Copyright American Press
Any politician who says political contributions don’t buy influence is simply “blowing smoke.” For those not familiar with that term, its common meaning is “to deliberately confuse or lie to someone to get an advantage.” Tyler Bridges, an investigative reporter with The Advocate, showed his readers how political contributions helped McNeese State University President Wade Rousse become the 29th president of LSU. The selection process had little, if anything, to do with Rousse’s qualifications for the job. Kedrick A. Nicholas, senior vice president at McNeese, said the university under Rousse’s leadership “experienced remarkable growth and renewed energy.” “He has given his all to our institution for the last six years and deserves an opportunity to flourish at a higher level. I have no doubt he will have monumental success in his new role just as he has had at McNeese.” Rousse has a Ph.D. in economics, a business background, and joined McNeese in 2019 as dean of the College of Business. He moved up through the university’s administration and was appointed president in July 2024. Gov. Jeff Landry said of Rousse: “He’s the only president that over the last five years has been able to take a university and actually put it in the black. The things he’s done at McNeese are unbelievable.” Lee Mallett, an Iowa, Louisiana, businessman, member of the LSU Board of Supervisors and a major political contributor to Landry and others, said Rousse has bayou charm and understands the state’s culture and politics. OK, but Louisiana citizens need to know that Landry picked Rousse —with a lot of help from Mallett — and two other university presidents. Landry will also get to pick two more presidents — at McNeese and at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. That isn’t the way it’s supposed to work. Bridges in his story explained how Landry used his appointments to the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System to decide who university presidents should be. Bridges said his story is based on interviews with Landry, Mallett and 25 political insiders, board members and university officials, most of whom didn’t want to be identified given the sensitivity of the subject. Landry was Rousse’s key supporter and Bridges said Landry has aggressively sought to make his imprint on Louisiana in every way possible since winning the gubernatorial primary outright in October 2023. Key to Landry’s efforts has been a law passed last year by the Legislature that allows him to name the chairs of the university boards that choose the presidents. The governor named Mark Romero, an insurance executive and friend from New Iberia, as chair of the University of Louisiana board on June 5, 2024. The Louisiana Illuminator on Jan. 9 this year said that Landry had appointed Scott Ballard in 2024 as chair of the LSU Board of Supervisors. Ballard is a Covington businessman who has given extensively to Landry and other candidates, the news report said. Bridges said Romero shortened the selection time it took to name former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jimmy Genovese, Landry’s choice, as president of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches on July 19. Having those two chairs in place made it easy for Landry to play a key role in naming university presidents. Landry was “blowing smoke” of his own when he said, “I have not played a role in the selection of any of these presidents other than if I speak to those board members about the interview process, what they think, what I think.” Bridges said a state legislator said Landry began calling Rousse “my guy.” Exactly who does Landry think he is kidding? Other governors have done the same thing, he said. Not so, according to Jay Dardenne, a former state senator, secretary of state, lieutenant governor and commissioner of administration under former Gov. John Bel Edwards. Dardenne told Bridges, “The governance of a university ought to rest with the governing board rather than be a political favorite of the governor.” He said that could affect a university’s accreditation. Mallett did his part to help Rousse. He said he set up lunches and dinners with board members and arranged for business leaders to meet Rousse. He chartered a private plane so Rousse could meet with LSU board members in Monroe and Shreveport. Isn’t it amazing how effective political contributions can be? It’s also a disturbingly sad story.
