Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 3/4/96
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple  68

SLU FASHION MERCHANDISING STUDENTS TOUR NEW YORK
     HAMMOND -- A group of Southeastern Louisiana University fashion merchandising
students will be happy to attest that college can really be fun -- even the experience of a lifetime.
     The 20 students and their instructor Jackie Didier spent six days, Feb. 17-22, on a
"fashion tour" of New York City. They visited sites related to the fashion industry -- and their
future careers -- such as Gerber Garment, the Diamond Bridle Collection showroom, a manequin
manufacturer, the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's haute
couture exhibit and a textitle manufacturer.
     They also "played tourist," seeing sites such as the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade
Center, Soho, Greenwich Village, Tiffany's and the Broadway musical "Showboat."
      Tammi Davis, Melissa Breeding and Gretchen Sherman even got up at the crack of (a
very cold and rainy) dawn and positioned themselves outside NBC's Today Show. Melissa,
waving a sign wishing "Happy Mardi Gras!," got air time and the opportunity to give
Southeastern and the fashion merchandising program a free plug on national television.
     The week in the Big Apple, said one student, "helped complete the circle of why I'm
learning what I'm learning." "Quite a few of us are ready to move to New York," laughed
another.
     This is the second year that Southeastern has offered the tour for fashion merchandising
majors as required element of the fashion merchandising curriculum. Dr. Peggy Campbell led the
group last year; the "job" fell to Didier in 1996.
     Students making the trip were Gretchen Sherman, Hammond; Tammi Davis and Jeri
McIntyre, Ponchatoula; Amanda Beaver, Amite; Joell Sciortino and Tamara Cupit, Walker;
Berma Gauley, Denham Springs; Stacey Porter and Jussara Rohrer, Mandeville; Paula Dupuy,
Pride.
     Also, Angela Brown, Zachary; Tiaa Clark, Lutcher;  Robin Crifasi, New Roads; Ashley
Northington, Christine Pirello, Melissa Breeding and Monica Kavanaugh, Baton Rouge; Jancie
Corie and Sarah Deshotels, Greenwell Springs.