As I had promised, I'd like to give you a few heads up. You'll notice that this update is different from the one on the home page of our website as it pertains to a specific goal of our chapter. Beginning this week, we will post the update on the website prior to emailing to our distribution list. And before I forget, I want to thank all of you who are receiving our Dallas LSU Updates. You've helped us connect to almost 1400 more alums and fans in less than 3 years. This is currently being sent to over 1825 email addresses.

The Auburn-LSU kickoff is set for 6:30 PM on Saturday and we'll be returning to Sherlock's for those of you in the midtown-uptown area. Check out the surprise that Sherlock's has for you on the home page update. Add to that specials on Heineken and Heineken Light as well as Amstel and Dos Equis and you have a treat waiting to happen. Seating was a premium at our last game so I suggest that you arrive by 5:30 to settle in for the battle.

Fox & Hound for those in N Dallas as well as Wings, Pizza and Things in Flower Mound will be serving up specials as well so bring your membership card and enjoy the 20% discount on food at each location. There you can invest in the most successful tee shirt campaign that we've ever had. Our Texas Tiger Tees for men and women have performed far better than we ever thought and all sizes are now in stock for the second half of the season. (Say you can't make one of our watch parties to purchase these? No problem! On our home page is the icon that takes you to our shopping cart where you can order using PayPal and we'll ship them anywhere in the US, including Texas.) These make great Christmas gifts so stock up on several for family and friends. And know that all profits from these sales go directly to LSUAA Scholarships for DFW students.

For those who may be new to our email list and the DFW area, let me bring you up to speed. Your Dallas chapter passes out cards to acquaint alumni and friends with our website and chapter. There is only one word underlined on the card- scholarships! The easiest way to give back to LSU is by increasing the number of scholarships available for qualified DFW students making it more affordable to attend an out of state university. And we have made it easier to do in the last few years. Your purchase of Texas Tiger Tees is but one.

The greatest revenue donated to scholarships has been our annual Crawfish Boil, which will be held next year on April 17, 2010, at Double D Ranch in Mesquite. All profits from the silent and live auction along with tickets sales goes to fund our 4 scholarships. That's right- 4! (Three are fully endowed and a fourth has been started this spring. Each scholarship requires $40,000 for full endowment.) When you think that 150+ students are attending LSU from the DFW area, 4 seems kind of puny, wouldn't you say? I hope you'll agree with me.

As a means of increasing the flow of funds to our LSUAA scholarships, we began a new program when we started issuing membership cards in 2007. Your $25 annual dues had an even greater importance. We began devoting $20 of the $25 dues directly to scholarships. Since 1/1/09, we have raised over $6000 for scholarships with new memberships and renewals alone.

But since there are over 1800 of us receiving this email, I feel like the glass is not even close to half full. Over 1400 alumni or friends of LSU have not become "active" members of our Dallas chapter. It's one thing to attend the watch parties and yell for LSU or the crawfish boil and enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor with friends. We all enjoy these. But if we want to continue to recruit the brightest and the best students from DFW in our quest to continue the raising of the educational bar in the LSU system (because we're fortunate to have members from LSUS as well as BR,) we have got to increase the number of scholarships available in the shortest time period possible! Other schools have seen what we've accomplished and they are aggressively recruiting with offers which we sometimes can't match.

But the one thing that very few universities have is Tier 1 status and with the athletic, social and educational advantages that LSU has to offer, we'll continue to be a force. But you can help in a win-win situation.

By becoming a member of our Dallas Chapter, your $25 annual dues allows instant endowment flow. If each of you who have not joined or renewed for this year do so, almost 3/4 of our 4th scholarship would be completed. Think about it! Your $25 investment in the future of LSU through membership in a LSU Alumni Chapter that you enjoy participating with allows someone else to share the same advantages that LSU gave you.  Sounds like a winner, doesn't it?

You can use the membership link on our home page for on line or downloadable application and payment. Over half of our membership has renewed for this year. If you aren't one of them yet, let me encourage you to do so immediately. Your membership card will be in the mail the same day that you complete your payment.

And know that I express the gratitude of the men and women who tirelessly man our Board of Directors and make the participation at all of our events that much more enjoyable for all of us. And know that I appreciate your taking the time to read all of this and look forward to welcoming you as a 2009 member of the fastest growing LSU Alumni Chapter outside Louisiana! If you're a card carrying member already, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Geaux Tigers!

John Pierce