the colonel, fall 2012

Much-anticipated rec center opens

Page 2

Alumni director “Raz” retires

Page 6

Graduate designs Disney ornaments

9

ColonelThe

Alumni Magazine of Nicholls State University

Fall 2012

As a hurricane hunter, Nicholls grad Sean Cross

flies right through nature’s wildest storms to keep coastal residents safe.

Page 8

turbulencePrepare for

ColonelThe

Nicholls State University Alumni FederationFall 2012

ADMINISTRATION

UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTDr. Stephen T. Hulbert

VICE PRESIDENT FOR INSTITUTIONAL ADVANCEMENTDr. David Boudreaux

DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRSDebbie Raziano (BA ’74)

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF ALUMNI AFFAIRSJessica Harvey (BA ’06)

DIRECTOR OF UNIVERSITY RELATIONSRenee Piper

EDITORIAL STAFF

EDITORStephanie Detillier (BA ’06)

ART DIRECTORJerad David (BA ’00)

PHOTOGRAPHERMisty Leigh McElroy (BA ’03)

WRITERSLee Daigle (BA ’06)

Jessica Harvey (BA ’06)Bridget MireRenee Piper

Clyde Verdin Jr. (BA ’08)Mike Wagenheim

2012–13 ALUMNI FEDERATION OFFICERS

PRESIDENT — Stephen Peltier (BS ’75)PRESIDENT-ELECT — Eddie Hebert (AS ’71, BSN ’92)

VICE PRESIDENT — Richie Naquin (BS ’93)SECRETARY — Gayle Tauzin (BS ’73)

TREASURER — Tommy Eschete (BA ’80)PAST PRESIDENT — Stella Lasseigne (BA ’67, MEd ’80)

2012–13 BOARD MEMBERS

Margo O. Badeaux (AS ’84, BS ’11); Archie Chaisson III (BS ’08); Monique Crochet (BS ’98, MEd ’00); Luke Ford (BA ’63, MEd ’69); Susan Gilbert (AS ’76, BS ’79, MEd ’88); Philip “Trey” Greco (BA ’95);

Dr. Leslie Jones (BS ’91, MEd ’92); Herbie Kimble (BS ’75); Paula Rome (BS ’02)

CONTACT INFORMATION

The Colonel is published twice each year by the Nicholls State University Alumni Federation.

Send comments and address corrections to:Office of Alumni Affairs

Nicholls State UniversityP.O. Box 2158

Thibodaux, LA 70310Phone: 985-448-4111

Email: [email protected]: nichollsalumni.org

Social media: facebook.com/nicholls.alumni.federation

Through the eyes of hurricanes

In this issue

8

13 Meet. Greet. Compete.

Before the Weather Channel can report the latest projected storm path, Nicholls grad Sean Cross and other hurricane hunters must fly through the hurricane’s eyewall to collect the data. A new TV show documents what it’s like to have such a risky, turbulent job.

Nicholls alumna Lavonzell Nicholson helps New Orleans newcomers socialize through her recreational sports business, PlayNOLA.

1 Colonel ChatterIn your words; Remember when?; Three generations proud

2 Around CampusRec center opens … finally; For the love of learning; 20 things you might not know about Dr. John Doucet

4 The Red ZoneCatching up with Aussie Colonel greats

6 Then & NowRaz retires but leaves lasting impression

14 Alumni Federation NewsNicholls budget crisis impacts alumni; Outstanding alumni; Homecoming 2012

18 Colonel NotesAlumni updates; Marketer splashes into acting; Designing for Disney; In memoriam

21 In the Colonel SpiritMen can be nurses, too

Features

Departments

6 Then & Now

The Colonel FALL 2012 1

Remember freshman initiation? For one week, various activities were planned for Nicholls newcomers. This 1969 La Pirogue photo depicts the main event, a freshman pajama dance — complete with embarrassing antics and a kangaroo court.

Share your stories about this photo or the memories it brings to mind by emailing [email protected].

Colonel Chatter

We asked the Nicholls Facebook community to tell us what they miss most about their college days. Here are a few of the highlights. Thanks for sharing, and keep commenting on the Nicholls Alumni Federation’s Facebook page.

In yoUr words

The Colonel Burgers from Selona Grill in the union.

Faydra LaShae Martin (BS ’09)

Not waking up at 5:30 in the morning. And vacation

was such a thing.Brittany Baudoin (BA ’12)

Basketball band with Mr. Eric Gueniot [former assistant director of bands]. And yelling at an opposing basketball player, “Hey No. 8, you smell like No. 2!” and then the official threatening

to eject me, not for offensiveness but for being lame.Greg Hood Jr. (BA ’03, ’06)

Socializing on the “wood” during class breaks.

Chelsie McCormick (BA ’09)

Pool membership, free cough drops (and other health items) at Health Services and dressing comfortably. You can’t

exactly get away with wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt in the real world.

Kristen Dumas Callais (BS ’10)

All the friends I made in marching band and the fun (especially the away

games). Also, pedro in the student union and BBQ burgers in the Quad.

Laurie Ancelet Curole (BA ’88)

Sitting in the original Millet/Zeringue lobby socializing,

studying and hanging out with other residents. We became

more than college associates and more like a family. #Lobbylife

Tamika Smith (BA ’11)

Meeting Dr. [Blaise] Bergiel [former marketing professor]

for coffee in the student union.Melissa Ranson

Robertson (BS ’99)

Seeing people I knew and who knew me absolutely everywhere on campus.

Maria Geerts (BA ’11, MBA ’12)

All-nighters spent working on art projects in Talbot Hall.Andrea Dupree (BA ’04)

My instructors and professors. Being at a smaller school, we got to know

one another much better than in larger schools where you are just

another face in a sea of faces.Ashara Martin Couvillier (AS ’09, BA ’11)

Remember when? My dad, R .G. Rodrigue (now deceased),

was a Nicholls alumnus and member of

the original freshman class of 1948 at F.T.

Nicholls Junior College. Dad was always proud

of his undergraduate years at F.T. Nicholls

and was prouder to be the patriarch of what

would evolve into Nicholls State University’s

matriculation of three generations (and still

counting) of Colonels.

Nicholls has been a proud tradition for over 60

years in the Rodrigue clan and will continue to

loom large in the higher education of its future

generations.

Cordially,F.J. Rodrigue (BA ’76)

Three generations proud

2 FALL 2012 The Colonel

Around Campus

Rec center opens ... finaLLyFor nearly 10 years, Michael Matherne faced the same question over and

over again from countless Nicholls students and alumni: When is the rec center ever going to open?

On Saturday, Sept. 29, the questioning came to a halt as the director of campus recreation opened the doors to the largest, most anticipated Nicholls facility in years. The long wait has led to a 60,000-square-foot Harold J. Callais Memorial Recreation Center that is sure to impress its visitors.

The state-of-the-art center features a 6,000-square-foot weight room, a 3,500-square-foot cardio room, three group exercise rooms, an elevated walk-ing/running track overlooking two sports courts, a racquetball court, a snack/juice bar and a wellness education classroom. The facility’s 42 cardio machines are all outfitted with integrated TV and iPod adaptors, and nearly everything, including the weights, is branded with the Nicholls logo or school colors. Each week, more than 25 fitness classes, including yoga, Zumba and Les Mills programs, are offered at no additional cost to members.

“This facility is an incredible gift from past students to current and future students,” says Matherne (BGS ’93, MEd ’00). “I realize that many students who helped pay for the center will never use it, but they have helped leave their university a little better than they found it.”

The recreation center has already altered campus life. On the average day, about 1,200 students use the facility, equating to about 20 percent of the student body actively involved in recreational programming. Participation in intramurals has also increased, especially due to the lit fields, allowing nighttime games.

Membership details: z Spring 2003–Summer 2012 graduates:

• Date you can join: Today! Your membership began automatically on Oct. 27. • Membership fee: Free for as many semesters as you paid the fee (Call 985-493-2742 to verify your status.) • Additional fees: $10 one-time Colonel Card fee, $25 annual parking permit fee

z Dues-paying alumni federation members: • Date you can join: July 1, 2013 • Membership fee: $50 per month for a six-month membership • Additional fees: $10 one-time Colonel Card fee, $25 annual parking permit fee

For more information, visit nicholls.edu/recreation.

What you need to know before using the rec center:

For the love of learningMarguerite Li Bassi enjoys telling people that she’d

like to finish her degree before she turns 100. That always draws a laugh, though, at 83 years old, she’s

somewhat serious about her statement.For Li Bassi, the oldest student currently enrolled at Nicholls,

the university has become her home; the faculty and staff, her family. While keeping her mind active, she’s formed connections with fellow students, professors and the library staff.

“The Nicholls faculty and students have been so welcoming;

no one worries about my age,” she says. “They treat me like any other student.”

After her New Orleans apartment was condemned as a result of Hurricane Katrina, Li Bassi knew she wanted to relocate to a college town in the south. A friend suggested Nicholls, and in 2006 she joined the Colonel family to work toward a degree in art history, which has long been a passion of hers.

Born in New Orleans in 1929, Li Bassi spent much of her career as a commercial artist for local department stores and for

“Along with our residence halls and renovated cafeteria, the rec center has increased the quality of student life exponentially,” Matherne says.

In its first month open to alumni, more than 150 Nicholls graduates who paid rec center fees returned to their alma mater to work out.

“The facility is great — tons of room, locker room facilities are nice and the smoothie bar is a nice touch,” says Marcel Estay (BS ’05, MS ’08). “I use the weight room the most, and it has everything I could practically ask for in a gym. I look forward to using the track and basketball/volleyball courts more in the future.” — Stephanie Detillier

Emily Bonvillain Rini (BS ’06) leads a BodyFlow class — a combination of yoga, tai chi and pilates — in one of the rec center’s group exercise rooms.

Phot

o by

Brid

get M

ire

Left, Marguerite Li Bassi, the oldest Nicholls student, often draws her artistic inspiration from the work of French poet Stéphane Mallarmé. Right, Li Bassi’s self-portrait captures three phases of her life.

Hours of operation: • Monday–Friday: 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. • Saturday: Noon to 8 p.m. • Sunday: Noon to 11 p.m.


Around Campus

10. I grew up watching a lot of NBA basketball with my dad.

11. When my daughters were babies, I held a big biochemistry book over them while they were sleeping. Learning biochemistry through osmosis never worked for me, so I thought I’d try it on them. Meggie is in medical school at LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, and Annie is a PhD student in French at Tulane.

12. My favorite band is Dire Straits mainly because of their sound and Mark Knopfler’s songwriting.

13. I like to doodle. I have one drawing that I started in the ’80s that’s now about 7 feet long. It has communities with a college campus, football stadium, lakes and bridges.

14. The best advice I ever received was from my PhD adviser, who said, “Ideas are cheap; actions are what run the world and make you memorable.”

15. I like watching old Star Trek TV episodes, which I couldn’t stand as a kid. The science is primitive, but the philosophical ideas are interesting.

16. I got into playwriting totally by accident. I was 26 years old when I wrote Tant que Durera la Terre (As Long as the Earth Lasts), my first play. I thought I was volunteering to write a brochure for the Cheniere Caminada hurricane centennial, but I was accidentally volunteered to write the play.

20 things you might not know about

Dr. John Doucet

Genetics researcher, editor, poet and award-winning playwright, Dr. John Doucet is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, distinguished service professor and director of the University Honors Program.

Dr. John Doucet (BS ’84), respected DNA scientist, lovebug researcher, award-winning playwright and family man, was recently named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The son of a house-wife and an oilfield worker, Doucet was a first-generation college student. This quintessential

Renaissance man gushes with pride as he talks about his hometown of Golden Meadow, going partially around the world to study and then returning close to home to work and make a difference.

The Times-Picayune advertising department. She traveled the globe, taking a six-week trek to the Middle East and Europe in the 1960s and living in Paris for year. She took and then taught lessons in Italian, fencing and ballroom dancing. At 63 years old, she enrolled in her first college class at the University of New Orleans, where she eventually earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in French.

But for as long as she can remember, Li Bassi has wanted to focus on her art and learn more about art history. “In my elementary school catechism classes, they’d hand out photos of the Virgin Mary and other biblical scenes,” she recalls. “Even though I was severely nearsighted, I loved to trace the pictures and draw.”

Li Bassi, who won the 2012 Lifetime Learning Award from the University of Louisiana System, schedules one class per semester and is currently planning her senior art show. Although she’s on track to earn a Nicholls degree long before her 100th birthday, don’t count her out on being a Colonel centenarian just yet.

“After art, I think I’m going to pursue a poetry degree,” she says with smile. — Jessica Harvey

1. I’ve never read a complete novel; I don’t have the attention span.

2. My favorite subject in high school was band. Although I played all of the brass instruments, I was a specialist on the tuba.

3. I have an affinity for art museums. I had a Dali phase, but I think I’m out of that now.

4. I keep cars for enormous lengths of time. I drove a Mitsubishi Mirage with 262,000 miles on it, a Dodge Spirit with 240,000 miles, and my current car, a Dodge Stratus, has 206,000 miles.

5. I once had a face-to-face conversation with James Watson, winner of the Nobel Prize for discovering the structure of DNA.

6. My most embarrassing childhood memory is the day I insisted that lovebugs were not insects because they have two heads and 12 legs.

7. I have a very loquacious cat named Callie, who I suspect knocked off her six siblings.

8. In middle school, I was a kicker on the football team. I was a good kicker. I still have vivid dreams of playing football.

9. I was selected to be the class speaker at my high school graduation. When I stepped on stage, my graduation cap fell off because my head was so big, and I was too proud to use bobby pins.

17. I was voted Mr. South Lafourche High School.

18. I collect potted meat. They’re in cute little cans, and they’re culturally and historically significant — soldiers, hunters and rig workers would eat this stuff because it wouldn’t spoil quickly. I ask my students and colleagues to bring me potted meats from their travels. But it’s important to be aware of the expiration dates. Expired potted meat will explode. An aging potted meat collection is a dangerous thing.

19. I can’t sleep on a plane. In 2007, on a cross-Atlantic flight to Oxford, England, I watched The Bourne Identity six times — three times going and three times coming back.

20. I’d like to be one of the passengers on a commercial spacecraft one day; it’s on my bucket list. Yep, that’s for me. — As told to Renee Piper



The Red Zone

Ryan Bathie — Transitioning to Australian football

On Shaver Gym’s hardwood, Ryan Bathie (BS ’09) wasn’t allowed to run with the ball or pass it to a teammate with his fist. Kicking it was certainly outside the rules. And, had he tackled an opponent, he would have been ejected from the game.

But now, as an Australian rules football player, Bathie relies on a unique skill set as he tran-sitions to the upper levels of Australia’s rough-and-tumble sport known as “footy.” The game is the popular equivalent of America’s NFL, and Bathie is only one call away from reaching its biggest stage — the Australian Football League (AFL) — less than two years after trying out for a local club team.

Following his Nicholls graduation and return to Melton, Victoria, Bathie toiled in the lower levels of Australian hoops for two seasons before looking for something different.

“Basketball in Australia was going downhill, and I didn’t know what direction I was going in,” Bathie recalls. “My dad said to me, ‘I reckon you should try AFL out. I think you can play it.’ So I went to a tryout and did a fitness test and a few skills sessions. They were pretty impressed and ended up offering me a contract for the next year.”

Bathie currently plays for the Geelong Cats of the Victorian Football League, which serves as a feeder club for the AFL team of the same name. Hoping to make the AFL roster, he continues to hone his craft and draw attention.

“I’m sort of still in that basketball mode where I’m trying to move around my opponents, but in the AFL, they want me to move straight through them,” he says. “It was a pretty big wake-up call, and it took its toll on my body. My first year, I had to cram about four years of football knowledge and skills into one, but I think I’ve managed to do that well.”

During an August tour of Australia’s East Coast, members of the Nicholls men’s basketball team faced squads they had never heard of, in a country nicknamed “Oz.”For ninth-year head coach J.P. Piper, the international trip helped his team bond and learn what it

will take to win this season. The journey also gave his players an unorthodox glimpse into Nicholls’ past.Known for establishing an Australian pipeline to Nicholls, Piper reunited with alumni Ryan Bathie,

Stefan Blaszczynski and Anatoly Bose — all of whom have returned to their Australian home courts with Nicholls degrees and fierce Colonel competitiveness. — Mike Wagenheim and Clyde Verdin Jr.

Catching up with Aussie Colonel greats


The Red Zone

Stefan Blaszczynski — Balancing basketball and banking

For about 13 hours a day, former Colonel standout Stefan Blaszczynski (BS ’07) works as a mergers and acquisitions analyst for Asia Principal Capital, an investment banking business. But he still makes time to lace up his sneakers for various basketball teams in the Sydney area.

After making All-Southland first team and the All-Louisiana team during his senior season, Blaszczynski moved to Spain to play for the Cantabria Lobos and Gandia Basquet basketball teams. When his father fell ill, he flew back to Australia.

“I came back to Sydney to be with him, and for about two years, I worked in retail to try and earn money,” Blaszczynski says. “After my dad got better, I felt like I still had some legs left, so I went back to playing professionally.”

He moved to Poland to play for the Polish Basketball League. Although he was offered a larger contract after his first year, the oppor-tunity to work for Asia Principal Capital seemed to be a better fit.

While transitioning to life in the corporate world, Blaszczynski kept in shape and became a personal trainer. He returned to the courts with a few teams, including the Crusaders of Basketball New South Wales, which is one rung below Australia’s premier National Basketball League.

During the Nicholls Australian tour, the Colonels faced the Crusad-ers — and won. Blaszczynski relished the opportunity to play against his former coach. “It was all in good fun, but Nicholls and Coach Piper were a part of four very important years of my life,” he says. “I owe a lot to what he did for me and what I learned at Nicholls.

“It’s amazing to see how much J.P. has grown as a coach, but he yells as much now as he did back then,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get yelled at quite the way Coach Piper does it.”

Anatoly Bose — Returning to Kazakhstani courts

For Anatoly Bose (BS ’11), the most prolific scorer in Colonel hoops history, there’s nothing like going home again … and again.

Born and raised in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Bose moved to New York City at age 6 and later to Sydney — which he called home for six years before coming to Thibodaux to dominate the Southland Conference.

After graduation, Bose trekked back to Sydney to play for the Kings in the National Basketball League and claim Rookie of the Year honors. Now he’s returned to his native Kazakhstan to play for BC Astana, a basketball club in the Eastern European country’s capital.

“Kazakhstan has made so much progress,” Bose says. “It’s a beautiful place. I don’t think a lot of people know that. I’m excited to go back and familiarize myself again with the whole country.”

While anxious to continue pursuing his ultimate goal of making an American NBA roster, Bose now must eschew the creature comforts he’s grown accustomed to down under.

“It’s tough. You’ve got to leave your family and your friends behind,” Bose says. “It’s about making those sacrifices to better yourself. It’s a marathon; not a sprint. Hopefully, I’ve taken the first correct step into my career in Europe, and that’ll lead me to higher things.”

Bose shared some advice with the four Aussies who will pepper the Colonels’ roster this season.

“I just told them to work hard,” he says. “There’s no easy way to get something. Coach Piper always used to say, ‘If it’s easy, no one wants it.’ So it’s about putting in that extra effort. Basketball is a 24/7 job for me. It’s an effort every single day.”

Colonel all-starsThe Nicholls Athletics Hall of Fame inducted six new members this fall. The 2012 inductee class included: Ben Abadie, Gerard King, Amy Orr, Jay

Pennison, Scott Sanders and Chris Thompson. Visit geauxcolonels.com to nominate a former Colonel for next year’s class.


Then & Now

From a bookshelf covered with dozens of turtle figurines and framed photographs, Debbie Raziano (BA ’74) pulls out a Nicholls history book. Inside the first page, she finds

a handwritten inscription she had long forgotten about: “To Debbie Raziano, Miss Nicholls in more ways than one. — Dr. Al Delahaye.”

Her soft smile unfolds into a mixed expression of excitement and sadness. “I’m definitely going to take this one home with me,” she says.

When Raziano announced that she’d be retiring as the direc-tor of alumni affairs on Jan. 11, the popular response was “Say it ain’t so.” After more than 31 years in her role, “Raz” — as she’s affectionately called — has become synonymous with Nicholls.

Raz retiresbut leaves lasting impression


Then & Now

She attends nearly every campus event, knows hundreds of alumni from each graduating class and has created many Nicholls tradi-tions herself, including the Alumni Crawfish Boil and Awards for Excellence program.

Nicholls was surely a different place when Raziano first arrived as a student in 1969, but she was the same cheerful, mischievous woman who knew nearly everybody.

She recalls participating in Ellender Hall water fights, losing a Homecoming pirogue race due to poor paddling skills and wearing a raincoat over her PE T-shirt and shorts because women weren’t allowed to wear shorts on campus. Ever the spirit leader, Raziano and a group of friends took turns driving through campus in a yellow Chevrolet Corvair and riding on the back of the car, pretending to be Homecoming Queen. “When one of our friends truly became Homecoming Queen, we figured we shouldn’t do it anymore,” Raziano says with a laugh. Those were the days.

Senior class president, student government judicial board member and 1973 Miss Nicholls, Raziano graduated with an education degree but went to work for her sorority, Delta Zeta, instead of pursuing a teaching career.

“A field representative visited our campus, and I was so impressed with her,” she says. “I knew that’s what I wanted to do, and I believe the experience of working with different people across the country opened the doors to get me where I am today.”

While traveling as a Delta Zeta consultant from 1974 to 1980, Raziano picked up what she considers her most valuable trick of the trade: “When meeting someone, say their name three different times in that conversation, and you’ll never forget that person.”

In the late 1970s, a college friend suggested that she apply for the Nicholls alumni affairs position, but Raziano was working in Pennsylvania and couldn’t take time off to fly in for an interview. He offered to send a private plane to quickly fly her in and out of Thibodaux, but she insisted that the timing wasn’t right.

When the position became vacant again in 1980, Raziano felt ready to make a career move and applied.

“I got here in the spring of 1981, and I didn’t know anything about being an alumni director; I was petrified,” she recalls.

Within a year, though, she had already instituted the Alumni Crawfish Boil — a much-beloved tradition born out of a stuffy awards banquet.

“The spring banquet was formal, coat and tie, with a politician as the guest speaker. It was painful,” she remembers. “Quickly, I decided we needed to do something different. That first year, my dad boiled 500 pounds of crawfish. Now, we’re up to about 2,000 pounds, and my dip remains another popular tradition. People have told me that we can run out of crawfish or potatoes or crackers but not that dip.”

After 31 years of Homecomings, graduations and athletic seasons, Raziano struggles to pinpoint her favorite Colonel mem-

Introducing new online degreesThis spring, Nicholls will begin offering completely online bachelor’s degree pro-grams in history, English, sociology, general studies, general family and consumer sciences and nursing (for students who already have RN licenses) as well as a master’s

degree in educational leadership. Learn more at nicholls.edu/nichollsonline.

ory. The fun moments tend to stick out more, like the evening when former Board of Trustees member Rick Eagan (BS ’71) and former alumni president Nick Nelson (BA ’73) promised to take her someplace special to eat after their meeting. Before Raziano realized it, the two men had driven her to then-university President Donald Ayo’s house and set up folding chairs and an ice chest in the front lawn.

“Before long, University Police came flying up the street, flash-ing a flashlight at us, wondering what we were doing. The president had called and said someone was having a party in his front yard.”

Raziano knows how rare it is for someone her age to have held only two jobs — one with her beloved sorority and one with her beloved alma mater. From 2004 to 2007, she worked for Nicholls full time by day and volunteered as the national Delta Zeta president on nights and weekends.

“Leading the second-largest sorority in the nation was a tremendous honor and helped me bring much recognition back to Nicholls, which was incredibly supportive of me throughout my presidency,” she says. “Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, I represented Delta Zeta as well as Nicholls.”

Raziano’s loyalty to her university and sorority came natu-rally; the long hours and inevitable challenges didn’t break her energetic spirit.

“Mondays have always been my favorite day of the week because I get back into a routine. Even in some of the roughest times, I never woke up and didn’t want to drive to Thibodaux for work,” says Raziano, who lives in Luling. “Maybe that’s not normal, but who said I was normal.”

In 2009, Raziano learned to slow down after her unmanned car rolled over her ankle in a freak accident. She returned to work but began considering her life outside of the office.

“When it comes to retirement, you don’t think about it one day, and then write a letter. I’ve been thinking about it for a while,” she says. “I don’t believe Nicholls should ever have an old alumni director. In September, I was in a meeting in the Arts and Sciences conference room, and on the wall were framed photos of distinguished service professors and deans throughout the decades. I realized I knew everyone pictured. I thought, ‘Wow, I really have been here for a long time.’”

Raziano says she’ll spend her first couple of retired months at home. But she won’t be able to stay there for long.

“You can’t go from 100 miles per hour to zero,” she says. “Like everyone else, I want to travel, work in my garden and volunteer. I love to shop, so much so that many of my friends say I should become a personal shopper.”

To keep busy, Raziano says she might find a part-time job. Even after 31 years, she’s not burnt out on working.

After all, being the Nicholls alumni director never felt like a job. More like a calling. — Stephanie Detillier


Thro

ugh the

Flying for commercial airlines was too borin

g fo

r

Nicholls grad Sean Cross. Flying directly into hurricanes

is

more his speed. As part of the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s

“Hur

rican

e Hun

ters

,”

Cross conducts risky business to keep coastal residents safe.

Major Sean Cross (BS ’94) felt a little nervous. Maybe more

than a little nervous. Throughout his career as a pilot for the

U.S. Air Force Reserve and commercial airlines, he had been

trained to avoid weather systems. But this mission required

him to do the exact opposite.

As a new member of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, better

known as the “Hurricane Hunters,” Cross knew of the job’s risks. But what moti-

vated him were the rewards, the potentially life-saving data he could help provide.

At Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., Cross and four other crew mem-

bers boarded a WC-130J jet and headed for Bermuda, where Hurricane Erin

was churning. His childhood dream of being a hurricane hunter was coming

true — but slowly the mission turned almost nightmarish.

By Stephanie DetillierPhotos by Misty Leigh McElroy

eyesof


Th

rough the

eyes


To collect storm readings, Cross flew right through Hurricane Erin’s eyewall at 10,000 feet. After getting his first dose of hurricane-strength turbulence, he steered the aircraft inside of the storm for nearly six hours, trying to define its loosely organized eye. The flight drug on for a record-breaking 14.5 hours.

Exhausted but exhilarated, Cross called his mom over the plane’s high-frequency radio network to assure her that he was safe. “It doesn’t matter how old you are; you’re still mom’s baby,” Cross says.

The next morning — Sept. 11, 2001 — as the crew was cranking the aircraft’s engines, preparing to return for Biloxi, the unthinkable happened.

“It was an interesting time for our country and an interesting time to be a part of this unit,” Cross says.

Hurricane Erin was quickly pushed to the back of the news feed. In Mother Nature’s history, Erin barely left a mark — no casualties, only minor damage. But she’s seared into Cross’ memory.

e leven years later, Cross has flown more than 125 hurricane penetrations. Many have been less dramatic than his first. Others have been far worse. Cross was the first hurricane hunter to fly into Katrina, when it was just an

open wave of low pressure east of the Antilles islands. Two days before landfall, he saw Katrina’s emerging prowess as he flew into the then-Category 1 hurricane over the Florida Keys. Seven years later, to the day, he flew into Isaac, which was nestled in the same location.

For both hurricanes, Gulf Coast residents turned to the Weather Chan-nel for the latest coordinates, probably unaware that Cross and his crew were the ones obtaining those numbers. But a new Weather Channel documentary series, Hurricane Hunters, offers viewers an inside-the-cockpit look at this unique squadron.

The six-episode first season, which aired this past summer, has been popular with weather enthusiasts and curious coastal residents alike. Season two, which was shot during the 2012 hurricane season, will begin airing in June 2013.

“People recognize me from the show,” Cross says. “They come up to me at lunch or after work and say it makes sense now; they understand what we’re doing and how our part plays into hurricane forecasting.”

The series has been a win-win for everyone involved. It’s helped educate the public about the role of the “Hurricane Hunters.” It’s brought the Weather Channel impressive ratings. It’s been a major recruiting machine for the Air Force Reserve, which has received countless calls from people interested in joining the unit. And unlike other reality shows, it’s been a true reflection of what it’s like to be a hurricane hunter. So true that it’s brought some new anxiety to the Cross family.



But when Cross achieved his goal — becoming an Air Force Reserve pilot and flying for commercial airlines — he found that hauling people from city to city was boring. It wasn’t the career he wanted.

A friend of his had recently transferred to 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron and suggested that Cross apply. He jumped at the opportunity. Nothing about being a hurricane hunter sounded boring.

Inside the cockpit of a C-130, Cross seems at home. He’s relaxed, telling storm stories and asking about Nicholls professors and colleagues. He’s the kind of

man who doesn’t take himself too seriously but takes his job incredibly seriously.After all, it’s his responsibility to make sure that the aircraft and all crew

members make it through the mission safely. There’s no room for complacency. Seemingly smooth missions often turn violent without notice. While flying out of Hurricane Ivan’s eyewall in 2004, Cross experienced the most severe turbulence of his career thus far. The instrument panel bounced back and forth so rapidly that he couldn’t read the gauges at one point. It was over in 10 seconds. Ten long seconds.

“You come across these pockets of moderate to severe turbulence every now and then, and you think the plane’s going to come apart on you,” Cross says. “You’re being pounded by hail. The rain showers are so intense it looks like you’re being pushed through a waterfall, like you’re in a carwash because you can’t even see out the window. I’ve been through torrential hail in the plane, and when we landed, all the paint on the nose cone of the aircraft was peeled off due to the hail. That will get your attention.”

Cross is now a senior flyer among the squadron’s 40 pilots, half of whom only work part time. Five Air Force Reserve members board each mission: two pilots (who serve as aircraft commander and co-pilot), a navigator (who manages the flight plan), a weather officer (who guides the crew to a hurricane’s

”““My mom watched the show, and on the first episode, she texted me and

said, ‘Oh, my God, I’m on the edge of my seat.’ She goes, ‘Man, now I’m really going to be nervous when you fly.’”

the threat of approaching hurricanes becomes part of life’s backdrop along the Gulf Coast. While growing up in New Orleans, Cross remembers

listening to his parents talk about riding out Hurricane Betsy in their small shotgun house in Uptown, and he recalls watching a local TV news special on the hurricane hunters.

“These guys were walking out the door to go fly the airplanes, and the sign over the door said, ‘Through these doors walk the world famous Hurricane Hunters.’ I remember that since I was young. I thought, ‘Oh yeah, that would be cool; that would be pretty neat.’ I always knew it was a possibility, but I didn’t quite know how to get there.”

After high school, Cross joined the U.S. Air National Guard and enrolled at Delgado Community College. With hopes of becoming an Air Force pilot, he transferred to Nicholls, which then offered a two-year aviation degree.

Cross planned to focus on his studies and bypass campus activities, but he soon became drawn in to residence life. He worked as a Resident Assistant (RA) in Millet and then Long halls before becoming assistant house director of Millet.

“It seemed like a good deal; you got a free room, and they paid you a little bit of money. It was fun,” Cross says. “I tell you, Long Hall was wild. It was never a dull moment over there.”

At the time, aspiring Air Force pilots had to have a bachelor’s degree and could not be older than 27 and a half to enter the training program.

“As I was pressing pretty hard to get my degree, attending school year-round, the flying part went to the side,” Cross says. “I realized I had to get a bachelor’s degree pretty quickly, and I had always been interested in owning my own business, so I got started in the management program.”

Upon graduation in 1994, Cross decided to change his plans. It didn’t look like the New Orleans National Guard was going to be able to send him to pilot training, so he moved to Florida, near his parents. He started a business raising money for local schools but wasn’t ready to give up on flying. One random day, Cross showed up unannounced at Duke Field, a small Air Force base north of Fort Walton Beach, and introduced himself.

“They say it’s all about timing and being in the right place at the right time; that is so true,” Cross says. “I just walked in the door at the right time. I met the commander; we hit it off; they happened to be setting up a new flying squadron. I worked in their training office for about a year and a half, and then the com-mander sent me to Air Force pilot training.”


I’ve been through torrential

hail in the plane, and when

we landed, all the paint on the

nose cone of the aircraft was

peeled off due to the hail.

12 FALL 2012 The Colonel12 FALL 2012 The Colonel

center) and a loadmaster (who secures cargo and collects weather data). By releasing dropsondes, weather balloon-type instruments, they are able to collect data on wind direction and speed, pressure and temperature and to determine where the eye is located.

According to the National Hurricane Center, the data provided by the hurricane hunters reduces the forecasted cone of uncertainty by 30 percent — making its forecasts more credible and reducing evacuation costs, which are estimated at $1 million per U.S. coastal mile.

“We pilots get all the glory, but the officers are the ones reading the data and relaying the information back to the National Hurricane Center,” Cross says. “I’m just the bus driver.”

September 2012 was the calm before the storm. For the first time in 25 years, the hurricane hunters did not fly a single hour of tropical storm

reconnaissance.Then came Sandy. The squadron operated 24 hours a day for eight straight

days. As chief scheduler, Cross organized crews for each flight and flew four of them himself. The so-called “perfect storm” led to some strange missions. One aircraft stalled, momentarily losing its ability to fly. Aboard the mission was a new pilot — a single mom — whom Cross had just trained. It took some finesse for the crew to lower the aircraft’s nose, power up the engines and regain control. On the south side of the storm, Cross himself experienced snow and quite a few bands of rough weather, including one they named “the finger of death.”

“There’s nothing more exciting than flying into a hurricane; it’s incredible to see what Mother Nature has created,” Cross says. “But we pay a price to fly this mission.”

During hurricane season, the unit is pretty much always on call. Some years are more active than others, but it’s impossible to predict. During the hurricane hunters’ worst season — 2005 — Cross flew 125 hours within 21 days — the maximum flight hours allowed by the Air Force.

Often hurricanes give little notice, making it difficult to have a normal family life. This October, Cross was able to attend the Chuck E. Cheese birthday party for his 3-year-old son, but every year, he’s sweating it, wondering if a hurricane will pull him away from the celebration. If a hurricane happens to be headed toward the Biloxi area, he must also worry about evacuating his family and protecting his waterfront home in between his intense work schedule. And the job’s not over once hurricane season ends; the squadron must log flight training hours and fly winter storm missions, collecting atmospheric data on large areas of low pressure.

“On my son’s first Christmas, I had to fly,” Cross says. “I landed Christmas morn-ing at 5 and raced home. That’s one of those events in your life that you never forget. I walked right upstairs in my flight suit and woke him up for his first Christmas. He doesn’t realize it, but one day I’ll tell him when he’s old enough to understand.”

With the grueling hours, personal sacrifices and dangerous work, Cross can’t help but take it personally when people choose to put themselves in harm’s way by ignoring mandatory hurricane evacuations.

“We’re out there putting our lives on the line collecting data so that every-one else can stay safe,” he says. “There is a loss of life in practically every storm, and I do take it personally. It gets old after a while, seeing the destruction year in and year out. That part wears on you because you’re always seeing people’s lives turned upside down. But the rewarding part is knowing that I’m helping people, and some of those people are alive today because of our mission. That’s the great appeal of it.”

The talkative, easygoing Cross gets much airtime on the Weather Channel’s Hurricane Hunters series. Season two’s nine episodes will begin airing on June 3 at 8 p.m. central.


By Stephanie Detillier

Nothing seemed to be working out the way Lavonzell Nicholson (BA ’00) had planned. She wanted to become an entrepreneur but was too intimidated

to choose business as her major. She transferred to Nicholls to play collegiate basketball but badly injured her leg. She earned a degree in sociology but realized that business probably had been her calling.

“I didn’t want to wear suits and go into a cor-porate work environment,” she says. “At the time, I was so naive in thinking that business was just for those kinds of people.”

Conflicted about where her career was headed, Nicholson couldn’t see that everything was lining up perfectly — setting her up for an entrepreneurial career that combined all of her interests and no business suits.

In 2009, after earning her MBA from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Nicholson returned to her hometown of New Orleans and co-founded PlayNOLA, an organization that helps young professionals network while participating in recreational sports. Relying on her athletic drive, business sense and community development experi-ence, she has expanded PlayNOLA into one of the fastest-growing recreational leagues in the region, with more than 6,500 members joining since 2009.

“New Orleans can be a hard city to break into,” says Nicholson, whom New Orleans magazine recently named to its “People to Watch” list. “There are lots of ways to meet people, but most require a business card and suit, which can be intimidating. Sports and recreation are neutralized factors. We have participants who are city workers, lawyers, business professionals, doctors, etc., and through sports, we realize we have more in common than we thought we did.”

With “Meet. Greet. Compete.” as its motto, PlayNOLA is part Facebook, part co-ed sports league and part social club. Participants select their

sport — softball, volleyball, dodgeball, kickball, etc. — and choose their play level — just for fun, middle of the road or super-competitive. Those who register as individuals are placed on teams, which often morph into social circles.

Aside from encouraging adult recreation, what Nicholson finds most fulfilling is watching connec-tions form among participants. Like the teacher who moved to New Orleans from Belgium and found a roommate through PlayNOLA’s leagues. Or the young man and woman who didn’t know anyone, were placed on the same team and are now engaged.

“A marriage culminated out of sports. Wow! We made that happen,” Nicholson says. “Another woman moved to the city from Oregon, and she’s formed a whole network of friends out of partici-pating. This is not just your softball league from back in the day. We’re trying to create the whole experience of having fun, meeting people and being athletic.”

Recreation has been a thread running through Nicholson’s life since middle school. With her father serving in the military, she moved quite a bit, relying on her athletic skills to help her meet new people and acclimate to new cities. But her career-ending injury at Nicholls threw her for a loop as she began wondering how sports could remain part of her future.

“I went through withdrawals and periods of sad-ness for a while, but part of what sports teaches you is leadership,” she says. “I put my energy into other things and became chapter president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. I participated in student government and was able to live a normal college life.”

Her classes with Dr. James Butler, Nicholls associate professor of sociology, sparked her interest in community development and nonprofits.

In 2008, when the Idea Village/504ward spon-sored a business plan competition, Nicholson had

accumulated the experi-ences needed to pitch her idea for PlayNOLA. From more than 140 entries, her concept won the $200,000 grand prize.

“Post-Katrina, there was a huge influx of young professionals in the community, and the competi-tion was to come up with the best way to engage and retain young professionals in New Orleans,” she explains. “I looked at a couple of different business models that fit the culture and city, and that’s how it came to be.”

The first six months were tough, with Nicholson promoting the organization by day and organizing league schedules by night. As PlayNOLA has grown, she’s added another full-time staffer as well as several part-time employees. On average, 1,500 people par-ticipate in PlayNOLA leagues each season.

“I want PlayNOLA to be synonymous with adult recreation, to become the go-to for that in New Orleans. Then, we can think about how do we take this and start to replicate ourselves in other cities and communities around us,” Nicholson says. “Most of all, I want PlayNOLA to become the mark I leave on New Orleans.”

Meet. Greet.

Compete.Nicholls alumna Lavonzell Nicholson merges social networking with

recreational sports through her rapidly growing business, PlayNOLA.

“...through sports,

we realize we have

more in common than

we thought we did.”

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•


As you all know, Nicholls has endured dramatic cuts in state funding over the past four years. These budget challenges have directly impacted the Office of Alumni Affairs, and consequently, the Nicholls Alumni Federa-tion will have to pay for expenses that the university historically covered. Now, more than ever, we need your help.

In the past, Nicholls paid the salaries of the alumni affairs staff, with alumni federation funds (mainly membership dues) going toward student scholarships, alumni programming and publica-tions, and university initiatives. As Nicholls pulls together to survive this budget crisis, the federa-tion was asked to fund 50 percent of alumni affairs salaries beginning with the 2012–13 fiscal year.

To maintain a strong alumni program and con-tinue supporting scholarships and other university programs, the Nicholls Alumni Federation needs your assistance. Although alumni dues are only $25 a year, they can make a big difference. Please continue to pay your alumni dues, and encourage other alumni to do the same. Talk to your fam-ily, friends, co-workers, fellow fraternity/sorority members, etc., and recruit them to become dues-paying alumni. Remind those who did not graduate from Nicholls that they, too, can join as friends of the university. You can also show your support by donating additional funds to the Nicholls Alumni Federation and attending alumni events. With your participation and financial support, the Nicholls Alumni Federation will survive this challenge and remain a strong supporter of the university for many generations of Colonels to come.

Sincerely,

Stephen Peltier (BS ’75)President, Nicholls Alumni Federation

Nicholls budget crisis impacts alumni

Promoting healthy familiesGina Bergeron (BS ’97)College of Education

Executive Director Gina Bergeron knows that many clients aren’t initially happy to arrive at the Family Service Center. The facility, which she established at Nicholls in 1998, serves at-risk community members — many of whom have been court-ordered to participate in the center’s parenting programs. But what’s rewarding is helping alter her clients’ perceptions and hopefully reduc-ing the probability of child abuse and neglect.

“It’s a fulfilling, fast-paced job working with lots of different populations,” Bergeron says. “Every day is a new day. I never know what I’ll encounter with a case.”

Bergeron, who also serves as president of the Louisiana Child Welfare Family Resource Network, obtained a grant through the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services to start the Family Service Center, which assists families in seven parishes. Throughout her career, she has secured more than $11 million in grants affiliated with the center.

Initially, Bergeron planned to go into psychiatry at LSU before realizing her calling for social work.“I wanted to work more with families in a clinic environment rather than in a hospital,” she says.

“When I transferred to Nicholls, I loved that people knew your name and were genuinely welcoming.”Now Bergeron’s doing the welcoming, trying to make even the most reluctant clients feel at home.

Recently, a man told Bergeron he didn’t expect to learn anything from her staff.“He said, ‘I really didn’t want to come here, but when I leave parenting class I have that same feeling

as when I leave church, like you’ve changed my life. I almost don’t want to graduate; I enjoy coming every week.’ That’s the kind of feedback that will motivate us for the rest of the year.”

Providing new leases on lifeMelvin Champagne (AS ’78)

College of Nursing and Allied Health

At the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, N.C., Melvin Champagne greets hopeful patients with his genuine smile and southern charm. As the general surgery coordinator, he works specifically with people needing organ transplants — a unique nursing expertise he’s been developing since 1994.

“The most fulfilling part of my job is seeing someone at death’s door receive an organ that improves their quality of life,” he says.

A winding road led Champagne to his nursing specialty. In 1974, when he married Maria Pertuit, he had no inkling that his wife would be the catalyst that would lead him to change his career path.

“I had earned a degree in occupational safety and health from Delgado, but I enjoyed the health part more than safety,” he says. “One day when my wife was talking about her job as a registered nurse, I asked her, ‘Do you think I could do that?’ She mentored me and helped me through the Nicholls nursing program.”

After graduation, Champagne worked at St. Anne General Hospital in Raceland, gaining experience in medical-surgical nursing, critical care, emergency room, nursing supervision and home health care. The Gheens native felt a special bond with his local patients but couldn’t pass up a job opportunity with a transplant surgeon in North Carolina.

Champagne learned the ins and outs of organ transplantation on the job, assisting surgeons in operating rooms with organ recovery and transplant surgery. His dedication and caring demeanor led him to roles as a liver transplant coordinator, kidney intake coordinator and clinic nurse.

“Melvin’s nursing philosophy is simple,” says Rebecca Lyons, Nicholls nursing department head. “First do no harm while doing your best, and always leave the person you care for, if not physically better, better in spirits.”

2012 outstanding Alumni Federation News


Guiding veterans through educationCal Dion-Breaux (AGS ’97, BGS ’03)

University College

In the 1980s, Cal Dion-Breaux bought a psychology college textbook at a garage sale for 25 cents. She had always been interested in the human condition but felt inadequate without a college degree.

“I was always dealing with people from Nicholls, but I only had a high school diploma,” she says. “I finally told myself, ‘If they can get a degree, so can I.’”

A single mother with a full-time job, Dion-Breaux attended Nicholls for 13 consecutive years to earn associate and bachelor’s degrees in general studies. In 2005, she earned a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling from Western Washington University — where she was required to read the same garage sale textbook she had purchased nearly 25 years earlier.

Dion-Breaux credits her father, Tom Dion, an advocate for Houma Indians’ educational rights, for her tenacity. “I learned early on that if you want something bad enough, you can achieve it,” she says. “My parents had 17 children, and our responsibilities started at a young age. God destined me to work with disadvantaged people.”

As a certified rehabilitation counselor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Gretna, Dion-Breaux determines the best services to help eligible veterans get into the workforce and monitors them throughout their transition.

“It’s such a rewarding job because I get to see the fruits of my labor,” she says. “One young woman didn’t initially tell me that she had already tried to commit suicide, but I could tell she was not in a good place. I kept on encouraging her and helping her get counseling. She’s now finishing her last semester of engineering school and is so proud of herself. Every day on the job is challenging, but it brings me such joy.”

Alumni Federation News

Leaving a Nicholls legacyDr. Marilyn Kilgen (BA ’66)

College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Marilyn Kilgen remembers her father pointing out Nicholls on their way to the Thibodaux drive-in theater.

“‘That’s where Daddy went to school,’ he’d say, and I couldn’t wait to come here,” says Kilgen, a dis-tinguished service professor who has taught biology at Nicholls for the past 41 years. “My dad had a bookshelf full of college textbooks, and the biology one was my favorite. Right in the middle were transparencies illustrating different slices of the human body; I must have read that book a hundred times.”

Kilgen thought about becoming a doctor but changed her plans after watching breast cancer take her mother’s life. “I wanted to be a biologist and cure cancer for everyone,” Kilgen says. “At 16, that seemed doable. I did wind up curing a lot of oysters, though.”

A nationally renowned microbiologist and seafood safety scientist, Kilgen has received more than $7.5 million in research funding. And her work has had life-saving applications. In 1997, Kilgen, some colleagues and undergraduate research students teamed up with Motivatit Seafoods in Houma. They helped develop a device that not only kills harmful bacteria in raw oysters but also leaves them shucked and safe to eat.

When Kilgen retires after the fall 2012 semester, she will leave an impressive teaching legacy, too. As head of the biology department for 12 years, she mentored 16 new faculty and guided the careers of countless alumni who are now physicians and other health care professionals. She led the department to win one of only 17 Departmental Excellence through Faculty Excellence permanently endowed awards — a major achieve-ment that gave the department leverage to add a marine and environmental biology master’s degree program.

“Marilyn has told me on many occasions that Nicholls is her home,” says Dr. John Doucet (BS ’84), one of her former students and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “And those of us who happen to cross the streets of Nicholls in the evenings over the past 41 years know that this is true — each and every time we see parked by Gouaux Hall her red Thunderbird, green Cadillac or two-tone Explorer.”

Growing the WWII museumStephen Watson (BS ’97, MBA ’98) College of Business Administration

While attending open house at his daughter’s school, Stephen Watson observed a kindergarten classroom much different from the one he remembers from his childhood, but he wasn’t surprised. The same technological trends transforming classrooms are also changing his workplace — the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

“The artifacts and the real materials will always be a signature component; that’s part of what makes museums special,” says Watson, the museum’s chief operating officer and vice president. “But consum-ers’ expectations are so much higher because of their experiences with digital media in their homes — video games, flat-screen TVs, etc. — and those they have when they visit theme parks or movie theaters. To make the museum experience exciting and engaging, we have to use some of these same tools while not getting away from the core educa-tional mission.”

Essentially, Watson’s job is ensuring that visitors consider their museum experience memorable. He oversees marketing, membership, facility operations, visitor services and more. In 2009, when the museum doubled in size, Watson helped usher in several new innovative attractions, including Beyond All Boundar-ies, a Tom Hanks-produced 4-D film. The Freedom Pavilion, opening in January 2013, will feature an interactive submarine experience.

By incorporating cutting-edge attractions, Wat-son believes that the staff is building one of the finest museums in the world. Thanks largely to Watson’s efforts, the museum already has the country’s largest museum membership base.

Watson, a Scotland native, says his Nicholls business degrees and his graduate assistantship with Nicholls athletics have helped him chart an unexpect-edly wonderful career path — one that started when he arrived at Nicholls on a track scholarship in 1994.

“In my circle, I interact with people from Ivy League schools and everywhere imaginable,” he says. “I wear my Nicholls education as a badge of honor.”

alumni


HOMECOMING

(1) Abby Galjour, Ashley Sagona and Bethany Samanie lay down fresh mulch along Canal Boulevard in Thibodaux. More than 130 students participated in the “Paint the Town Red” Day of Service, which kick-started Homecoming 2012. (2) The second Nicholls CAN! food drive, held in conjunction with Homecoming, collected more than 12,500 nonperishable food and household items. (3) Trisha Dubina (BA ’02), assistant professor of art, helps paint a wall at Thibodaux’s Peltier Park Recreation Center. Art students and faculty spent much of Homecoming week painting the community mural, designed by art senior Josh Pellegrin. (4) Reigning as the 2012 Homecoming Queen and King are Brittany Chiasson, psychology junior from Napoleonville, and John Berger, business management junior from Thibodaux.

(5) Outfitted with Viking helmets, Alicia Voisin and Stephanie Terrebonne navigate through Bayou Lafourche during the pirogue races. (6) Captain Sarah Zeringue leads the Colonelette Dance Team at the Homecoming pep rally. (7) Tim Mitchell from Bayou Vista roasts a pig at Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity’s tailgate party. (8) Colorguard member Courtney Foret performs a halftime routine along with the (9) Pride of Nicholls Marching Band. (10) Colonel cheerleaders pump up the crowd as Nicholls battles Sam Houston State University. (11) Rynn Porche victoriously races a grocery cart during a halftime promotion sponsored by Rouses Supermarkets. (12) The winning team for the Nicholls Alumni Federation John Brady Golf Classic’s morning flight includes, from left, Darren Bourgeois, Kirk Tro-sclair (BSG ’97), honorary chairman Gary Barbaro (BS ’80), Bennett Folse (BS ’02) and Peyvand Maghsoud. (13) Winners of the afternoon flight include, from left, Brian Smith (BS ’89), Keith Crochet (BS ’85), Barbaro, John Dupont and Troy Abadie (BS ’91). This year’s classic at LaTour Golf Club in Mathews drew 37 teams.

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Alumni Federation News

2012

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Colonel Notes

1950s

Harold Breaux (’56–’58) was recognized in June, when the U.S. Army Research Labora-tory (ARL) dedicated its new-est supercomputer, the Harold, in his honor. The computer resides at the Defense Super-computing Resource Center (DSRC) in Aberdeen, Md. Breaux retired in 1996 after a 33-year civil service career with ARL and has remained a consultant with the DSRC for several years.

1960s

Carol Dupre (BA ’64) is an active member of the Sum-ner County Retired Teachers

Association, Tennessee Educa-tion Association and National Education Association.

1970s

Robbie Wintz Tomeny (BS ’72), a longtime 4-H volun-teer in St. John the Baptist Parish, was inducted into the Louisiana 4-H Hall of Fame.

Lawrence “Sonny” Albarado (BA ’73) is the 2012–13 presi-dent of the national Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the projects editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock.

Lynne Bourgeois (BA ’74) received Louisiana Speech-

Language-Hearing Associa-tion honors for her 25 years of service. She retired as pro-gram and clinical director of the Nicholls communicative disorders program in 2011.

Dr. Michael Dotson (BA ’74, MBA ’80), marketing pro-fessor at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., received the 2012 Sywassink Award for Excellence for his research contributions.

Debbie Raziano (BA ’74), director of alumni affairs at Nicholls, was honored for her volunteer work by MacDonell United Methodist Children’s Services at its 28th annual Vol-unteer Activist Gala in August.

Dr. Donaldo Batiste (BA ’75) was named 2011–12 Superintendent of the Year by the Lake Country Super-intendent’s Association. He oversees Waukegan Public School District 60 in Illinois.

Susan Talbot Hoffmann (BS ’75, BA ’99) had artwork accepted into the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s 116th Annual Exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York.

Sherryl Schmidt Lutz (BA ’78) has exhibited her pottery in the Contemporary Mar-ketplace at Jazz Fest for 11 years. She has a studio and showroom in Folsom.

John Lush (’79–’80) is president of the Santa Fe Cattle Co. res-taurant chain. In June, the res-taurant opened its Thibodaux location on Canal Boulevard.

Dr. Shawn Mauldin (BS ’79, MBA ’87), dean of the College of Business Admin-istration at Nicholls, is the 2012–13 president of the Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants.

Al Thibodeaux (BA ’79) is a territory manager at Deep South Equipment, where he was named the 2011 Sales-man of the Year.

1980s

Kenneth Lasseigne (BS ’83, AS ’91) returned to Point of Vue magazine in Houma as a marketing consultant in March 2012.

Ronnie Boudreaux (BS ’84) is the corporate director of treasury at Redcats USA Inc. in Indianapolis.

Dr. Mark Marshall (BA ’86, MEd ’90) is superintendent

of Eastside Union School District in Lancaster, Calif.

Kateri “Kitty” Harris Whitney (BSN ’87) is executive direc-tor of Sandestin Real Estate in Miramar Beach, Fla.

1990s

Anna Moore Cole (BS ’90), chemistry teacher at Cen-tral Lafourche High School in Raceland, was one of 97 teachers nationwide to receive the 2011 Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.

Dr. Terry DeWitt (MEd ’90) has been named among the nation’s “Most Distinguished Athletic Trainers” by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. He is an associate professor of biological scienc-es and director of the athletic training education program at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Michelle Vonsenden Larson (BS ’92) is a partner with Forshey Prostok LLP, a law firm spe-cializing in bankruptcy in Fort Worth, Texas.

Chantell Halloway Walker (BS ’92), a math teacher and guidance counselor at West St. John High School in Edgard, was selected as a 2012 Louisiana State University/Southern University Regional Collaborative Star Teacher.

2000s

Dr. Christopher Paris (BS ’00) is an interventional cardiologist at Terrebonne General Medi-cal Center in Houma.

Shanna Tregre Beber (BA ’02) was named the St. John the Baptist public school district’s 2011–12 Teacher of the Year

Member of the Nicholls Alumni Federation

Spread some Nicholls spiritWhen shopping for the perfect gift, consider buying Nicholls-themed

merchandise. In addition to the University Bookstore, several Thibodaux and Houma retailers carry Colonel hats, sweatshirts, jerseys and even

apparel for your little Colonel. Or shop online at nichollsgear.com.

“Cue the killer whale” is a phrase few people would expect to hear at the office. But for Jennifer Shaddock Dixon (BS ’94), lights, cameras and the occasional orca literally come with the job.

As an actor, spokesperson and public relations profes-sional, Dixon has taken her Nicholls marketing degree in an unusual direction, recently appearing in national SeaWorld advertisements.

But commercial acting isn’t as easy as it looks. The Sea-World commercial, for instance, was shot on a 28-degree December morning. “I was splashed by a killer whale for every take,” Dixon says. “I was soaking wet, so we then went back to hair and makeup, put on an identical change of clothes and did it over and over again.”

After graduating from Nicholls, Dixon planned to attend law school, but a trip to Florida led to a different path.

“When I visited Orlando for a few weeks, I told my dad I would be back in time for law school, but I never returned,” she recalls.

For 15 years, Dixon worked in marketing and public relations roles for various advertising agencies, nonprofit organizations and technology-based companies.

“After doing a number of television interviews, someone suggested I look into doing com-mercial work,” Dixon says. “So I got some headshots, found an agent and have been working on camera for about four years now. Acting has given me the flexibility to have a career and still raise my family.”

Dixon credits the training she received at Nicholls for the confidence needed to work in front of the camera. “I had a marketing professor who would take five points off our grade for every ‘um’ or ‘uh’ during our presentations,” she recalls. “You have to be comfortable with public speaking to be on camera. Nicholls really taught me to watch the words I use.” — Lee Daigle

Marketer splashes into acting

Jennifer Dixon (BS ’94) leans on the public-speaking skills she learned at Nicholls in her job as a commercial actor. Photo courtesy of Stephanie Conner (BA ’83)


At the happiest time of the year, Derrick Lirette (BA ’11) is working at one of the happiest places on earth, helping people add a little Disney flair to their Christmas trees.

As an in-house freelance graphic designer for Disney Design Group, Lirette was part of the team that designed Disney’s latest limited-edition ornaments. The characters vary from the signature grin of the Cheshire Cat to Goofy’s long ears. But they all share two things in common — Mickey Mouse ears and Lirette’s signature.

“Initially, I was given a clear direction to go in,” he says. “However, after several meetings, we decided to create our own ornaments with only the mouse ears as our starting point. We gave them unique touches and features that would hopefully set them apart from other ornaments. Nearly a year later, we have added hundreds more to the collection.”

With Disney music and movies playing in the background, Lirette sketched all of his designs before molds were made.

“I always sketch first, even if I have a clear end product in mind,” Lirette says. “I enjoy keeping this connection to drawing.”

His route to Orlando began when he snagged an internship with Disney Design Group during his last semester as a Nicholls graphic design student. As with most jobs, his daily schedule included com-puter work and meetings, but regular conversations with Walt Disney Imagineering representatives, early screenings of movies and private tours of park attractions made his job more magical. By the end of his internship, he had produced almost 200 projects.

“Seeing your products spring to life and those ideas and items bringing in millions in revenue give you a massive push to be great,” he says.

A lifelong Disney fan, Lirette now has a unique connection to his favorite characters through his designs.

“I think it’s important as an artist to be fully immersed in what you do,” he says. “I visit the parks often, when-ever I need inspiration. It is a great environment — for work or for play.” — Bridget Mire

Designing for

Disneyfor the middle school divi-sion. She teaches at LaPlace Elementary School.

Andie Chiasson (BS ’02, MBA ’11) is a math lecturer at Fletcher Technical Com-munity College in Houma and teaches fitness classes at the Nicholls recreation center.

Keitha Nelson (BA ’04) is a morning anchor at ABC 57 News in South Bend, Ind.

Dr. Jeffrey Rau (BS ’04) is a physician at LSU Health Sci-ences Center in New Orleans.

Troy Parria (BA ’04) is working toward his juris doc-torate at Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge.

Kayla Hymel LeBlanc (BS ’05) is a staff accountant at Bour-geois Bennett LLC, CPAs and Consultants in Houma.

Sara Rodrigue (BA ’05), of the Lafayette law firm Laborde & Neuner, is a District 3 council member for the 2012–13 Young Lawyers Division Council. She also received the 2011 Lafayette Volunteer Lawyers Outstanding Attor-ney Award.

Leigh Ann Ritchie Bogran (BA ’06) is the social media and recruiting specialist for Latter & Blum Inc. Realtors in New Orleans.

Reid Amedee (BS ’07) is a chiropractor at St. Joseph Medical Clinic in Vacherie.

David Gravois (BA ’07) is a recruiter for Danos in Larose.

Meredith LeBlanc (BS ’07) is the culinary director for Pep-pers Pizzeria’s Houma and Thibodaux locations.

Kyle Carrier (BA ’08) is a technical writer for CHAND in Mathews.

Lauren Cenac (BA ’08) is a copy editor and page designer for The Courier/Daily Comet newspapers.

Ashley Henry (BS ’08) is the manager of Daniel’s Fast Food in Bourg.

Dr. Sarah Hotard Knight (BS ’08) earned a Doctor of Medi-cine from LSU Health Scienc-es Center in Shreveport. She is an internal medicine resident at Shands at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Dr. Shane Prejean (BS ’08) earned a Doctor of Medicine from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. He is an internal medicine resident at Earl K. Long Medical Cen-ter in Baton Rouge.

Louie Charpentier Leffingwell (BA ’09) teaches freshman English courses at Nicholls. He earned his master’s degree in 2011 from the University of New Orleans, where he focused on American literature as well as rhetoric and composition.

Anderson Wallace (BS ’09, MA ’11) is a counselor for Magnolia Family Services, Catholic Charities and Tran-sitions & New Beginnings in Houma.

2010s

Brandy Wright Burbante (BA ’10) is a library specialist at Ellender Memorial Library at Nicholls.

Gilberto Burbante (BA ’11) is the coordinator of veteran services at Nicholls.

Logan Coriell (BS ’11) is a staff accountant at Bourgeois Bennett LLC, CPAs and Con-sultants in Houma.

Celeste Roberts (BA ’11) teaches English in Tottori, Japan, with Amity, a private education company.

Percy Bell Jr. (BS ’12) is an athletic training graduate assistant at Middle Tennessee State University. He com-pleted a two-year internship with the Saints.

Phillip Boudreaux (BA ’12) is a news anchor/reporter for KWBJ in Morgan City.

Lauren Dunham (BA ’12) teaches civics and world geog-raphy at Thibodaux High School.

Kate Hotard (BS ’12) is working toward her medical degree at LSU Health Sci-ences Center in Shreveport.

Katie Hymel (BS ’12) rece i ved t h e L o u i s i ana Speech-Language-Hearing Association Graduate Stu-dent Scholarship.

Solomon Tention (AGS, BA ’12) is a world history teacher, assistant football coach and director of community pro-grams at West St. Mary High School in Baldwin. He is working toward a Master of Education in Teaching and Learning through Liberty University Online.

LauraMae Zeringue (BS ’12) is an eighth-grade pre-algebra teacher at Raceland Middle School.

Julie Boudwin (BA ’12) is a producer for NOLA Media Group’s High School Sports Network.

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Colonel Notes Be a part of our next issueThe Colonel wants to know what you’ve been up to lately. Write to us at [email protected], and tell us about your job, additional degrees and other awards and accomplishments. Hope to see your name in the spring issue!

@

C&D Production SpecialistC&E Boat RentalsCyrus Guidry & AssociatesdaBunch, LLCDaigle, Himel & DaigleDL Wealth Management Duplantis Design GroupGaubert Oil Co.Gulf Offshore LogisticsLafourche Shrine ClubLaTour Golf ClubMidSouth BankMorris P. Hebert, Inc.

Acadia Land Surveying, LLCAmerican Sugar Cane LeagueBabin Farms Ben Jones InsuranceBeyer, Stagni & Co, CPAsBruce Vicknair, New York LifeC&D Production Specialist Cam Morvant, District Attorney DanosDonegan, Bartell & HenryDuplantis Design GroupEd Bouterie, Bourgeois Bennett, LLCEddie HebertGary BarbaroHenry J. Lafont Jr., Attorney at LawIn Memory of Norman SwannerJason Ray, DDSJimmy CantrelleJohnny’s Men Shop Jones DermatologyDr. Mark HebertMark Plaisance

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The Peltier Foundation

Thank you to the 2012 John Brady Golf Classic sponsors

Morvant & Cavell, APLCNorby ChabertOtto Candies, LLCPeltier FoundationPerformance Energy ServicesPernix TherapeuticsProfessional Equipment Services, LLCRousesSouth Louisiana BankT. Baker SmithTalon ServicesThibodaux Regional Medical CenterVision Communications, LLC

Midsouth BankMike Bednarz, State Farm InsuranceNational American SalesNeil Maki, MDOtto Candies, LLCPeltier Agencies, Insurance and TravelPhi Kappa Theta Fraternity Margo Badeaux, Qwik Pack & ShipRibuck, LLC — David TateRichard A. Morvant, Jr., MDRichie NaquinRiviere Insurance AgencySigma Alpha Epsilon FraternityStella LasseigneStephen G. Peltier, Alumni

Federation PresidentSubway of Audubon Ave., Thibodaux Susan Gilbert, Etcetera FashionsTau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity AlumniTommy EscheteWing Stop The Wishing Well

Friend

Noella Orgeron Charitat of Thibodaux on June 5 at age 89. She was the widow of Nicholls Vice President Mau-rice Charitat and a stalwart in the Women’s Faculty Club.

Faculty/StaFF

Virginia Switzer Berry of Hat-tiesburg, Miss., on Oct. 15 at age 63. She was an instructor of speech from 1980 to 1984. She was later an audiologist at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Robert Noel “Bobby” Kearns Sr. (DIP ’52) of Thibodaux on July 29 at age 82. He was a part-time instructor of accounting from 1969 to 1999 and co-owned Kearns & Kearns CPA firm in Thibodaux.

Ri ta Basse t t Peerson of Thibodaux on July 23 at age 60. She was an administrative assistant in the Department of Nursing from 1993 to 2011.

Elaine Folse Rose of Chackbay on June 26 at age 68. She was a custodian from 1980 to 2009.

Dr. Wildon John “Jack” Shinn Jr. of Thibodaux on July 24 at age 78. He taught woodwinds in the Department of Music from 1970 to 2000.

alumni

Norman Landry (DIP ’53) of Raceland on May 25 at age 80. He worked for Lafourche Parish schools for 33 years.

Henry K. “Inky” Lee Jr. (DIP ’53) of Morgan City on Sept. 16 at age 79. He taught draft-ing at South Central Loui-siana Technical College’s Young Memorial Campus for 20 years.

Royall S. “Mickey” Meroney (DIP ’53) of Gray Court, S.C., on Aug. 28 at age 78. He worked for 25 years in the Middle East, ending his career as a manager with SEDCO, an international drilling company.

Frances Bolton Dumez (DIP ’54) of Houma on Aug. 14 at age 78. She was the only woman in the first Nicholls band and its first majorette.

Merian Fontana Henry (BA ’58) of Houma on Oct. 7 at age 78. She taught for 30 years in Terrebonne Parish schools and was a real estate agent for Century 21 and ReMax for 15 years.

Richard Champagne (BA ’59) of Lockport on Aug. 14 at age 79. He was the principal of Lockport Lower Elemen-tar y School for 22 years and a three-term mayor of Lockport.

Adonis Philip Toups (BS ’63) of Schriever on April 13 at age 71. He was a retired Ter-rebonne Parish schoolteacher and coach.

Myree Agnes “Mim” Cazentre (BA ’69, MEd ’83) of Houma on May 27 at age 68. She taught in Terrebonne Par-ish schools for more than 45 years.

In MemoriamSarah Little Percle (MBA ’69) of Thibodaux on Oct. 18 at age 73. She worked for the Lafourche Parish Sheriff ’s Office and Lafourche Parish School Board.

Mary Williams (BA ’70, MEd ’74) of Houma on Oct. 4 at age 64. She was a teacher and guidance counselor for Ter-rebonne Parish schools for 33 years.

Jerry Joseph Thibodeaux (BS ’71) of Metairie on May 21 at age 62. He was a schoolteacher.

Dr. Larry Ferachi (BS ’74) of Plaquemine on Oct. 19 at age 61. He was a team physician for Southeastern Louisiana University and later for Loui-siana State University.

Stephen Boyer (BA ’76) of Folsom on June 8 at age 62. He was an entrepreneur in the convenience-store business.

Eugene “White” James Kliebert (BS ’79) of Chackbay on Feb. 25 at age 64. He was a self-employed CPA and a state employee.

Marilyn Theresa LeBlanc Judy (BA ’84) of Denver on Oct. 13 at age 51. She was a morning news anchor and news direc-tor at KRFX-FM in Denver.

Andrew Jon Braud (BGS ’92) of Ocean Springs, Miss., on Sept. 24 at age 44. He had an 18-year career in the casino industry.

Patrick Alan Boudreaux (AS ’01) of Houma on Sept. 6 at age 47. He was chief of the Houma Police Department.

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In the Colonel Spirit

W hile I was working as a practical nurse in the emergency room at the old St. Joseph Hos-pital in Thibodaux, an ambulance pulled up.

Approaching the ambulance, I opened the door and said, “Oh, my God! This lady is going to have a baby right here.” I didn’t know how to deliver a baby. Male nurses weren’t allowed inside delivery rooms at the time. It made me so, so nervous. But the doctor came right away, and the next thing you know, we delivered that first baby in the ambulance. “Oh, thank God,” I said with relief.

Then all of a sudden, here comes another. I didn’t know she was having twins. I tell you, I was just beside myself with all that. It was the first time I had seen a delivery. It scared me to death, but it was an exciting and challenging eye-opener for me. I then felt the need to assist individuals who needed help.

At the time, it was very rare and unusual for men to go into nursing. You had to get over the fact that you’d be called a nurse, which had such feminine connota-tions. No Louisiana nursing schools even accepted men until the 1960s, when the American Nurses Association moved all nursing schools into university settings. Then discrimination against men stopped.

I discovered my passion for nursing accidentally. When I was discharged from the U.S. Army, I got a job in the diet kitchen at St. Joseph Hospital, a 35-bed facility that preceded Thibodaux Regional Medical Center. They needed a cook bad. I was just a young kid, 19-20 years old. That was my exposure to the hospital. Of course, at that time, all of the hospital staff would come to the kitchen to eat, and I made friends with some of the nurses and the staff. That’s where I met my wife, Elaine, who is also a nurse. I’d talk to them about nursing, and I felt like I could do more for people if I were out on the halls.

I went through a practical nursing program in New Orleans for a year, came back to St. Joseph, and then, lo and behold, Nicholls was opening its two-year nursing program. I said, “Oh, hey, hey, this is nice. If I’m going to be doing all this nursing business, I just as well go ahead and become an RN.” Boy, was it difficult. Here I was with

all these women, and some of the instructors were very biased and believed the only people who could actually nurse were women.

I remember the capping ceremony when student nurses received a nursing cap for making it halfway through the program. Well, I wasn’t about to wear a cap, so they didn’t know what to do with me. They gave me a red and gray armband representing Nicholls, and I wore it on my sleeve. Times were changing for nursing. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another.

Had it not been for Nicholls I would not have become a registered nurse. I was married with children and couldn’t pick up and leave to go to school elsewhere. There were times when I wanted to quit. Had it not been for the wonderful instructors at Nicholls, I would have thrown in the towel. When the university later added its bachelor’s program in nursing, I was a night supervisor at Leonard Chabert Medical Center, so I came back for that degree to continue in a management role. I went on to work at Chabert for almost 25 years, serving as house supervisor, then director of nurses. Throughout my nurs-ing career, I have been active in professional associations, serving as president of the District Nurses Association and serving on the board of directors for the Louisiana State Nurses Association (LSNA). I was the first male nurse to be inducted into the LSNA Hall of Fame; I felt so honored.

Today, when I look back, I cannot tell you how delighted I am that there are so many men going into nursing. I’m so grateful for the opportunity that Nicholls gave me as well as my children — Dr. Mark Hebert (BS ’88), Jude Hebert (BSN ’94) and Bernadette Hebert Melancon (BS ’99, MA ’09).

Nicholls nurses are the best as far as I’m concerned; I’m so proud of my colleagues. They are such a vital part of our health care system today. Wherever you turn, there’s a Nicholls graduate right around the corner, taking care of you. That makes me feel good. I know when I’m a patient in the hospital, that’s who I want to see at my bedside, a Nicholls graduate. — As told to Stephanie Detillier

Men can be nurses, tooAs the first man to earn a nursing degree from Nicholls, Eddie Hebert (AS ’71, BSN ’92) spent much of his career disproving the image of nursing as a female-only profession. Determined to give back to Nicholls for providing him with that opportunity, Hebert will begin an unprecedented third term as the Nicholls Alumni Federation’s president in July. He beams with pride as he looks back at how much the nursing profession and the Nicholls nursing program have progressed.

P.O. Box 2158Thibodaux, LA 70310

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Parting Shot

C O M I N G U P

Alumni Magazine of Nicholls State University

ColonelThe

Lafcadio Hearn Award Dinner ...................................................................................................................................................................................................Monday, March 4Jubilee: A Festival of the Arts and Humanities ................................................................................................................................ Monday, March 4 to Saturday, April 27Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival ........................................................................................................................................................ Friday, March 22 to Sunday, March 24Alumni Annual Meeting/Crawfish Boil .................................................................................................................................................................................. Saturday, April 20Athletics Seafood Extravaganza ................................................................................................................................................................................................ Thursday, May 30

The moment of pirogue gloryDressed in Where’s Waldo?-inspired clothes and a bathrobe, art majors Koryn Boyd of Pointe-aux-Chenes and

Ethan Pitre of Cut Off celebrate their successful pirogue paddling during the 2012 Homecoming pirogue races.

the colonel, fall 2012

Documents

alumni director raz

writerslee daigle ba

luke ford ba

nicholls newcomers

art directorjerad david

paula rome bs

herbie kimble bs

leslie jones bs