LSU’s 2024 Scholarship First Bus Tour: Day 1 Dispatch from President Tate

It’s Day 1 of the second annual Scholarship First Tour.  I’m already astounded by the beauty of rural Louisiana and the tenacity of its communities.

Why is this tour important? Let me tell you about a woman I met in Monroe. She said how happy it made her to see LSU have “feet on the street” to see first-hand the challenges real people face every day in different communities.

And that’s the driving force behind this tour — in order for LSU to continue supporting the people and economy of Louisiana, we have to stay in touch with the complexities faced in rural, coastal, urban and suburban communities.

SEE The DAY One Bus TOUR Photo Gallery

“Start Small, End Big" is the slogan of Start Elementary, where we kicked off the 2024 Scholarship First Bus Tour. Under a beautiful blue, northeast Louisiana morning sky, we were joined by about 100 enthusiastic friends, most notably U. S. Rep. Julia Letlow.

Emerging country music star and LSU student, Timothy Wayne, added star power to the kick-off by sharing his new music and an old favorite. We awarded LSU's first scholarship to Anna-Marie Poland of Riverfield Academy, for the Fall 2025 freshman class.

Dozens of people joined us to celebrate the beauty of small town Louisiana and the importance of LSU in every community across the state.  I met many wonderful people who call this town of 800 home. It was truly a moment I’ll never forget.

Surgeon General Dr. Ralph Abraham gave a tour of his health clinic for guests that included Dr. Lester Wayne Johnson, VP of Academic Affairs of Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport - Monroe Medical Center, Randy Morris member of the LSU Board of Supervisors, and State Senator Stewart Cathey. 

After that, we jumped in the bus and headed over to Guardian Health Clinic in Rayville (which I learned is pronounced RAY-vul) with Surgeon General Ralph Abraham to learn more about the interdependencies between the clinic and its communities.

Following this, we went to the Rayville Public Library for a panel discussion on the importance of rural health including area legislators, local extension agents, and healthcare leaders from the region to explore the current state of rural healthcare and what is needed to improve.

It's hard to avoid the topic of agriculture when visiting the area, and we traveled to the Sweet Potato Research Station in Chase. It is the 75th anniversary of the station, and is the only one in America dedicated to sweet potato research. Dr. Matt Lee, Vice President of Agriculture was our host and Commissioner of Agriculture and LSU alumnus, Dr. Mike Strain, was the guest speaker.

And, if you are wondering, yes, it was the first time I ever dug a sweet potato, and there might be a picture of it. It was fun to do one time, but not sure I would care to do it for an entire day. Thankfully, I’m told that the majority of this crop is harvested by machine now.

Then we headed down to the fishing hole. I grabbed my reel to join the LSUS champion bass fishing team in Sterlington. At a secret location, we enjoyed more than an hour and talked (quietly) about the growth of the sport.

I think people might say that I floated more than fished since I came up empty handed, but Chancellor Bob Smith reeled in a beauty. The bayou was a scene from a postcard, and the students were a joy.  Best wishes to Coach Charles Thompson and the team next season.

We rounded out Day 1 with an alumni fish fry. We were surrounded by friends as we relaxed at Monroe’s. Being around friends reminds me that people want LSU to be successful, but I’m here to remind them that they are on the team, and together, we make a Team That Wins for Louisiana.

Next Step

LSU's Scholarship First Agenda is helping achieve health, prosperity, and security for Louisiana and the world.

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