By Malcolm Butler
Ryan Ivey isn’t wasting time.
Just one month into his role as the new Director of Athletics and Vice President at Louisiana Tech, Ivey spent an hour Thursday night at the Davison Athletics Center having an open dialogue with about 40 fans on the subject of football tailgating.
It’s the first of what is expected to be many Tech Talks, where Ivey and the Tech Athletics administration gain feedback and open a direct line of communication on subjects that they feel are important to moving the game-day experience and other things forward.
“I thought we had great dialogue and great participation,” said Ivey. “People came with great ideas and were not afraid to share them and to bounce ideas off of each other. I thought the hour went by quickly and we got a lot of feedback and took a lot of notes. Hopefully, we will have the opportunity to put some of it into play.”
Ivey began Thursday night’s session introducing himself for the first time to many in the room. He explained his desire for the sessions to be beneficial to all parties and asked for direct feedback, in this case on the challenges that some fans have faced in home game-day tailgating.
Tech alum Mike Dupree who tailgates with a number of his old Sigma Nu fraternity brothers from the 1990s said he felt the opportunity to express his opinion and concern is a positive start.
“I think the big issue at Tech has always been communication, both with the fans and internally,” said Dupree. “I believe these meetings are a step in a very positive direction and really hope they turn out to be productive. I think Mr. Ivey seems very open to the input of the Tech Family and that’s refreshing.”
Many of the concerns verbalized on Thursday night were in regards to access, or lack thereof, to certain tailgating areas on home gamedays, price points for tailgating spots, lack of knowledge of open tailgating areas, the concern of lack of student participation in tailgating, and the desire for more green space for tailgating.
Ivey, who has yet to experience a home football game, encouraged transparency and directness throughout the session and asked follow up questions to gather even more insight.
Ruston Mayor Ronny Walker has been around Louisiana Tech Athletics and involved in home football gamedays for decades and in many different roles. From a Tech Athletics Department employee to a business owner to the mayor of Ruston, Walker has seen plenty of things change over the years.
And although he understands that change can be difficult at times, he also believes Ivey’s open forum concept will provide a tremendous opportunity to engage with the Tech fans and learn from that side of the street.
“I think it is incredible for him to reach out to the stake holders to hear their thoughts,” said Walker. “It’s really easy sometimes for us in the job not to get input from the people who actually make things happen. I think its incredible. I think its speaks volumes about Ryan’s leadership style and abilities. I commend him and Dr. Henderson for their direction. To me it’s a whole new way of doing things, and I am very, very excited about the future.”
Ivey is scheduled to hold the next Tech Talk in Shreveport on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. at Freedom Fields in conjunction with the Red River Run-Through, an open football practice where fans can come watch Sonny Cumbie and Co. in action.
