By Elizabeth Clarke, LCU News
PINEVILLE, La. (LCU News) – Louisiana Christian University held its annual Founders Day and freshman convocation Chapel, Aug. 18, welcoming its incoming Class of 2030 into the Wildcat Family.
President Mark Johnson told the freshmen they are now part of the 120-year story of
LCU (formerly known as Louisiana College).
“Today marks more than the beginning of a semester,” Johnson said. “It marks the
beginning of a new chapter in your life. Class of 2030, today you become part of a story that
began 120 years ago.”
Student Government Association President Journi Singleton welcomed freshmen into the
Wildcat family.
“You have people here who are not only going to challenge you but also encourage you,”
she said. “They’ll celebrate you and walk alongside you on your journey.”
Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director Steve Horn encouraged students to plug into a local church while in college and cultivate lifelong friendships.
Darrell Basco, chief operating officer with the City of Pineville, welcomed students on
behalf of the mayor and the city. He graduated from LC in 1997 in criminal justice and
worked as the chief of police for Pineville, serving the police department for 30 years.
“Always go where the journey leads you,” Basco said, telling students he came to LC after
attending three other universities first.
Keynote speaker for freshman convocation, Blaine Broussard, encouraged the students
to be thankful to be at LCU and for all they experience.
“Your tenure at this place is one that will mark your life in ways you cannot begin to
imagine,” Broussard said. “Be grateful. It’s that simple. In everything, give thanks.”
Broussard, a 2005 alumnus, played basketball at LC, attended school with three of his
siblings, found his calling, and met his wife.
He said he is grateful for the lifelong friends and time management skills that basketball
taught him. He didn’t know what his path would be when he entered college as a freshman,
but he took a biology class and eventually began considering medical school to become a
doctor.
“I spoke to Dr. Wade Warren,” Broussard said. “I remember where I was in Cavanaugh Hall
when he said this. ‘I don’t know if you can do this, but if you choose this path, everyone you
graduated high school with will have been making a living for over a decade before you see
a dime.’ That’s not exactly something you knit on a pillow.
“It was honest advice. It told me I could trust this man. In everything give thanks.”
He graduated with a double major in biology and chemistry and was accepted into LSU-Shreveport
Medical School. Today, he is a doctor at Freedman Clinic in Alexandria.
Broussard also met his wife and true lifelong best friend, Christine, at LC. She also was a
basketball player.
“Everybody always asks us how we met,” he joked. “We had chemistry together.”
Today, they have six children.
He concluded with a charge to students to use this time to begin writing their stories.
“You will be challenged in and out of the classroom,” Broussard said. “You will experience
heartache, and you will experience times of rejoicing. One hundred twenty years of stories
have been lived out on this campus. What a privilege to be a part of that story.”
Freshman convocation ended with a new tradition, the Wildcat Walk. Faculty greet each
incoming class as they walk toward Alexandria Hall, crossing under the arch at the front of
campus, greeted by the president and faculty. Upon graduation, students repeat the walk,
but walk away from campus under the arch, encouraged by the president and faculty on
their new journey into their chosen career paths.
