchased through the fundraising efforts, including Mario Kart. Other funds Dance Marathon at LSU raises at the event go to medical needs at the hospital, such as

POLITICS

Free speech org warns LSU

BY CLAIRE SULLIVAN @sulliclaire

A national free speech organization has raised concerns over Gov. Jeff Landry asking LSU to require student athletes be present during the national anthem — and over the university’s willingness to comply with his demand.

“Since 1943, when the Supreme Court held that forcing public school students to pledge allegiance to our nation’s flag was unconstitutional,” wrote Alex Morey, campus rights advocacy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, “it has been emphatically clear that Americans are free to choose how, or whether, they demonstrate patriotism.”

The letter from FIRE was sent Friday to LSU Board of Supervisors chair Jimmie Woods Sr.

The tussle began after some pointed out that the LSU women’s basketball team wasn’t on the court during the national anthem before the Elite Eight

Energize wins in LSU Student Government presidential election

BY GRACELYN FARRAR @gracelynfarrar

LSU Student Government election results were announced Monday evening in the Huey P. Long ballroom, with Energize’s Joseph Liberto and Amelia Carman triumphing over Empower’s John Michael Sweat and Sydney Smith.

The results came after a nearly two-week delay stemming from confusion over the election code.

Vice President-elect Carman said, “It’s such a high, but we’re ready to get to work and start following up on our—”

“—initiatives,” Presidentelect Liberto finished. “This is a great feeling.”

Liberto and Carman received 2,582 votes, while competition Sweat and Smith received 1,944.

“We have an amazing team that got us to this point,” Carman said.

For the Energize ticket, 10 candidates were elected to full seats and one to a half seat in the LSU Student Senate, and 13

won election to college councils.

“We’d still be at step one if it weren’t for our team,” Liberto said.

Sweat expressed that despite being disappointed in the election results, he was glad that so many of the Empower candidates were voted into SG.

“I’m glad that at least a lot of our vision got through,” he said.

The Empower ticket saw 25 candidates elected to full seats and eight to half seats in the Senate, with 22 set to enter college councils.

“I’m really happy for all of our candidates, for sure,” Smith said. “That’s what I really wanted.”

As for the future, Sweat intends to continue working “in any other capacity to do what I said I would do.”

“I’m thankful to everyone who has helped us,” Smith said.

Elected candidates will be sworn into office on April 17 at 2 p.m. in the Holliday Forum, located in the Journalism Building.

TARUN KAKARALA / The Reveille

Participants learn a dance April 6 at the LSU Dance Marathon in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, La. see DANCE, page 4 see LANDRY, page 4

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

The Energize campaign consisting of Joseph Liberto and Amelia Carman celebrates its election win April 8 inside the Huey P. Long Field House on LSU’s campus in Baton Rouge, La.

DANCE, from page 3

light therapy sensory carts for the patients.

For the Big Event, students with Dance Marathon at LSU choreographed a nine minute dance routine to a mashup of famous songs and popular sounds on TikTok. The student leaders taught the kids and other attendees the dance, repeating the choreography every hour throughout the marathon as more attendees learned the moves.

Dance Marathon at LSU Vice President of Marketing Skye Reynolds, a digital advertising senior, said her involvement with the organization and seeing the impact it has on the child patients, has greatly changed her life for the better. Reynolds also said that event attendees didn’t need to be skilled dancers to make a difference.

“It’s a party with a purpose,” Reynolds said. “It’s so cliché but it’s one of our favorite phrases to say, ‘Bad dancing saves lives.’ You don’t have to know how to dance to come.”

The Big Event had three

LANDRY, from page 3

matchup against Iowa. Two days after the game, Landry appeared on Fox News to criticize the team over their absence.

“The national anthem is as much a part of American sports as is the actual game being played,” Landry said. “The fact that there is not a policy that says, ‘listen, these players are gonna be out there and respect the flag and respect those that go out there and protect us’ is really disappointing,” the governor continued.

The governor sent a letter to the LSU board chair Woods to ask the university to establish

ENGINEERING, from page 2

only five women out of the more than 50 students in an engineering class. Sometimes she feels anxious about making mistakes in group settings in class, worried that her mistakes will be blamed on her gender.

“Sometimes I can get a little self-conscious, but you just got to work through that,” Counts said.

Counts said she sometimes feels like her voice is drowned out due to the cliché of how engineering students often think highly of themselves. They hold themselves in higher regard, she said, so the cause of their selfconsciousness may be something other than gender.

Counts believes her race is another important factor in her experience as an engineering student. She can only speak on her own experiences, she said.

“I’m a woman in STEM, but I’m also a white woman in STEM,” Counts said. “So I have a lot of privileges that definitely women of color don’t get to have.”

Eryn Kennedy Chemical engineering senior Eryn Kennedy remembers excelling in math and science since she was in grade school. Her

themes: superheroes versus supervillains, Disney and DM-chella, a play on the music festival Coachella. Attendees brought costumes for each of the themes.

Heaven Swanier, a performance theatre sophomore and the Dance Marathon at LSU morale captain, introduced the three theme hours at the event. Swanier also facilitated the games the children played and was one of the dance instructors. Working to improve the lives of the pediatric patients is impactful, Swanier said.

“It just makes me happy to see them be happy, and to know that we are helping them be happy,” Swanier said.

Dance Marathon at LSU Creative Director Kyla Averhart worked behind the scenes at the event to keep the organization’s social media updated. Averhart, a public relations junior, joined the organization as an outlet for her creativity. She says she has been able to express herself creatively, especially through posting on social media.

“We’re the image and the brand

such a policy.

It is normal for the LSU women’s basketball team — and other teams at the university and beyond — not to appear on the court during the anthem. The Army football team was not on the field of Tiger Stadium during the anthem when playing there this fall, for instance.

LSU head football coach Brian Kelly said he could count on one hand how many times he’s been on the field during the national anthem in 33 years of coaching, but “if our administration wants us out there for the national anthem, we’re going to stand proud for the national anthem.”

high school experience at LSU’s University Laboratory School continued the streak, where she had the opportunity to attend an engineering conference in London.

Having two older brothers in engineering careers, Kennedy believed it was a secure degree to pursue.

“I knew about all the great opportunities that LSU had to offer and how good the chemical engineering program was,” Kennedy said. “So it made it seem like a really great next step from high school.”

During her time at LSU, Kennedy studied abroad in Sweden and worked an engineering internship in San Francisco for a semester each. Now back in Baton Rouge, Kennedy spends most of her days in PFT labs performing research or completing class projects.

Upon reflection, Kennedy said she hasn’t had any of her core engineering classes taught by a female engineering professor.

“I do think as a female engineering student, it could be awesome to see more female professors at LSU,” Kennedy said.

A’ine Lusker

itself,” Averhart said. “I honestly feel like keeping people updated and posting about all the amazing things we do really does show them that we really do care and we’re dedicated about the cause.”

Averhart said seeing her work with Dance Marathon at LSU benefiting the pediatric patients has made a big impact on her.

“I hate that they have to go through the things they have to go through, but to be able to be outside of a hospital and celebrate and see that people love them outside of the nurses and the doctors that take care of them … They can just be kids without a sickness. That’s why I love it so much.”

Though the big event is Dance Marathon at LSU’s main fundraising push, the organization raises money for pediatric patients throughout the year. Most recently the organization held Battle of the Bars in Tigerland, which raised almost $21,000. The organization also hosts “Beat Bama Week,” in the fall when the LSU football team plays Alabama.

Johnathan Brouk, the presi-

Athletic Director Scott Woodward said LSU is “dedicated to the flag, the anthem and the country.” He also said, “We consistently look at all our processes and will do so again.”

FIRE urged the university not to change that process.

“There is nothing less patriotic than government actors forcing their personal views on fellow citizens. And doing so is definitively unconstitutional in the United States of America,” Morey wrote. “We thus ask LSU, and all of Louisiana’s public universities, to decline the present request to violate their student-athletes’ First Amendment rights.”

Engineering consumed the life of criminology senior A’ine Lusker before she got to college. At her all-girls high school in 2020, she was co-captain of her robotics team, and she took physics classes at an all-boys high school since they weren’t offered at her school. With her hefty experience, she was offered a part-time job in an LSU engineering lab as a high school senior.

Lusker met with her high school counselor and said she wanted to major in mechanical engineering at LSU. Yet, the high school counselor said Lusker’s ACT scores and GPA weren’t high enough.

“They said I should lower my standards,” Lusker said. “They said I won’t make it to LSU — I’m going to probably be a dropout.”

When Lusker returned to the counselor to show how her ACT score improved, the counselor accused Lusker of lying. Lusker said the experience planted selfdoubt in her. So when she started LSU with an engineering major in 2020, she switched it a semester later due to the same feelings of self-doubt.

To this day, her biggest regret is changing her major from en-

dent of OLOL Children’s Health, attended the dance marathon. He emphasized the impact the student organization has on the children they work with.

“Dance Marathon is such a huge part of what we do at Our Lady of the Lakes Children’s Hospital. Over the last 11 years, almost $2 million dollars have been raised, and all that money goes directly to helping kids,” Brouk said.

Planning for the big event starts over the summer, almost a full year before the dance marathon, Dance Marathon at LSU President Delaney Mobley said.

“It’s definitely a lot to plan an event this big for so many people,” Mobley said. “But it’s so rewarding. There is no better word to say besides that. It’s super rewarding. It’s a really good experience. It’s such a good environment to have so many different people here from so different backgrounds just come in here and celebrate ending pediatric illness and fighting pediatric illness.”

Mobley has been involved with Dance Marathon at LSU for seven

years, starting back when she was in high school. Mobley explains how impactful leaving the hospital to have fun is for the children patients.

“It’s such an experience for them just to get out of the hospital for a day and come and be a kid,” Mobley said. “That’s what we’re about at our core is just letting kids be kids. We are this generation fighting for the next, so that no kid has to worry about being in a dreary hospital or not having the experience that most kids have.”

In an Instagram post on Saturday night, Dance Marathon at LSU announced they had raised over $71,000 for pediatric patients in their fundraising efforts related to the Big Event.

“It’s just a time where we can celebrate these kids that we’ve been working to raise money for all year, so that they can have a time where they can just act like kids and not have to worry about all of the things they have been going through in the hospital,” Reynolds said. “They can just have eight hours to just feel like a kid.”

gineering, she said, and she still goes through her old physics notes just to feel the excitement of learning it. Lusker believes the counselor’s actions likely weren’t motivated by gender. Since she was one of the only nonwhite girls at her school, Lusker believes race could have played a factor but isn’t sure.

“STEM is my life,” Lusker said. “I don’t know what it means to me, but I know it just — it’s a part of me. Everything I do. I’m always figuring out how it works.”

Lusker’s love of engineering is so strong that she still finds ways to incorporate it into her life. Between 3D printing and watching mechanical engineering videos for fun, Lusker is also an officer of the 24-hour Lemons Club, an organization at LSU that teaches members about car mechanics.

Calliah Guillory Chemical engineering senior Calliah Guillory grew up in Ville Platte, Louisiana, and graduated as the valedictorian of her high school.

Since attending LSU, Guillory has been part of several organizations, including the National Society of Black Engineers. She said she hasn’t experienced many

issues with the college, and she’s thankful to LSU Engineering for awarding her many different opportunities, internships and research positions.

Graduating at the end of this semester, Guillory said she’s enjoyed getting to know all of her classmates. In the fall of 2023, there were 419 undergraduate students in the chemical engineering department, and 164 of those students were female, according to the department website.

“You pretty much know everyone, and that’s one of the things I like about chemical engineering is how small and intimate the classes are,” Guillory said.

Guillory was recently accepted to work full-time for Chevron, and she believes anything is possible. Being a woman in engineering is empowering, she said.

“It used to be a male dominant field, and women are on the rise,” Guillory said. “So it just feels great to see — more women are coming into position and doing great things.”

Contact the Reveille with news tips at editor@lsu.edu, our online tip form or through our social media.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille Gov. Jeff Landry speaks March 25 during Coastal Day 2024 inside the Louisiana State Capitol.

ENTERTAINMENT

Bigger cheezy: Tigerland ‘Big Cheezy’ opening new location

BY EMILY BRACHER @emily_bracher_

Most Tigerland goers know the bright yellow food truck that sits in between the House and JL’s: The Big Cheezy.

The Big Cheezy serves an array of cheese inspired sandwiches and dishes. One of their most popular treats is the Mac and Cheezy Melt, which is their four cheese bacon mac and cheese on country white bread. Now, the truck is opening a permanent restaurant on 144 W. Chimes St., the former home of Soulshine.

Blaize Romancik was the very first employee hired by the Big Cheezy when they opened their truck in front of Fred’s Bar in 2018. In 2019, Romancik bought the business from the owners and has been working since the fall of 2023 to open a permanent location. Romancik said its tentative opening date is at the end of the month.

“I always thought owning a restaurant and a food truck is similar,” Romancik said. “But so much more goes into opening this restaurant and every little thing we have to have right.”

Currently, the truck offers around 15 different sandwich options. With the new location, Romancik said they are hoping to add newer, “lighter” meals that people can stop by and grab for lunch. A turkey pesto grilled

cheese, a patty melt, tomato basil soup and multiple variations of egg rolls are in the works.

Romancik said that due to constant demand, vegan and dairy free options might be available in the future.

“I don’t want to exclude anyone from being able to come to us. I want everyone to be able to buy a Big Cheezy sandwich,” Romancik said.

because we’re really not fast food,” Romancik said. “We are a fast, casual quick service restaurant.”

Romancik’s “right hand man” Benjamin Vaughan has been working at the Big Cheezy since 2019. The two have known each other since middle school. Vaughan had been “bouncing” around from restaurants like the Chimes and George’s. With the new location being so close to his old places of occupation, Vaughan said that he is excited to see how it goes.

“The company is awesome because I feel like we have a good name for ourselves,” Vaughan said. “It’s exciting to see where it’s going to be next.”

“After COVID, everyone wanted to party and go out more,” Romancik said.

The new location will sit the Big Cheezy in a vital spot in between the Revelry and Murphy’s, two popular bars for college students. Romancik said he is “super excited” about that close proximity. For the grand opening, Romancik said that they are planning on working partnerships with these bars, which can include $1 off a sandwich and other deals.

“We love partnering with small

Romancik said that when the food truck first opened, he would be excited if they sold 30 to 40 sandwiches in a night. Now, after COVID-19 and with another location by Tiger Stadium during football season, he said that they are happy selling 100 to 300 sandwiches a night.

businesses and businesses around LSU,” Romancik said. “That’s how you grow, working with each other and aligning yourself with good business.”

LSU Greek Life has also done a substantial amount of work with the Big Cheezy and their catering services. Romancik said that even though he didn’t go to college and wasn’t a part of a fraternity, his goal is to not limit who his customers are. He said that they have catered for numerous private Greek events and helped donate their profits for philanthropy events.

“It’s nicer than having fast food

Political science sophomore Kayla Horne went to the Big Cheezy for the first time her freshman year after a night out in Tigerland. Her first ever order there was the original choice of the Mac n’ Cheezy Melt. Horne said she is excited to have a new location closer to campus that can be accessible any time of the week.

“My first experience was actually life changing,” Horne said.

Until the permanent location opens, Romancik said to look out for the truck parked outside of the building that will be temporarily selling food. Their Instagram @ bigcheezybr will continually give updates on the opening situation.

“For us, your food was made just for you, with love,” Romancik said.

Local flower festival helps fundraise for St. Jude Hospital

BY CAMILLE MILLIGAN

@camillemill333

Whimsical blossom displays and blooming flower constructions covered the grounds at Pointe-Marie Village Center District from Saturday to Sunday as part of Baton Rouge’s fourth annual Flower Fest.

This floral celebration is part of a three-day long fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a hospital that provides treatment to children with catastrophic diseases at no cost to their families.

The Flower Fest began Friday with a gala presenting the 2024 Honorees, who each held personal fundraisers to raise money for St. Jude. Attendees at the gala got to bid in a live and silent auction and preview the 12-foot floral installations that appeared at the festival over the weekend.

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the festival was open to the public and offered a variety of activities and attractions from popup markets to food vendors and crafts stations. Participants could buy handmade flower crowns, listen to live music and admire the many artistic floral creations spread out across the grounds.

Rachel Ransom, the public relations chair for the Flower Fest in 2023 and 2024, said that in just the two years that she has worked for the festival, she has seen it grow quickly.

Ransom said that the number of people reaching out to support the event has grown, and people are increasingly looking to get involved. “So you will see that there are not only way more attendees, but more vendors that want to go because they also want to support the local community,” she said, “They want to support the local kids who are struggling with cancer.”

A portion of all the proceeds generated at the festival were donated to St. Jude. For vendors, a minimum of 20% of each purchase was donated. For some booths, every dollar went to the cause.

Time Warp Vintage Boutique, a clothing store in Baton Rouge, had a pop-up shop featuring unique, vintage floral dresses and other accessories.

Jessica Rogers, the store manager at Time Warp, said the boutique reached out to become a vendor after their employees attended the festival for fun in 2023, and saw an opportunity to give back to the community.

“We love doing events where we can give back, especially when donations are involved, so that was really the drive for us to do it,” Rogers said.

The festival also featured four large floral installations created by four florists from around the country. The theme for this year’s installations was “Once Upon a Dream,” and the florists were given thousands of flowers and other resources needed to bring their visions to life. Festival attendees got to vote on their favorite installation during the weekend.

David Parker, one of the four competing florists, created the installation “Ugly Duckling,” which featured plants and flowers resembling a Japanese zen garden and a large swan sniffing a rose. Parker is a cancer survivor, and the encouragement he felt from the people involved with the festival made him alter his design.

“Twenty years ago next month, I was diagnosed with malignant cancer,” Parker said. “And coming out here and seeing the support, the community, the volunteers, I just really had a sense of calm and a sense of peace knowing all the comfort that we’re bringing to the children who are at St. Jude. So it

really helped me pivot my design to a more zen garden to reflect that peace that I was feeling.”

Parker owns Stems Boutique Florist in St. Francisville, Louisiana. He and the other florists attended the gala on Friday as well. Parker said despite the competition, he and the other florists worked together to help each other throughout the process.

“It was amazing just to feel from the crowd, the sponsors and the organizers the love and the appreciation for our floral art,” Parker said. “And the florists, we really bonded. It is a floral competition, but we came together. We call it a floral collaboration because we helped each other along the way, and that’s what florists do.”

Parker used to be a social worker before he became a florist. Even in this different career, he still tries to provide comfort to people.

“Instead of the technicalities of medicine, now I’m dealing with the joy of flowers, but it all ties into social work,” Parker said. “I’m taking care of people in different ways now.”

Last year, the Flower Fest raised over $147,000 for St. Jude, and this year they are hop -

ing to raise over $200,000. Parker thinks that pairing a charity like St. Jude with a festival all about flowers is a wise decision.

“It was very important to me to give back to the community, and there’s no better way to do it than the joy of flowers,” Parker said. “There is no worthier cause than St. Jude Children’s Hospital.”

CAMILLE MILLIGAN / The Reveille Shoppers browse at Time Warp Boutique’s pop-up at the Flower Fest in Baton Rouge, La.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

An “opening soon” sign hangs from the Big Cheezy’s new location April 3 on West Chimes Street in Baton Rouge, La.

Let’s commemorate this momentus occasion.

The Department of Physics & Astronomy hosts a solar eclipse watch party.

Can ya’ll see the eclipse?

Nope.

Students pose for a selfie with their solar eclipse glasses.

A student receives his free solar eclipse glasses.

LSU psychology senior Peter Mai (left) and graphic design sophomore Abigail Rodriguq (right) wait for the sky to clear up.

Due to cloudy conditions and rain, the Baton Rouge area missed out on the eclipse, but LSU students still came to the Parade Ground in the hopes of catching a glimpse.

Me too!

Man, I skipped class for this...

The Department of Physics & Astronomy hosts a solar eclipse watch party.

LSU students hope for the sky to clear up in anticipation of seeing the Solar Eclipse.

A student scrolls through his phone.

lol, same.

An LSU student looks up into the sky with his solar eclipse glasses.

Photos by Francis Dinh

SPORTS

RISE ABOVE HATE

Column: Women’s college basketball will rise above social media criticism

BY TYLER HARDEN @ttjharden8

When Flau’jae Johnson and Hailey Van Lith spoke their praises of Angel Reese following LSU women’s basketball’s loss to Iowa, tears welled up in her eyes.

Those tears weren’t all because of a season ending loss, or all because that turned out to be her last game at LSU. Those may have been factors, but it was a small representation of all Reese has been through.

And she’s been through a lot, largely thanks to social media.

When Reese makes a tweet, no matter how big or small, millions of people see it. Reese has 416,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and 2.8 million followers on Instagram.

But when she makes a post on any platform, people are quick to call her classless, ghetto or other racial remarks. It’s the norm that Reese is forced to live with almost daily.

“I’ve been through so much,” Reese said. “I’ve seen so much. I’ve been attacked so many times, death threats. I’ve been sexualized. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been so many things,

and I’ve stood strong every single time.”

Her tears following LSU’s Elite Eight loss were a long time coming. For anyone, looking at insults time and time again, and having to keep putting on a face and pretending like everything is okay, is almost impossible.

Reese has had to deal with attacks on social media since

LSU won the 2023 National Championship over Iowa.

A time that was supposed to be one of the happiest of her life turned into a tunnel of darkness, all because of people with their faces glued to their phones, feeling it was their duty to tear her down.

“I’m still a human. All of this has happened since I won the

national championship,” Reese said. “I said the other day, I haven’t been happy since then.”

But no matter what people have said to her, Reese has always been unapologetically herself. She’s always made it a priority to be true to herself and be who she is.

LSU softball midseason check-in

BY LIZZIE FALCETTI @lizziefalcetti

Thirteen teams make up Southeastern Conference softball. Twelve of them are ranked in national top-25 polls right now.

This conference is fierce, and matchups end in close scores. One or two runs can change the outcome.

SEC play was always going to be a significant test for LSU.

The Tigers started conference play with a perfect record. They had triumphs over tougher teams and stayed competitive throughout multiple extra-inning battles to win.

But, time would show how tough SEC softball is, and LSU stumbled against opponents with worse records and lower rankings.

The Tigers are now 9-6 in the SEC and 31-6 overall.

Here’s a look at how the team has performed, the changes it made and its upcoming matchups.

Record rundown

After 24 consecutive wins, the Tigers were the last team to suffer

Jared Jones hits three home runs in LSU baseball’s 16-0 win

BY MARTIN SULLIVAN @marty_sulli BASEBALL

LSU baseball beat McNeese State 16-0 Tuesday night with help from a career performance from Jared Jones.

After last week’s painful midweek loss to Southern, the Tigers brought the bats Tuesday night. Strong pitching from Kade Anderson and Sam Dutton coupled with juggernaut hitting out of Jones earned an urgentlyneeded all-around victory.

Head coach Jay Johnson chose to try Jones at leadoff; it paid off immediately and overwhelmingly.

“Tommy was like ‘Dude, you’re leading off today’. I was like ‘Oh, funny joke,’” Jones said.

Jones took it 385 feet to the left field bleachers in LSU’s first at bat. This set the tone for both himself and the team in what amounted to a historic evening personally.

Three walks followed and Paxton Kling singled to score one. Then Steven Milam drove in three off a triple that dodged foul territory by a hair. In just one inning, the Tigers took a five-run lead.

Jones kept momentum, opening the second with a double. A flawlessly executed bunt by Mac Bingham scored Jones and Ashton Larson, who walked.

Unsatisfied with his dominance thus far, Jones scored two more in the third with a 413-foot homer, also scoring Milam. Jones couldn’t sustain the

magic in the fourth. After a Kling double and two walks, Jones struck out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Freshman Jake Brown tallied his first home run of his LSU career in the fifth, driving in Tommy White. McNeese struggled to put the inning away after this. Two hit-by-pitches, two walks

and two wild pitches gifted LSU two runs.

Worse than the free runs was setting up Jones for a three-run homer thereafter. The Tigers scored seven in the fifth inning alone.

Aiden Moffett closed the game in the seventh with backto-back strikeouts.

“As much as I want to enjoy this one, its right back to work and getting prepared for a tough SEC weekend,” Jones said.

Any fans entering the game unaware of why Jones has the nickname “Bear” are no longer uncertain. Jones was 4-for-5 with six RBIs, three home runs and a double. Jones tied the LSU record for homers in a game.

While eyes were on Jones, players like Anderson, Dutton, Kling and Milam turned in noteworthy performances.

Anderson threw three innings, striking out four and allowing just one hit. He credits his success to working his fastball up in the zone and the implementation of his slider.

“We got him some rest. I felt like we were asking a lot of him,” Johnson said. “We need guys that can get us six to nine outs in these Southeastern Conference weekends. I think he can do that, but he has to be set up to do that.”

Dutton threw two innings and struck out three, not allowing a hit.

Kling was 2-for-3 with a walk,

MADALYN CUNNINGHAM / The Reveille LSU baseball sophomore firs baseman Jared Jones (22) holds up his hand after hitting a home run during LSU’s 6-4 loss against Florida on March 23 at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge, La.

MADALYN CUNNINGHAM / The Reveille LSU women’s basketball junior forward Angel Reese (10) watches her teammates from the sidelines during LSU’s 76-70 loss against South Carolina Jan. 25 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

SOCIAL

MEDIA

, from page 9

Johnson, Van Lith and the rest of Reese’s teammates have been there alongside her the entire way in those efforts. When the time was right, they made it known to the public that they know Reese, and nobody else knows her enough to make the comments they make.

“Everybody can have their opinion on Angel Reese, but y’all don’t know her,” Johnson said. “I know the real Angel Reese, and the person I see every day is a strong person, is a caring, loving person. But the crown she wears is heavy.”

“People speak hate into her life. I’ve never seen people wish bad things on someone as much as her, and it does not affect her,” Van Lith said. “Y’all do not get to her. Let me say it again. Y’all do not get to Angel Reese. So, you might want to throw the towel in, because you’re wasting your energy.”

But to some people, that message wasn’t clear enough. They’re attacking the 21-yearold, with no purpose or benefit to it.

Reese isn’t the only one, however.

In Iowa’s 71-69 win over UConn in the Final Four, a controversial, offensive foul call came on a screen set by UConn’s Aaliyah Edwards. The screen was set on Iowa’s Gabbie Marshall in UConn’s effort to tie the game. With the foul call of a moving

TRIALS, from page 9

a loss in Division I Softball. They swept Kentucky in their first SEC series and “started to feel unstoppable,” head coach Beth Torina said.

But LSU then dropped two games against Ole Miss to lose the series, and the setback didn’t stop there.

The Tigers lost two more against Missouri and extended their losing streak to four.

LSU was succumbing to the toughness of the SEC. The Tigers needed to regain the same fire they had at the start of the season.

When LSU came back home to play Texas A&M, the team switched the narrative back to dominating conference showdowns.

LSU swept the Aggies with powerful offensive performances in the late innings. Texas A&M had the first runs in all three games, but the Tigers came out on top in all three.

Torina said the losses before facing the Aggies served a purpose. They proved her team is resilient

“It took us a minute to get our feet back under us … The team understands that they are tough now, and that they are able to fight through some adversity,” she said.

But LSU had to face Florida next in a top 10 matchup. The Gators defeated the Tigers in two of the three games. LSU kept each battle close and sent the last two games into extra innings.

screen on Edwards and UConn, Iowa got the ball and was able to win the game.

Marshall said she had to delete social media leading up to Iowa’s national championship game with South Carolina because of criticism she began to receive over a call she didn’t make.

“I don’t know. I’m not the one that made the call,” Marshall said. “So I’m not sure why they’re mad at me personally.”

Iowa head coach, Lisa Bluder, also made remarks on the criticism Marshall received following the team’s Final Four win.

Lineup analysis and positive changes

Going into this year, LSU’s story centered around the veteran experience on its team. The Tigers mainly had seniors and graduate students out in the field to start the season.

However, senior leadoff hitter Danieca Coffey suffered a seasonending knee injury, and everything shifted.

After a trial-and-error period, Torina settled on left fielder Ali Newland as the leadoff, who leads LSU in home runs with eight.

“One of the first things our staff told me is ‘we just want you to be you, just in the one spot,’” Newland said. “So, it’s been really comfortable and really fun.”

In game 3 against Florida, Newland had a career-high three hits, including a two-run home run.

Freshman Maddox McKee has stepped up at third base to fill Coffey’s position. She’s made clutch put-outs and on offense, crucial hits.

When LSU was tied 3-3 against Florida in game 2, McKee hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the runner on third.

Similarly, when LSU was down by one against the Aggies, McKee hit an RBI to tie the game.

While these changes were due to an unfortunate circumstance, LSU has found ways to adapt and still dominate on offense and in the field.

Upcoming opponents

The next three SEC opponents will pose more tests for LSU. And

“It’s unbelievable to me that you’re going to criticize a 22-year-old kid for something she had no control over,” Bluder said. “I can’t believe people would be so immature as to attack a 22-year-old on doing their job and doing really, really well.”

In addition, the University of Utah women’s basketball team was forced to change hotels during the NCAA Tournament because of “racial hate crimes,” according to the Utes’ head coach, Lynne Roberts.

Utah was set to play its first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament at Gonzaga University,

after that, the SEC tournament begins.

Starting April 12, LSU will play a series at home against Auburn. The Auburn Tigers are 3-9 in conference games, and LSU ranks higher than Auburn in SEC hitting, fielding and pitching.

The ultimate challenge for LSU is the series after Auburn.

The Tigers play No. 4 Tennessee in Knoxville. The Volunteers lead the NCAA in earned run average, and have multiple weapons on their pitching staff.

To round out regular-season SEC play, LSU faces Arkansas on Friday, April 26, through Sunday, April 28.

Last season, Ole Miss defeated LSU in the first round of the SEC tournament. This year, the Tigers have a chance to prove they are better than a first-round loss.

located in Spokane, Washington. The team stayed in a hotel located in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which is roughly 30 minutes from Gonzaga.

According to an incident report from the Coeur d’Alene Police Department, the team had gone to dinner when two pickup trucks were revving their engines and speeding by them yelling racial slurs.

The same trucks followed the team back to their Coeur d’Alene Resort continuing the racial threats, putting the team in danger. The NCAA assisted Utah in checking out of the hotel and finding a new place to stay.

JONES, from page 9

an RBI and a double. Tuesday’s success sets up for a return to consistent hitting, a significant need out of one of the more important names in LSU’s lineup.

Milam went 1-for-1 with a three RBI triple and two walks.

Freshman Ryan Kucherak got his first start at shortstop over Michael Braswell. Kucherak went 0-for-3 with a walk.

LSU finished with 10 hits, four home runs and allowed just one hit.

“Incredibly upsetting for all of us,” Roberts said. “You think in our world in athletics and university settings it’s shocking … there is so much diversity on a college campus and so you’re just not exposed to that very often.”

The attention women’s college basketball is getting is certainly great for the game. The personalities, the talent and the so-called “rivalries” help the game to keep growing.

Hate, criticism and racism will certainly not allow the game to grow.

To many young girls, names like Reese, Johnson, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark, UConn’s Paige Bueckers and others are their inspirations. These players are proof to young girls that they can be whoever they want to be in life with hard work, dedication and the ability to block out the outside noise.

But it’s a shame these pioneers of the women’s game have to deal with outside noise. It’s a shame they have people going to extremes to tear them down when all they’re trying to do, long-term, is give women’s basketball the recognition it deserves.

The recognition is only increasing, and the ones who are helping women’s college basketball rise are the same ones who are phased by the people firing insults at them while hiding behind a screen to protect them.

“It was probably our best game of the year,” Johnson said. “Did everything well.”

Despite it not being a top SEC team, a dominant win has the opportunity to reset LSU after an ugly midweek game against Southern and series loss to Vanderbilt.

“I think our approach sometimes is waiting for something to go wrong instead of going out and attacking the game,” Jones said. “We’re trying to get back to that mindset. We’re supposed to win.”

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille LSU women’s basketball sophomore guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) puts the ball up Jan. 25 during LSU’s 76-70 loss against South Carolina in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille LSU softball redshirt junior pitcher Emilee Casanova (10) throws the ball April 2 during LSU’s 7-4 win against ULM Baton Rouge, La.

FRANCIS DINH / The Reveille LSU baseball freshman outfield Jake Brown (18) steps on first base March 22 during LSU’s 6-1 victory over Florida in Alex Box Stadium.

OPINION

Managing editor: Your opportunity to say ‘yes’ to

I never thought I’d be a journalist. In fact, I never planned to attend LSU.

I entered college as a studentathlete at a different university, and I was majoring in finance. In 36 days, I’ll walk across the graduation stage proud to say I was a student journalist at Louisiana’s flagship university, and I’ll obtain my bachelor’s degree in mass communication.

It’s an unexpected ending to my college career. It’s an ending that exists because I was presented with the opportunity to try new things. (An opportunity I wouldn’t have considered if not for someone wiser than me believing in and encouraging me to give it a chance.)

Opportunity. It’s what life is all about. Some opportunities are

worthwhile, some we could do without and it’s the unexpected ones that often reroute how we thought our lives would turn out.

Working at the Reveille is one of my biggest unexpected opportunities, but it’s also the opportunity that has shaped me the most.

And as a new generation of journalists starts to enter the workforce, over 60 Reveille staffers are better equipped because of your generous support.

The letter from our Editor in Chief Claire Sullivan highlighted the importance of our work and how your past donations have played a crucial role in allowing us to continue serving the LSU community.

You’ve helped us inform students about the world around them. We’ve provided them with information they likely wouldn’t otherwise know on topics like Student Government, state politics and the inner-happenings of LSU.

You’ve helped us send reporters

to cover national championships and award ceremonies. You’ve allowed us to bring attention to what makes the university so vibrant: the students.

Made for students by students, that’s what this newspaper is. But it’s also an organization that has given me space to grow as a journalist and, more importantly, as a person.

I’ve spent more hours in the basement of Hodges Hall than I’d like to admit. I’ve had experiences I could have never envisioned. I’ve encountered remarkable people and learned in the moments I failed. And I can’t forget to mention that I overcame one of my biggest fears: phone calls.

The Reveille is more than just a student organization, it’s a place that lays the foundation for who we will become. Whether we all become journalists or never write again, the lessons we’ve learned in our time here are applicable to every facet of our existence.

So, I have a question for you. Will you take the opportunity to help support the Reveille?

What will your donation be put toward?

Well, whether it’s $5 or $5,000, it will allow future students to work at this wondrous place. It will help us continue to send reporters to cover major events. It will help us keep up with the ever-changing media landscape and allow us to better equip student journalists for

all they undertake.

You can support us through our donation link or by participating in our giveback with Krispy Kreme.

If those don’t seem appealing, we also have sweatshirts, T-shirts and Heisman Trophy posters (all of which were designed by current Reveille staffers).

Our fundraising week ends on April 14, and we hope you take the opportunity to help support the Reveille.

The many ways to spot a demon frat boy from hell in hiding

GARRETT’S GAVEL

GARRETT MCENTEE @9are_bear

The following article does not condone the attack of frat boys.

If you’re in college, chances are you’ve come in contact with a frat boy. They come in many different shapes, sizes and dispositions. You may not have even known that they’re in a frat.

But did you know there’s more to the diversity of the frat boy species than what meets the eye? There are those among the frats who aren’t from this plane. Demon Frat Boys from Hell.

These gremlins masquerading as bros are the work of a foul concoction of sulfur and Svedka. These demon-boys have many subspecies, and they’re often almost indecipherable from their human bro counterparts.

The danger of keeping oneself too close to these hellspawn is obvious, a total breakdown of your mental safety.

Fear not, I’ve discovered a way to decipher the true nature of these men, how to gaze between the planes and see the imps for what they are. The easiest way to do so is to listen to

their music. Music reveals a lot about a person or, rather, a demon. It’s the true window to the soul.

First up to bat is the easiest subspecies to catch, the dudebro demon frat boy from hell. These fiends are easily exposed by their music taste, which often includes songs like, “CARNIVAL” by Kanye West, “Just Wanna Rock” by Lil Uzi Vert, “Starboy” by The Weeknd and “Mia Khalifa” by iLOVEFRiDAY.

In essence, it’s any song that channels a sense of “I’m HIM!”

and “Yeah… I get all the women.”

Other ways to identify this classification of demon frat boy are by smell: Dior Sauvage, sticky Raspberry Svedka and cloying menthol vape.

One could also employ sight: red shorts, low taper fade, blinding white teeth. The most common victims of this demon are sorority women, female athletes and the occasional gay frat brother.

A closely related classification to the dude-bro is the “unlike

other boys” frat boy from hell.

This subspecies “listens” to women, both in life and music. He’ll stream “The Man” by Taylor Swift but won’t absorb its true message, just regurgitate what other “woke” people have said about it. Anything popular on TikTok or the radio is this man’s listening game.

You can spot him from his clothing as well, clad in shirts from obscure brands his bisexual ex-girlfriend told him about. He smells like Jean Paul Gaultier’s “Pour Homme.” The most popular victims of this classification are indie girls, spiritual girls, swifties and, of course, bisexual women.

Next, something a bit more unexpected: the emo demon frat boy. They’re dangerous. A look into their Spotify Wrapped would reveal horrors like, “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance and “Hell Above” by Pierce the Veil. Any song that screams out male loneliness is as good as crack to these fiends.

These mutations of emo and frat culture are typically clad in silver and black band tees as well as any other badge of false aesthetics. These “men” are ruthless and prone to playing the victim in all scenarios. They’ll

probably smell of body odor and marijuana.

The preferred victims of this devil are spiritual girls, goth women, sad girls and the occasional homosexual.

Finally, perhaps the hardest to spot and most dangerous, the mentally enlightened demon frat boy from hell. Beware this one, he’s often listening to music that “makes a critique” of modern culture. He may also dabble with various classical composers.

Think songs by Bo Burnham and Ludwig van Beethoven. He’ll stream anything if it makes him seem smart and unique. These boys smell like something expensive yet plain, inoffensive.

They’re usually unclockable by their wardrobe, until you see them dressed up. That’s when they dawn their finely tailored suits with expensive watches.

Their victims include anyone they can get their uncalloused hands on. Once they’ve found a victim, they’ll torture that poor soul financially and mentally.

Now that I’ve identified these dangers, these demons in our midst, hopefully you, my dear reader, may stay safe.

Garrett McEntee is an 18-yearold English freshman from Benton.

LAUREN MADDEN @llomadd

GRAPHIC BY JACOB CHASTANT

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