NEWS

“Is there something going on over at Louisiana Tech…?”

Rarely does a day go by when that question isn’t answered in the affirmative. Classes, research, and student advising and mentoring are all a daily part of “doing business” on the Tech campus.

But in addition to these activities, Louisiana Tech hosts a number of campus events each year that provide many exciting opportunities and experiences for people throughout northern Louisiana.

According to a recent economic and community impact study, Louisiana Tech’s campus events and activities attract over 218,000 visitors annually resulting in an economic impact of $82 million. These events and the visitors they attract are also responsible for creating nearly 800 non-university jobs throughout the region.

Serving as a hub for many of the region’s educational, cultural and athletic offerings, Tech understands the important and significant impact the University has on our economy and overall quality of life.

Louisiana Tech hosts the annual Cyber Discovery Camp, a student and teacher-focused collaboration with the Cyber Innovation Center in Bossier City. Cyber Discovery Camp features instructional workshops for high school teachers, while the students interact with college professors and learn about the history of cyberspace, enjoy hands-on activities, explore possible cyber career fields, and work with cyber systems and programs.

At its conclusion, students compete in the Final Cyber Challenge – a robotics competition in which student teams do everything from design and build their robot to program its every move. This year’s winner, the team from Minden High School, took home the $1,250 first prize.

Tech also provides opportunities for area youth to participate in one of several athletics camps that take place on campus.

Football, men’s and women’s basketball, soccer, and softball camps provide opportunities to teach kids about teamwork, integrity, sportsmanship, how to work through adversity, and developing a solid work ethic. They also get to learn from and see Tech athletes as “real people,” not just characters competing on a TV screen.

Louisiana Tech further provides the region with unique opportunities to experience art, theater, music and other cultural events. The International Scholarship Dinner and the International Days Food and Cultural Festival, for example, offer ways to learn about the world outside of northern Louisiana. Internationally-acclaimed performers as well as local talent perform at the university’s Howard Auditorium or Stone Theatre and can display their works at one of the two art galleries housed in Tech’s School of Art.

Although Louisiana Tech has produced over 18,000 graduates with a combined earning impact of nearly $1 billion over the past ten years, it’s the educational, cultural, and athletic events taking place each year that might have the greatest and most enduring impact on the communities and residents of northern Louisiana.

Yes. There is most definitely something going on at Louisiana Tech University.

Written by Dave Guerin