Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes
Successful teams are made of successful individuals. And, each individual student-athlete at LSU faces the academic challenges and demands of a major university in addition to their many hours of training, practice, travel and competition. While LSU athletes have long been recognized for their accomplishments on the fields of competition, they have also made their mark in the academic arena. LSU has produced over 100 Academic All-Americans and over 740 Academic All-SEC honorees. Since 1978 four LSU football players have received the National Football Foundation and College Athlete Hall of Fame National Scholar Athlete Award. A total of 11 Tigers from all sports have been the recipient of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and, since 1986, four Tigers have been honored as the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
The Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes currently provides a tutorial staff to work directly with students, a supervised study hall to provide an environment conducive to learning and 40 computers available for student-athletes. Other resources available in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes include: the 2,800 square foot Deumite Library; the Bengal Belle Study; private study rooms; and the Eric Hill Athletic Communications Studio, which provides interviewing and public relations training for LSU student-athletes.
TAF's Challenge
While the efforts of our student-athletes and those supporting their academic achievement have always been superior, LSU's leadership recognized that a new facility and program enhancements would be required to meet the needs of LSU's student athletes in the new millennium. Armed with a commitment to providing its students with the finest facilities and resources available, LSU called on the Tiger Athletic Foundation to help develop a center that would ensure academic excellence for LSU students. Tiger Athletic Foundation accepted the challenge by planning a state-of-the-art academic center with a focus on developing each individual student's full academic potential.
Through the vision of LSU's leaders, the generosity of TAF members and the sponsorship of Cox Communications, in the fall of 2002 LSU will proudly unveil its newest TAF sponsored project, the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes, a state-of-the-art academic facility.
Facility Upgrades and Program Enhancements Provided in the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes
Planned improvements to the Gym Armory will not only benefit LSU student athletes, but the entire University as well. The old gymnasium will be transformed into a 1,000-seat auditorium the University will use for daily classes, presentations, lectures by distinguished guests and other special academic events. Other improvements to the building and program enhancements include:
- expansion of the facility from 10,000 square feet to 54,000 square feet - raising the total number of computers from 40 to 75
- construction of 14 private computer rooms and a computer-based testing center available to all LSU students.
- additional study rooms and classrooms for private or group study
- additional study areas for specialized learning
History of Giving
Time and again Tiger Athletic Foundation has accepted the challenge of providing first-class facilities to benefit our University. Over the past 13 years, with generous donations in excess of $70 million from private-sector Tiger fans, Tiger Athletic Foundation has helped fund improvements and advances for the LSU Athletic Department, enabling our University to compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics. Projects like the recent Tiger Stadium expansion, Tiger Park Softball Field, the LSU Golf Instruction Facility at the LSU Soccer Complex, and the Woman's Basketball Complex were all funded with contributions from Tiger Athletic Foundation. In addition to underwriting capital improvements for athletic facilities, Tiger Athletic Foundation provides athletic scholarships, academic scholarships and teaching awards to allow our student-athletes to excel in and out of the classroom. We hope you will join us in providing the resources we need to expand and enhance our support program for LSU student-athletes. Click on the button below to donate to this project.
For additional information contact the Tiger Athletic Foundation office:
P.O. Box 711 Baton Rouge, LA 70821 (225)578-4823 800-644-4TAF (225)578-0184(fax) tafinfo@lsu.edu