(The author of the following letter sent The Item a copy, requesting that it be printed.)
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To the Editor, Shreveport Times:
Your relentless pursuit of the unfortunate controversy which has recently taken place at our State University makes one wonder as to what the real issue is.
In the weeks prior to the decision of the board everyone had his say pro and con. However, in your recent editorial (LSU Needs Proper Leadership, reprinted in The New Orleans Item, March 9, 1953) your feelings become so pronounced that you make many statements and insinuations which, to my opinion, are grossly misleading.
I cannot argue with you regarding the term of office our board serves, nor can we deny the fact that their appointment is political; however, they are all of good character and ethical standing in their community regardless of personal likes or dislikes. Persons of their caliber do not, as a general rule, make decisions without weighing the evidence at hand. Certainly their success in public life justifies this opinion.
I sincerely believe the board as a whole is genuinely for the best interest of the university as they serve without pay and their decisions are the result
of study and deliberation. Differences of opinion are democratic and inasmuch as they, at this time, felt that their obligation could not allgw an alternate course does not indict them as incapable or as lacking in leadership as you would have us believe.
Incidentally, on this question of the decision regarding the library building you must remember that, two of the board members whose feelings are similar to yours, both were chairman of the board in the not-too-remote years, years in which our enrollment was considerably more than now, and no request for a library building was forthcoming from either of them. This is not criticism but a mere statement of fact.
The question here is not the intelligencia versus the athletic department. All of us are intelligent enough to know that buildings, regardless of size, do not make a great university.
To my way of thinking the faculty and alumni are the determining factors in this decision and I say to you and all who read this: LSU can hold its head with height equal to that of any other university.
Mr. Editor, you and I have a right to our opinions but the true test as to whether LSU is doing its job educationally speaking really lies with the parents of the men and women
who graduate from our university as well as with those who have come into contact with our graduates in the field of medicine, law, geology, engineering, business, etc, I ask them to decide. You know, as well as I, that their answer will be to the affirmative.
Certainly, if one followed your concepts then surely Yale, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, California, etc, etc., are educationally de« ficient for they all have stadiums with seating capacities far in excess of ours. Last, but certainly not least, your editorial does not in any way give a true picture of Lieu-tenant-General Middleton. I am sure that my beliefs will be echoed by the overwhelming majority of our alumni when I say that General Middleton is one of the finest men ever to be associated with LSU and as President he will rank second to NONE.
He has been associated with our university since 1930 with short periods of absence due to military service. He understands the educational needs equally as well as the best educator besides being a far more efficient administrator.
He will do much to make LSU an even greater institution of learning provided he is given the opportunity. His ability as a leader is without question. Such controversy as we have recently experienced and such biased derogatory opinions as have been voiced can throttle the best of us. Let us remember that our state university belongs to all residents of Louisiana, and help it we should, but certainly we should never allow personal feelings to coat the issue. No educatibnal institution should ever be involved in political or personal dealings or misunderstanding.
Many have spoken, pro and con, much* has been said that could have been left unsaid; however, after all is said and done and each has gone his way the university retains the scars and blemishes which, in turn, affect its reputation and good standing.
ABE M1CKAL, Past President, LSU Alumni Federation
