It was just after suppertime at the sorority house on the lakes when a sister yelled out, ” The Streak is coming down the road!! Everyone to the front yard!!” Well, say no more.

 

About 50 sisters hit the front doors running full speed to watch the show of naked men streaking down the street and my, my . . . what a view!!!  There were all kinds of men.

 

I had never seen such a sight in all my days since the early 1970’s.  Big ones, little ones, and a WOMAN was there in all her glory, carried on a chair held up with 2 poles. She was like the Roman goddess with a wreath of flowers on her head and totally naked, flopping her Northern hemisphere while the men were flopping their Southern hemisphere.

 

While the sisters were standing there gawking , one of our houseboys also walked out to see the parade.  All of a sudden he let out a yell, stripped all his clothes off, and scurried off to the crowd of streakers.  Here was a man who served us supper everyday now exposed to all of us in his most private areas. To be polite we covered our eyes but spread our

 

fingers just a little for ….whatever reason. I can’t remember that part.  Anyhow, the streak lasted a disappointingly 5 to 8 minutes or so and went on down the rest of the street as we gazed at the cute little backsides of the group. It would be rude to leave early, right??  Later, I bought the record “The Streak” of Ethel Streaking. Guess who’s middle name is Ethel?  Some days, I feel the urge but remember my duty of mother, wife, and grandmother.  Oh, what the heck, hang loose and be groovy!!!

–Linda Colquitt Taylor, ‘74

 

 

 

When my wife and I were planning our honeymoon six months in advance of our September 28th wedding date, we made a huge strategic error that caused us much heartache.  We mistakenly booked our honeymoon through the biggest regular season game of the year, the October 6th game with the Florida Gators coming into Death Valley.

 

So, I approached my wife with a proposition. We could cut our honeymoon short a day, lose half of the money we purchased at an all-inclusive resort, pay fees to change our flights, and because of the lack of flight availability, fly into Houston, TX rent a car and drive overnight to make it into Baton Rouge at 4:00am on Saturday morning.  The other option was to sell our tickets, pocket the cash, sit back and enjoy another day in one of the most beautiful parts of the world.


For most people, there would be no choice at all.  How many wives would even contemplate canceling their honeymoon a day and jumping through hoops to get back for a mere pigskin game?

 

Needless to say, we made an excellent decision because we witnessed one of the greatest football games of all time.  It put an exclamation point on a wonderful honeymoon and made our journey just that much more special!

 

Geaux Tigers!

Michael and Lauren Litchfield

LSU Staff Person

One LSU memory stands out like no other.  In the fall of 1968, I attended my grandfather’s 50th reunion of the Cadets of the Ole War Skule.  My grandfather, Joel Lafayette Fletcher, was a 1918 graduate of LSU.  He lived in the Pentagon Barracks on the old campus near downtown Baton Rouge.

 

The former cadets were assembled in the LSU Union for a luncheon.  There was a roll call with each cadet standing and speaking briefly on their life for the past fifty years.  Many were articulate and accomplished in the fields of medicine, law, banking, agriculture, and engineering.

 

I was curious to hear what my grandfather would say since he was much honored in the field of education, but also very humble.  When his name was called, he did not speak of himself.  Suddenly and without warning he announced, “I would like to introduce my grandson, Paul Nevels, from Houston, Texas.  He is a freshman at LSU.”

 

I was in a momentary state of shock as he motioned for me to rise.  Once standing, a few of the old soldiers started cheering and then the room filled with applause.  Since then, I have been Forever LSU!

 

–Paul Nevels ‘72

After moving to Baton Rouge in 1953, I quickly became a passionate and fanatical LSU football fan. Although I love all LSU sports, my favorite is football. I wear purple and gold every Friday and again on Monday regardless of the outcome of the Saturday game, and of course, always to the Bengal Belle luncheons. From 1953 until 2005, I missed only three home games – once when my son was born, once to attend a wedding (poor planning there) and lastly, when I attended a high school reunion in Michigan. 

 

I was in the stadium through all those awful losing years but I was also there for all the great and memorable moments. I have walked down the hill with the band, have cried “Tiger Bait” and “Go To Hell Ole Miss,” have felt betrayed when a coach left but then was 100% behind the new coach and I have spent all day Saturday tailgating, regardless of the weather, which is considered standard procedure for a true fan. I was beginning to think I would never see LSU win another National Championship, but now my two crystal footballs have the top spot among my many precious tiger treasures.

 

I have a brick at the new tiger cage, I own a number of LSU prints, my favorite being one personally signed by Jack Jaubert, my Christmas tree is decorated purple and gold, my license plate says “LSU by 6”, and I have a tiger tattoo on my leg. I have worked for the attorney who was Homecoming Queen in 1996. An LSU flag hangs on my porch and a 6 foot inflatable Tiger greets passers by on game day. I have attended the Spring Bash where I once deliberately outbid a youngster on an item I really wanted. I participated in the first Bengal Belle Football 101, which was a fabulous experience. Yes, I am obsessive. Yes, I bleed purple and gold!! I am happy; my dreams have all come true, and I am 73 years old!!!! While I am not an alumni, I am TRUE TIGER FAN!!!

 

–Anne S. Strahan

I graduated from LSU in 1994 with a Bachelors Degree in Merchandising and a minor in Psychology.  My husband attended LSU and was accepted into medical school prior to his graduation.  He continued his education at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport and received his M.D. in 1994.  He and I often joke that of the two of us, he has the most LSU education but I am the one with the LSU degree!  We do have a plan, though.  When our oldest daughter, who is now 9, graduates from LSU my husband with receive his degree alongside her.

 

We are and have always been LSU fans.  As a result, our daughters are fans too.  As a matter of fact, our daughters were season ticket holders before they were even born! On the back of my husband’s lab coat, I had monogrammed “the eye of the tiger” and our driveway is known as LSU Avenue.

 

–Shannon M. Badeaux

I have been on the LSU campus my entire life. I attended LSU Lab School, home of the fighting tiger “cubs,” for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Then, I literally crossed the street to attend college. Now, I work at LSU.I think I always hoped I would marry my college sweetheart, but I certainly did not expect that he would be a transplant from Wisconsin! In what seems a typical girl-meets-boy story, my husband’s fraternity house was next door to my sorority house, and we met at a bar in Tigerland one Wednesday night when this studious girl broke her “no going out before Thursday” rule to spend time with her party-loving sorority little sister. LSU is where I petted baby Mike V as a Girl Scout; where I visited the LSU lakes as a child to feed the ducks; where I learned to play pool and bowl in high school P.E.; where I found my career path; and where I met my bridesmaids. I fell in love at LSU, and my Wisconsin-born husband is now purple and gold through and through.

So many of my memories are linked to LSU that the term “alumna” just does not cut it. LSU is where I learned who I am meant to be.

-Sara Exner Crow, ‘04

I met my spouse, Kendal Land (‘99) at LSU – he was a Lambda Chi Alpha and I was a Kappa Delta and we were set up by our best friends in our respective Greek chapters who are also now married (Mike and Amy Sawyer). Our first date was dinner at the Chimes then out to Rotolo’s in Tigerland. Today, Kendal is a presbyterian minister (his college friends still can’t believe it!) and we’ve lived in Georgia, Kentucky and now Arkansas . . . . {We} have 10-month old twins Carlisle and Jackson Camper –we are confident their first word will be “tiger!”
-Lauren Land, ‘00
Kendal & Lauren Land

In 2001 after a most pleasant family holiday, [my brother Barret and I] were returning to California the day after Christmas and had to change planes in Houston.  Barret, boarding first, saw my seat between two ladies and then his seat just ahead in the middle of a couple of gentlemen.  Turning back to me he held up his “you owe me one” finger and proceeded to his assigned seat.

 

It ended up that I owe him a million.  I met the love of my life, now my wife, after we started talking about attending LSU at different times.  We began dating, joined the Alumni Association and made it official in May of 2007 with a ceremony in New Orleans.  Meeting Sarah has allowed me to work on big art projects again like I did when I was a sculpture student and to volunteer my time in service to the the local chapter, Bay Area Tigers.  We are both proud graduates and quite grateful to the University that brought us together and keeps us close.

–Denny North, ‘93

I lived in Nora Neil Power Hall my freshman year, 1974-75. We had a wild and crazy group of girls on our hall and I formed friendships that carry on to this day. I could tell MANY funny stories of our life in Power Hall but one of the funniest had to do with good old fashioned panty raids. We made a shopping trip to the T,G&Y that used to be in the A&P shopping center on Highland Road to purchase appropriate garments for the occasion. Of course we went for the largest size we could find to reward the boys who were sure to come calling. As usual, you could hear them before you could see them and we were all armed with huge ladies undergarments to toss down to the boys. We were upstairs in a second floor room that night and as the boys swarmed below the window chanting for panties, we tossed out our offerings. They did not take kindly to this and one actually climbed up to the second story. Of course we ran out of the room and slammed the door on our way out, frantic and laughing. It was a real hoot for me as I had heard about these traditions long before I arrived at LSU.

-Donna Rafferty Ruggles, ‘78

My favorite football game was one year when the Tigers needed to win in order to receive an invitation to the Orange Bowl. Of course the Tigers blew out whoever it was they played that night (Florida State?) and with each Tiger touchdown, the field was completely pelted with oranges. It was really fun to watch.
–Dan Duet, ‘85

Aimee Simon calls herself an ABC – Alumni By Choice – of LSU. For the past twelve years, she’s been the president of the Bengal Belles, a group created to support athletes in all areas of their campus life.

 She realized the power of the Belles one year when LSU was set to play Vanderbilt. LSU traditionally wears white jerseys in Tiger Stadium, but the Commodores objected since they were the visiting team and they wanted to wear white. Well, that was a battle cry to Aimee and the Belles.

 They challenged LSU fans through local radio stations to wear white to the game to show support for the players and coaches. And, wouldn’t you know it, everyone showed up at Tiger Stadium in white. The Belles called it the LSU “white out.”

I remember my first day moving to LSU from Sulphur, LA . . . my hometown was smaller than LSU’s student population. I was one scared puppy realizing I’d moved from the comforts of a small town to the big ol’ city of LSU. My first class in biology included about 250 scared freshmen. Dr. Luke told us to look to our left and then to the right. He commented, “One of you will not be here next semester.” His comment was never forgotten as I remembered those words each semester as I studied for exams.

 

I’ve also kept those words close to me in my profession, knowing that those who prepare and work hard will ultimately be successful. I also kept those words close to my heart in my first job following graduation from LSU, serving as a platoon leader in the US Army in Germany. I will count my experience at LSU as foundational to any success that I have encountered since my graduation.

–Alan Rivers, ‘78

Year Graduated: 1993

Major: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sculpture 

Occupation: Artist  

Hobbies: Hortisculpture, golf, construction toys

Worst Display of Procrastination: Didn’t get my hair cut until graduation 

The Most Bizarre Place You’ve Met LSU Alums? I met my wife seated next to her on a plane the day after Christmas and also the day before her birthday. We got to talking about going to LSU at different times. 

Achievement: 2007 Guinness world record holder for the largest chess set 

Little-known fact: Some of my old student artwork can be seen on the internet here.

 

World\'s Largest Chess Set

The Third Row Tailgaters has to be one of the most recognizable groups at LSU. To find them, all you need to do is look for the 80-foot portable flagpole, two purple-and-gold striped Tiger vans and the group’s motto: “Run like you stole something.”

The group was formed in 1997 by freshmen and sophomore students but it’s grown over the years to include family and friends of LSU students as well. They set up about 6 a.m. on game days in front of the Natatorium. They have their own BBQ pit, their own generator and a massive sound system.

My favorite overall experience was living in the South Stadium dorm. On game day there was a certain electricity in the air that permeated the walls separating the dorm from the stadium seating. Plus it was fun telling my friends who attended other universities that I lived in Death Valley.
–Dan Duet, ‘85

How many schools can say that their cheering section is so loud it registers on a seismograph?

That’s what happened in 1988. LSU was trailing Auburn 6-0 late in the fourth quarter. With just 1:47 to go, quarterback Tommy Hodson threw a touchdown pass to tailback Eddie Fuller on fourth down. When Fuller caught the ball the crowed erupted and the result set off the seismograph at LSU’s Howe-Russell Geoscience Center.

The “earthquake” play was featured in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not and the play is now a huge part of LSU folklore.

I was a golden Girl! Being at LSU was amazing and the best place to be. I remember one night after a big win we were in Tigerland and we had these Bama fans trying to decorate our buses and cars with Bama Magnets and such. We all saw them so we called the team over (the whole team). We all came up behind the Bama fans and just stood there until they turned around. The look on their face was priceless. We chased them down and gave them a LSU make-over. It was awesome!
-Victoria , ‘99
Geaux, Tigers!

Year Graduated: 1981

 Major: Political Science

Occupation: Insurance fraud investigator and army reservist

Favorite Extra-Curricular Memory: ROTC Bengal Raiders annual Actives vs. Trainees tackle football game in the mud of the Parade Grounds to raise funds for Jerry’s Kids.

Favorite Job Since College: Working disaster relief in El Salvador after Hurricane Mitch.

The Most Bizarre Place You’ve Met LSU Alums: Baghdad

Best Bookstore: You’re kidding, right?

There were no sorority houses in our era, so we all lived together in the dorms where life was quite strict by today’s standards: no room visitation, very early hours, no Bermuda shorts, no alcohol (my Pat O’Brien souvenir glasses were confiscated,) and many other–in retrospect–foolish rules. However, we managed to have a wonderful time being Tigers, where “stately broads and old magnolias shade inspiring halls.”

My wonderful roommate, the late Mary Jo Monsour Naus, was responsible for LSU celebrating the Mardi Gras holiday. She went to President Middleton and pleaded our case, saying that people from all over the world come to Louisiana for Mardi Gras and that LSU students couldn’t participate because of classes. She won her case and in 1955 we had a Mardi Gras holiday. And we went! Too many memories to have a favorite but Mary Jo was a part of most of them.
–Anna Moseley Osborn, ‘56