NEWS

To support Louisiana Tech in its massive damage assessment as well as planning and oversight of the repair, recovery, and reconstruction of campus, Adam McGuirt has been named Director of Disaster Recovery and Strategic Initiatives.

“Adam has considerable experience in working with other entities on-campus and off-campus in planning, constructing, and operating athletics facilities and will bring that expertise to support us at a campus-wide level,” said Tech President Dr. Les Guice, who made the appointment.

The damage caused by the April 25 tornado necessitated that the University hire an additional person to assist with the rebuilding efforts. McGuirt will most closely work in conjunction with Associate Vice President for Administration and Facilities Sam Wallace, Executive Vice President, Vice President for Student Advancement Dr. Jim King, and Athletics Director Tommy McClelland.

McGuirt will also serve as the main point of contact between contractors and architects on athletics facilities.

“We must have support available all the time to help restore campus as quickly and most efficiently as possible,” Guice said.

After the rebuild, McGuirt will continue to work with senior leadership to execute the overall mission and goals of the University as Tech continues to shape its 21st Century Campus.

The storm totaled the baseball and softball complexes, extensively damaged the soccer, tennis, and track-and-field complexes, and caused other significant damage to campus and to Ruston. Funding for much of the repair will come from insurance dollars; the rest will come from state, national, and private funds.

Tech does not yet know what amount of money it will have to spend. Once that number is secure, Tech can begin rebuilding its facilities.

“The state has dealt with emergencies similar to this; thankfully, we have not,” McGuirt said. “We’ve never been exposed like we are now. The state has been tremendously helpful not only in advising us but also in expediting some things to help us get restored as quickly as possible.”

A crucial initial item in the recovery process was assigning architects for the athletic facilities, something the state was able to help Tech do much more quickly than usual. Also because of the state’s help, the damaged residential areas will be cleared for the fall so students won’t be inconvenienced.

“We are continuing down the path of moving forward and coming out better down the line,” McGuirt said of the athletic facilities on the drawing board. Money available will help determine sites.

“We’ve got to take a real strategic look at how those should be designed and utilized so they’ll prepare us for the next 50 years of athletics on campus,” Guice added.

The campus recovery team is working to ensure all the proper policies for rebuilding are followed.

 “We feel like we have the right team in place and the right help to move ahead,” McGuirt said. “It will evolve as we go; this whole process requires vision and efficiency but patience too, to do it right. Again, the state has been great in helping us find ways to get things done. Since they’ve been through this before, their cooperation and desire to assist us through this process has been deeply appreciated.”

Before being named to his new position, McGuirt served six years as Tech’s associate athletics director for internal operations and six years as the director of athletic advancement in the Division of University Advancement.

A native of Shreveport, McGuirt graduated from Louisiana Tech in 2003 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.