20K in 2010! At our first monthly Board meeting this year, our Board announced the creation of our goal for 2010. You'll read more of it later.

Just this past week, the annual State of the Union address was given. In keeping with transparency policies, we strive to inform you of what has taken place in the past 12 months. George Washington's original State of the Union address lasted 5 minutes. The last one given took over 70 minutes to complete. I'll try to mimic the former and not the latter in our synopsis of growth.

As a chapter, the primary goal should be two fold- first, create a welcome atmosphere in all activities related to LSU to foster new and rekindled appreciation for the experiences of LSU for both current and prospective LSU students and fans and second, give back to LSU to enhance it's growth and future success. Beginning with recruiting in the DFW area, in 2009, we manned 37 different recruiting School Fairs from Midlothian to Denton, Weatherford to McKinney, Burleson to Rockwall and all points in between.  Last year we had 122 DFW students enroll in BR of which 86 were on some form of scholarship, and 2 were Top 100 Scholarship from this area. Each year the enrollment SAT  scores have increased contributing to LSU's recognition again in 2009 as a Tier 1 University of which we can all be proud.

Our largest and most significant event for the year will commence on Saturday, April 17th, at Double D Ranch in Mesquite. Celebrating our 31st Annual Crawfish Boil, you can enjoy the largest single event that we have ever held as a chapter as we'll welcome more and more of our LSU faithful. Last year we exceeded 825 and expect even more this year. Beginning the middle of this month, you can reserve your tables on line of our interactive website. And more importantly, you can have an opportunity to volunteer 30-60 minutes while there and help make the day more enjoyable for all of us. So mark your calendar!

Beginning in January 2007, we began our membership drive to communicate more effectively with alumni and friends with the intention of increasing our membership and develop the fastest growing and most active alumni chapter outside of LA. And in that time we have grown from 156 to 629 members. Of that total, 159 were new memberships alone. But joining and failing to renew does not constitute membership. So each year at this time we begin our annual membership drive. Your membership will not only be for 12 months but actually 15 as your discounts at our sponsors will run from receipt till April 30, 2011. Of your dues, either $25 for individuals or $35 for families, 80% goes to our LSUAA Scholarship Fund. Last year we created $6700 for scholarships with dues alone.

Add that to the $2000 donated for the Business School expansion, profits from tee shirt sales, crawfish boil and silent auction proceeds and we contributed $14,500 back to LSU in 2009. And that is why we have set a goal of $20,000 to be raised for scholarships in 2010. And you can be a vital part of that campaign. Renew your membership annually! Participate in our spring Crawfish Boil, our largest fund raiser each year. Order and wear proudly your Texas Tiger Tees. (You can order them on line using PayPal and the link on our website.) Continue to support our High School Recruiting Fairs. Attend our watch parties (remember- baseball season begins this month.)

Everything that you do for LSU and our Dallas Chapter bears fruit and we each have a role to play. What is yours? If you've been receiving these updates and have not joined our chapter, now is the time! We want your support!  We need your support! This is the year to become more involved in helping us fly our flag even higher in the DFW area. Can we count on you?

Watch our website beginning this month for more ways that you can get involved. And in the meantime, thanks for a great 2009.

Looking for a place to watch the Saints in the Super Bowl?  Check out our sponsor Granada Theatre for reservations.  For other events at Granada, enter the promo code "Alumni" at checkout to receive a discount.

Geaux Tigers! Geaux Saints!