Richard and Seola Edwards' Contributions to the Forever LSU Campaign Acknowledged with Classroom Naming

Dick and CeCe Edwards cut the ribbon to the classroom named in their honor.

BATON ROUGE – Richard (Dick) and Seola (CeCe) Edwards were officially recognized on Friday, Nov. 13, for their Forever LSU contributions to French Studies at LSU with the naming of the Seola Arnaud Edwards and Richard V. Edwards Jr. Classroom. Located in room 424 of Hodges Hall in the French Studies Department on the LSU campus, the classroom is equipped for multimedia presentations and lectures. The Edwards' gifts to the university during the course of the campaign total more than $250,000.

"Dick and CeCe Edwards' endowment of three professorships in French Studies, and the time they have devoted, particularly to the Ubaye Valley program, have transformed the lives of many of our students and enhanced the quality of one of the College of Arts and Sciences' most distinguished departments. All of us in the college, and generations of LSU students to come, are forever in their debt," said Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Gaines Foster.

The Edwards' gifts reflect their enduring support for French language studies and for preserving Louisiana's French cultural heritage. In addition to their active participation in the Friends of French Studies at LSU, they have established three endowed professorships in French Studies – one honoring Mrs. Edwards' ancestor and the founder of Arnaudville, La., Jacques Arnaud, and a second honoring her parents, Albert and Angelle Arnaud. In addition, the Edwards have acknowledged her family's connections to the town of Arnaudville and Jausiers, its sister city in France, by establishing the Ubaye Valley Program Endowed Professorship honoring Mr. and Mrs. Jean Mercier, Mr. and Mrs. Jean Robert, and Mr. and Mrs. Pierre Martin Charpenel. This professorship was established in recognition of three couples who are civic leaders in the Ubaye Valley in southeastern France and who have played a crucial role in providing local community support for the immersion program that enables 20 LSU students to study in France each summer. The region is the ancestral home of the Arnauds, and the Edwards have been tireless financial and moral supporters of the program, its faculty and the LSU students who have studied there.

"Mr. and Mrs. Edwards' personal investment in the French Department at LSU is immeasurable," Kevin Bongiorni, currently the Ubaye Valley Professor of French Studies, commented. "The department's flagship program – LSU in the Ubaye Valley program – would not exist without them. So many people's lives – including those of students, faculty, administrators and members of communities in Louisiana and the Ubaye Valley – have been enriched by experiences at LSU and in the Ubaye Valley because of Dick and CeCe and their continued generosity and support."

The Edwards' contributions to the Forever LSU Campaign include the three endowed professorships in French Studies; an endowed professorship in the College of Basic Sciences; and gifts to the College of Engineering, the LSU Alumni Association, the Rural Life Museum, and the LSU Ag Center. Dick, a 1952 graduate from LSU in electrical engineering, and CeCe, a native of Arnaudville, currently reside in The Woodlands, Texas.

The Forever LSU campaign is the historic effort by the LSU community to attain more than $750 million for the university by the end of the year 2010. Since the beginning of the campaign in 2001, more than $659 million has been given in support of LSU by its alumni and friends worldwide. To find out how to join the campaign for LSU's future, visit http://www.foreverlsu.org.

For additional information regarding this story, the LSU Foundation or the LSU College of Arts and Sciences, contact Scott Madere at 225-578-3826 or smadere@lsufoundation.org.