Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: May 18, 1996
      Contact:                           John Kemp      28

NATIONAL HIGHER ED ADVOCATE TELLS SLU GRADS -- GLOBAL
ECONOMY TESTS NATION'S FUTURE
     
     HAMMOND -- Former Virginia Governor Gerald Baliles, a national advocate for higher
education and economic development, told graduates during May 18 commencement exercises at
Southeastern Louisiana University that higher education is the answer to "complex and
unprecedented challenges" facing the United States.
     "A highly competitive and relentlessly changing international economy tests our people
and our enterprise," Baliles said in his keynote address to the approximately 600 graduates.
     "Time and distance have telescoped to the point that billions of dollars can be transferred
in seconds from Zurich to Tokyo. People can fly from one continent to another in a matter of
hours, and the forces of market capitalism have changed the structures of governments across the
face of the earth."
     To succeed, he said, "schools must teach new skills, our workforce must acquire new
technical crafts, our businesses must find markets and lands far beyond the familiar borders of this
country."
     "In these times," he continued, "the nation whose citizens have the highest levels of
education and training will fare best."
     Baliles, who served as governor of Virginia from 1986 to 1990, is chairman of the Public
Broadcasting Service and the Southern Regional Education Board's Commission for Educational
Quality, a blue-ribbon panel that examined higher education as it headed into the next century.
SLU President Sally Clausen serves as vice chairperson on the panel. To audiences throughout the
nation, former Governor Baliles constantly reminds public officials and corporate heads that
higher education is America's number one asset and is essential to the nation's economic
development.
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HIGHER ED ADVOCATE -- Add one
     In a recent statement, Louisiana Governor Mike Foster voiced strong support for the
Southern Regional Education Board's nationwide campaign to draw parallels between education
and economic prosperity.
     "They have made the case in their report and subsequent video," Foster said, "that higher
education is America's number one asset and it is at risk. Governor Baliles made it so clear. . . the
connection between higher education and economic growth. As a businessman I can understand
that connection. . . that's why we're going to invest in higher education . . . before it's too late!" 
     In his comments to Saturday's graduates, Baliles said education is an investment in
Louisiana -- "an investment in a smart workforce that can make the state's economy stronger."
     "Your employers-to-be," he continued, "also have an investment in your being here, one
that will reap dividends as corporations worldwide learn how skilled employees can do more with
less in the face of tough competition."
     Despite the critical importance of higher education, Baliles said funding for public higher
education has suffered greatly in many states. "Funding per student has declined significantly," he
said, "while student enrollments have increased dramatically. Funding for maintenance of
buildings and grounds has been deferred while faculty salaries have not kept pace. The result, in
part, has been alarming increases in tuition for students and families and deteriorating conditions
in facilities and programs."
     He noted, however, that Louisiana and other states are working to improve higher
education. "That's good," he added. "Because our educational institutions have provided for us in
the past, there is a tendency, call it wishful thinking or complacency, to assume that they will
continue to do so in the future. Nothing could be more dangerous or more inviting of failure."
     Baliles congratulated Southeastern and President Clausen for the university's successes.
"President Clausen," he said, "is an officer of the Southern Regional Education Board and the
Education Commission of the States. She has gained enormous respect and admiration for her
leadership abilities in higher education."
     "For over the years," he continued, "Southeastern has demonstrated strengths in business,
nursing and industrial technology programs. It has provided management and leadership skills to
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HIGHER ED ADVOCATE -- Add two
 new elementary and high school principals throughout Louisiana. The university has connected to
thousands of citizens through the power of public television and carved out a national
environmental reputation with its coastal erosion programs at Turtle Cove. In short, Southeastern
has been a wise investor and good neighbor, making a major effort to provide its students with a
quality education while contributing to the economy of this region as well." 
     On non-economic matters, Baliles told graduates that education "can help hold this
country together."  He said civil liberties must be preserved and protected. "If they are not
defended and promoted," he said. "then our differences will divide us and our diversity will
destroy us."
     In addition to his work with the Southern Regional Education Board, Governor Baliles
chaired the Southern Growth Policies Board from 1987 to 1988 and the National Governors'
Association from 1988 to 1989. While heading both organizations, he directed the attention of
economic groups and the nation's governors to international development issues. The agenda and
its results were published as "America in Transition: The International Frontier." Governor Baliles
led a delegation of governors to Brussels for meetings with officials of the European Community
and NATO.
     In the business world, Baliles is a partner in the Richmond-based law firm Hunton and
Williams. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed Baliles chairman of the National Commission
to Ensure a Strong and Competitive Airline Industry.
      Assisting President Clausen in presenting diplomas to graduates was Dr. James Caillier,
system president of the University of Louisiana System. In addition, Dr. Mary Ella Sanders,
secretary of the Louisiana Board of Regents, was a special guest.
     During the ceremony, Southeastern presented an honorary doctor of humanities degree to
Louisiana Public Broadcasting president and chief executive officer Beth Courtney of Baton
Rouge. 
-SLU-