re: LSU only SEC school that raises more donations for athletics than for academics

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The graph points out that LSU is the only school in the SEC that gets more donations to the athletic fund than their academic fund. That is an embarrassing travesty.

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The article is a huge embarrassment for LSU for sure, but really it's an indictment of all of southern culture. We're always seeing some bleeding heart whining about how much the football coach gets paid compared to the school president (or something along those lines), but I think most of us on here are savvy enough to understand that argument is weak. Having a successful and well funded athletic program works wonders for SEC schools, resulting in enormous financial windfalls and increased applicant pools. It's kind of a fricked up model, but it works in the South. So the problem isn't really the schools, it's the alumns and fans who don't give enough shits about the actual education side of things to adequately fund it.

And on top of citizens with misplaced priorities, in states like Alabama and Louisiana you have to deal with utterly dysfunctional local governments mismanaging funds and priorities. A state like Louisiana shouldn't be broke. You've got a truly international arts, entertainment, and culinary tourist destination in NO, its shipping industry, fishing industry, and all of that oil. But it can fund the state's flagship university? That is fricked up and there's no way around it.