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The University of Louisiana at Lafayette has gone pro – twice.
The New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Pelicans have each named UL Lafayette their Official Higher Education Partner.
Academic partnerships between the University and Louisiana’s only professional sports franchises were finalized late last year, said Dr. Joseph Savoie, UL Lafayette president.
The three-year collaborations will give UL Lafayette students and recent graduates access to internships, practical career experiences and networking opportunities. The Saints and Pelicans will fund two annual scholarships at the University for qualified students.
“UL Lafayette is committed to providing students with learning beyond the classroom that will benefit them throughout their lifetimes,” Savoie said. “The partnerships with the Saints and Pelicans will help the University meet that goal by providing professional development opportunities for our students.”
The franchises are planning experiences each semester that will put UL Lafayette students in contact with members of both organizations’ corporate offices. Possibilities include on-campus speakers and meet-and-greets, student job fairs, and career summits that focus on job applications and résumé building.
Such experiences and opportunities “are vital to student success,” said Michael Stanfield, New Orleans Saints and Pelicans senior vice president of sales.
“We are proud to align ourselves with such an exceptional institution that provides the highest standard of education to students not only in Louisiana but across the globe,” he added.
Dr. DeWayne Bowie, UL Lafayette vice president for Enrollment Management, said the New Orleans market is “a priority for us in our student recruitment efforts.”
The agreements permit UL Lafayette to display advertising signage in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and in the Smoothie King Center, the respective homes of the Saints and Pelicans. In addition, the teams’ social media accounts and digital platforms will spotlight their partnerships with UL Lafayette.
“This type of publicity is essential as we work to recruit students in New Orleans and throughout the Gulf South,” Bowie said.
The UL Lafayette Foundation will manage the agreement on behalf of the University. John Blohm is vice president for Advancement and the Foundation’s CEO.
“Partnering with the Saints and Pelicans is an exciting opportunity for the University. It will enable us to engage alumni, friends, potential students and their parents. Once they learn what UL Lafayette offers, and where we’re heading as an institution, they’re going to want to know more,” Blohm said.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 pm on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 in Delhomme Funeral Home of Maurice for Joseph Dua Broussard, Sr., 90, who passed away on January 13, 2020 at Eastridge Nursing & Rehabilitation in Abbeville.
Reverend Paul Bienvenu, Pastor of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, will conduct the funeral services.
Burial will take place in St. Alphonsus Catholic Cemetery in Maurice.
Mr. Broussard was a native and lifelong resident of Maurice. He graduated from Maurice High School as a basketball star. Following his graduation, Mr. Broussard served his country during the Korean War, rebuilding their country. After Joe’s years in the service, he farmed rice and raised cattle. He also had several other jobs working as a tug boat captain, he worked for U.L. Laundry, and worked as a butcher at The Canning Center at Maurice High School. He also worked for Riviana Rice Mill for many years, until he went to work for Vermilion Parish as a backhoe operator, where he retired. Joe was known to have the best garden around, giving the fruits and vegetables he produced to his family and friends.
Survivors include one son, Joseph Dua Broussard, Jr.; one daughter, Cheryl B. Granger and her husband, Albert, Sr; two step-daughters, Betty G. Guidry and Susan R. Boyle and her husband, Ricky; ten grandchildren, Parrish A. & Baillie M. Broussard, Albert “T-Al” Granger, Jr. and his wife, Amber, Brittany L. Granger, Brian K. Guidry, Scott R. Guidry and his wife, Casey, Guinn G. Lancon, Stacy L. Landry, William J. Lagneaux, Jr. and his companion , Jessica, and Jennifer S. Lagneaux; nine great-grandchildren, Bryce Granger, Lexi Guidry, Gavin, Landon and Owen Lancon, Brooke and Brock Landry, Lydia Sloane and Addison Lagneaux.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Philomene Bower Broussard, one grandson, Joseph Lagneaux; his parents, Marc Broussard and the former Marie Baudoin; and two sons-in-law, William J. Lagneaux, Sr. and Robert J. Guidry.
The family requests that visiting hours be observed at Delhomme Funeral Home of Maurice on Wednesday from 9:00 am until time of service. A Rosary will be recited on Wednesday prior to the funeral.
Pallbearers will be Albert Granger, Jr., William J. Lagneaux, Jr., Brian K. Guidry, Scott R. Guidry, George Comeaux, Jr., and Ricky Boyle.
Honorary Pallbearers will be Gerald Roy and Robert Romero.
The family would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the staff at Eastridge Senior Living in Abbeville for fulfilling his last few years with compassion and love from their amazing staff. The family would like to thank Hospice of Acadiana for all that they’ve done during Joe’s time of need, especially his nurse, Whitney. Last but not least, the family would like to thank the Acadiana Veteran’s Honor Guard for their continued service to our veterans.
Personal condolences may be sent to the Broussard family at www.delhommefuneralhome.com.
Delhomme Funeral Home, 200 Chief H. Fred Road, Maurice, LA is in charge of funeral arrangements.

BATON ROUGE — The children of Charles E. and Rose Ashy Broussard, of Vermilion Parish, have created an endowment to support an internship. The internship has been supported widely through contributions and funding by many friends and business associates of the Broussard family, for which the family is grateful.
The endowment sponsors, Yvonne Simon and her brothers, Richard, Alan and Hal Broussard, each have their personal memories of great moments in their father’s life.
Charles E. Broussard attended both LSU and Southwestern Louisiana Institute (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette). After college, Broussard spent some time in various successful business ventures before turning to his true passion for the remainder of his adult life — owning and operating Flying J Ranch.
Broussard’s life revolved around the ranch in Vermilion Parish, where he raised registered Charolais, Brahman and Charbray cattle as well as some crossbred cattle. Broussard was also successful growing rice, which eventually was transferred to his daughter, Yvonne Simon, and her husband, Conrad Simon.
Yvonne Simon is now general manager of the Flying J Ranch.
Richard, Alan and Hal Broussard left the ranch for other occupations. Alan, now retired, embarked on a successful worldwide career in the energy industry ascending to become a drilling superintendent for a major oil and gas company. Richard Broussard and Hal Broussard both have successful legal careers in the Lafayette area.
The three brothers also serve as officers and on the board of directors of the ranch corporation.
Richard Broussard, the oldest of the children, said their father was a ninth-generation cattleman, descending from the original Acadian Broussard immigrant, Joseph Beausoleil Broussard. Charles Broussard continued his family heritage when he acquired Flying J Ranch from his father, at first partnering with his brother William, and eventually acquiring total ownership.
The ranch was originally mostly marshland that was acquired in the late 1920s by Charles Broussard’s father and over time was converted to productive farmland and rich pastures for cattle grazing through a drainage and levee network the founding Broussard established in the ranch’s early years.
This heritage was the catalyst for Charles Broussard to not only become the rancher and cattleman for which he was well recognized in Vermilion Parish, but also to assume leadership positions in agricultural related organizations from the mid-1950s through the turn of the century.
The siblings recalled their father was president of a number of organizations, including the Vermilion Parish Cattlemen’s Association, the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Association, the Louisiana Beef Industry Council and a number of others. Charles Broussard was also the president and founder of the National Rice Growers Association.
The siblings best summed up their father’s lifetime of work by reflecting on Charles Broussard’s often-used words: “If you can find something in life to do that you enjoy doing, then you’ll never work a day in your life.”
In addition to his primary occupational interest, the siblings also are proud of their father’s role in conservation.
Alan Broussard noted his father was president of the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Seaway Association, which he would describe as running from Jacksonville, Florida, to Brownsville, Texas, and Yvonne Simon added their father was also interested in conservation efforts, especially coastal preservation.
Charles Broussard was a central figure in the push for recognition of the need for coastal zone management, which includes the area where Flying J Ranch is situated in south Vermilion Parish.
Consistent with these outside interests focused on conservation and public service though leadership in organizations, Richard Broussard emphasized his father had a strong interest in politics, hunting and fishing and was an avid supporter of the sports programs at ULL and at LSU.
Against this backdrop of appreciation Charles Broussard’s children have for their father and his heritage, one can easily understand the family interest in establishing this endowment.
“Our father worked on projects at the research station in Crowley until the hurricanes in 2005 and was also involved in the LSU feedlot trials in Alexandria during the 1960s and 70s,” said Alan Broussard.
The endowment will provide an internship for students in agriculture, who will work at one of these LSU AgCenter research stations, Hal Broussard said.
Yvonne Simon added the endowment expresses a preference that students from the Vermilion Parish area will have priority in receiving an internship, but the internship will be available to any student working at the H. Rouse Caffey Rice Research Station, Iberia Research Station or the Dean Lee Research and Extension Center.
“Most kids still going to college in agriculture come from agriculture families, and helping them grow in knowledge of agriculture — either in production, research or promotion — will be great for the industry,” she said.
The siblings sponsored this endowment not only for their father, but also for their mother, Rose Ashy Broussard. All of the siblings emphasized that Rose Broussard fully supported all of their father’s efforts and had many of her own that paralleled his work. She independently supported a broad range of causes, including the founding of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
Rose Broussard was very active in the Cowbelles organization for women who supported the cattle industry.
“Mom started the Ag in the Classroom program in Vermilion Parish and made sure that there was a proclamation signed every June for Beef Month,” Yvonne Simon said.
“Mom also promoted a Beef for Father’s Day program,” she added. “And during the month of March for six or seven years, Mom would travel with Dad all over the state with the Louisiana Cattlemen’s Queen promoting the beef industry.”
“The endowment is designed to make the AgCenter research facilities a way for young people to get involved and to enhance their interest in agriculture-related things that were important to Daddy,” Hal Broussard said.
The siblings agreed during their lifetime, at least once a week, if not more often than that, somebody in the Vermilion Parish area would approach father for help on some matter related to agriculture. And their father always was willing to provide his assistance.
They view the endowment as a way for their father and mother to provide assistance to persons wishing to engage in agriculture that will continue in perpetuity.