SEMO ASPIRANT CALLED STRONG ON ACADEMICS

People referred to Southeastern Louisiana University at Hammond as "Slow Learners U" before G. Warren Smith became its president. Under Smith, the school has developed a solid academic reputation.

Smith -- a finalist for the presidency at Southeast Missouri State University -- is credited with boosting academic quality and enrollment and taking courses to the region during his eight years as president of Southeastern Louisiana. Enrollment doubled from 7,000 to 14,000, making it the fastest growing university in the nation.

Smith and his wife will visit Southeast Missouri State University this week. Smith will meet with the Board of Regents, faculty, staff, students and public in a series of meetings Wednesday and Thursday. A public reception for Smith will be held at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the University Center Party Room.

"He has taken us from a sleepy Slow Learners U to a very strong, competitive institution," said Mary Sue Ply, Faculty Senate president.

But Smith's academic successes weren't enough: In the end, Louisiana politics and football forced him out, supporters say.

Critics blamed him for not restoring the football program, which had been eliminated as a budgetary move.

During Smith's tenure, the school's statewide board of trustees launched an audit of his finances. The audit concluded that Smith and his wife, Constance, then a research associate at the school, owed the state nearly $7,000 in travel expenses.

The Smiths disputed the findings, but in the end they repaid the state more than $4,000 and lost some of their annual leave time.

Faced with growing opposition from the board, Smith resigned Feb. 24, 1995. But he remained at the school as a tenured chemistry professor.

His champions, on campus and in the community, describe the 55-year-old Smith as extremely bright. He is a biochemist with a doctorate from Cornell University, a classically trained violinist, a collector of Eskimo artifacts and an expert on the organic medicines of the Arctic Circle.

Smith was vice president for academic affairs at Southeastern when then-president Larry Crain decided to eliminate the football program in the mid-1980s. Smith agreed with Crain's decision that the school could best use the money to upgrade its academic programs.

The elimination of football proved unpopular with some of the school's alumni and fans.

In a state where college football is almost religion, the idea of eliminating the football program seemed unthinkable.

As president of Southeastern, Smith didn't hang out at the local country club like the football team's most vocal supporters.

Davis Chandler, a Hammond dentist, was one of the leaders in the effort to oust Smith. Chandler complained that Smith lacked people skills.

"If you put him into a room with no windows and a computer, he'd do excellent," Chandler told the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper in 1992.

"But you can't be president of a Louisiana school and do that," he said. "You've got to be able to mix with people. You've got to raise money. You've got to go to the legislature and fight for your money."

Chandler refused to talk about Smith when contacted by the Southeast Missourian.

Darryl Morris, a graduate of Southeastern and a former fullback and linebacker at the school, said the effort to oust Smith centered around football. Morris said he and others viewed the ouster of Smith as the first step toward reinstating football.

"It was not an attack on him; we just didn't feel like we were getting support for football," said Morris.

Since Smith resigned, football still hasn't returned to Southeastern. But Morris is hopeful it will.

Backers of Smith acknowledge that he doesn't have good-old-boy Southern charm.

"He is not going to be the kind of president out there back slapping, playing golf and having a beer down there at the local tavern," said Ronald Zaccari, Southeastern's provost.

"He doesn't light up a room when he walks in," Zaccari said.

But the provost, community leaders, and the region's state lawmakers said Smith was an effective leader.

Under Smith, Southeastern set up outreach centers, many of them at local high schools. "We teach courses in seven parishes," Zaccari said.

"We increased off-campus credit course, offerings 218 percent since 1987."

Hammond is at the crossroads of interstates 55 and 12, situated about midway between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The greater Hammond area has a population of 30,000 to 35,000.

About 85 percent of Southeastern's students are commuters.

Open enrollment and the decision by Louisiana State University to raise its admission requirements figured in Southeastern's enrollment gains.

But quality academic programs, a friendly campus, Southeastern's decision to offer classes in the outlying areas and the population growth along Lake Pontchartrain were major factors, Zaccari said.

Pat Graves, former president of the Hammond Chamber of Commerce, said most business people in the community backed Smith.

She said Smith was instrumental in developing Fanfare, a monthlong celebration of the arts that attracts large crowds each October.

Graves said the university's growth has benefited the local economy. "The university is the largest institution that we have." The school has more than 1,000 employees, including nearly 500 faculty.

Charles McKaskle, former mayor, said there was a good working relationship between the city and school. McKaskle is among those in Smith's corner.

"I hope something good happens for him," McKaskle said. "I think he deserves it."