Lamar University Press Logo

Titus is man with a plan

w.titus
Freddie Titus works with student Mikara Lloyd in the Student Engagement office in the Setzer Student Center. UP photo by Kami Greene

When Freddie Titus was an afro-haired undergraduate at Lamar University, he remembers dressing in a cream suit and attending a funk concert on campus.

Now, 40-odd years later, his suit is more low-key, but he wants students to have the same opportunities for fun he had.

Titus stepped into a new role as the Vice President of Strategic Services and Student Affairs this semester with a plan to rejuvenate LU’s social environment.  

Titus said people describe him as being “ground up,” because he has started at the bottom and worked his way up.  

“I was a student here at Lamar way back in the late ’70s, and I enjoyed my time here because Student Affairs was very engaging,” Titus said. “Actually, I worked in the Setzer Center as an undergraduate student. As a graduate of Lamar, I worked with the Greeks, who are part of Student Affairs.

“Now I’m leading Student Affairs, so I have ground experience with what that looks like, what that feels like, and the importance of meeting the needs of our students.”  

The Setzer Student Center is a space for students, Titus said. “The student union should be probably the most populated spot on campus because it is the space for students,” Titus said. “In that space, what we want to do is to make sure that we are engaging our students and providing programming that our students want.” 

Titus said he wants to transform the Setzer Center into a loud place. He said it is not a library and it should be a place where students gather, hang out, come to activities, and, definitely, eat. However, programming and engaging students around campus should not be left up to him alone, Titus said, but rather, the students themselves should be providing a majority of the feedback.   

“Without students none of us have a job, and so it’s about students,” he said. “I’m always going to surround myself with students and find out what is it that they want and what is it that they need because that is important to me. I tell people all the time, if you develop a program and no one comes to your program, they voted that whatever you were providing didn’t spark their interest.”

Students should be at the decision-making table, Titus said, and he plans to survey the campus to find out what the Cardinal community wants to be involved with.

“What is it? What programming are we going to provide?” he said. “Students need to be able to tell us what that should be.” 

Although Student Affairs is a large division, Titus said it all boils down to programming and the nonacademic services provided for students.  

“We want to make sure that we build leaders, so we provide leadership opportunities,” he said. “We also want to make sure that our students are well-rounded in terms of community service, (that) they engage in service projects and things that just make people good citizens. That’s a part of what we do in Student Affairs.

“And then, of course, provide fun activities because college can be challenging. Students need downtime, so we want to make sure that we’re providing opportunities for students in that area as well.”  

Despite being Titus’s first year in his new position, he is already changing up the game. Engagement levels from students are steadily increasing, he said, especially with the upcoming Homecoming concert featuring Waka Flocka Flame.  

“Because we got this Homecoming concert coming up, I saw social media people say, ‘Well, they didn’t have that when I was at Lamar,’” Titus said. “That is a sign that we are moving the needle. And last week at tailgating, we had more people at the game than usual, and all of those are indicators that we are on the right track.”    

Titus said the last concert he remembers being hosted at Lamar was back in the days when he dressed in his cream suit, afro, platform shoes, and a maxi coat to attend a concert featuring Earth, Wind, & Fire and Frankie Beverly.

“I hadn’t heard of any concerts here at Lamar, I’ve been here 41 years,” Titus said. “I know we’ve had some concerts, but I don’t think it was concerts where the students picked. Maybe it was an external company. (Waka Flocka) is actually sponsored by Lamar, so that’s a difference. If I remember correctly, I had to pay for that concert way back in the day. This concert is free to all our students. This is just the start.”  

Titus said he also plans to connect with student organizations and get their feedback, because it is crucial to empower student organizations since they significantly contribute to the extracurricular activities around campus.   

“I don’t have a name for it yet, but I think two Fridays out of the month, I’m going to be meeting with different students from different organizations for lunch,” he said. “I will foot the bill for lunch and just listen to what students want — and it reaches beyond just fun activities. My vision is to make sure that students walk away from Lamar saying that it was a great experience, both in the classroom and outside the classroom.”   

Providing students with the best experience on campus is like having a meal at a restaurant, Titus said.  

“What would you do if you went to a restaurant and you paid $20,000 for the meal?” he said. “What would you expect? You would expect the best meal of your life, exactly right.  

“On average, students pay more than $20,000 a year to come to Lamar over their four years, and so my purpose is to make sure that the experience is one of the best experiences that they have here at the university.”  

There’s research that says students who are engaged outside of the academic classroom tend to stay in college, Titus said. They tend to graduate because of those outside-the-classroom connections, and some of those connections last a lifetime.  

“One example of that is people in Greek letter organizations,” Titus said. “Their friendship goes beyond the days in college, and also with students who are in student organizations, you develop relationships that will last a long time, and that’s pretty cool.”  

From his days as an undergraduate student in his cream colored suit, to the leader of Student Affairs, Titus continues to strive for a better future for our Cardinal Community. Freddie Titus is truly the man with the plan.

Category: Features