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Good deed starts Marsala Professorship

Steering Committee
sets March 1, 2005
as campaign deadline ............................................(Click here for PDF of Contribution Form)

Dianne Howell
You never know where life is going to take you or whose path yours will cross somewhere down the trail. So it’s important to sow good seed and do good deeds along the way.

That’s why John Good Jr. (BS ‘75) is excited about chairing the Steering Committee for the new LSUS Alumni Association Vincent J. Marsala Professorship and made the first alumni pledge toward reaching the goal of $60,000 by March 1, 2005.

“Vincent was one of the first teachers I had at LSUS,” Good said, “and he is the last member of our original faculty. I loved history and he brought the facts to life, like we were there. He helped me as a young man. Little did I know that later on I’d be able to help a man who helped me. He started as a teacher and now he’s the chancellor of a university. He’s an example of tenacity and staying the course. He didn’t turn his back on us and made LSUS what it is today.”

Following the Alumni Association’s pledge of $10,000, Good’s leadership inspired other alumni and friends of LSUS to join the drive. Charter contributors at press time include Mike Woods (BA ‘75), Dr. Phillip (BS ‘77) and Alma Rozeman (BS ‘77), Dr. Lacy and Edie Williams (BA ‘88), Dr. Woody (MLA ‘87) and Anne (MLA ‘88) Wilson, Mike Harper (BS ‘76), Joe Callaway Jr., Randy Brown (BS ‘85), Marcia Calhoun (BGS ‘00), Glenda Erwin (MLA ‘85), Dianne Howell, Gregg Trusty, Janet Maines (BA ‘84), Leonard and Pam Simek (BCJ ‘93), Dr. Stuart and Pat Mills, Dr. Gloria Raines, Mike (BS ‘75) and Suzanne Ferrell, and Dr. Barzanna White (BS ‘86, SSP ‘89).

The current total stands at $41,000. When $60,000 has been raised, the LSUS Alumni Association Vincent J. Marsala Professorship will be formally presented to the Louisiana Board of Regents for matching funds of $40,000, bringing the total amount of the endowed professorship to $100,000. The future designate of the professorship will receive annual interest income of about 5 percent ($ 5,000) to use for special programs and projects.

According to Good, who is a member of the LSUS Alumni Association Board of Directors, the board and other alumni would like to expand the professorship in the future. “If we can reach our objective for the professorship,” he said, “we would like to set a goal of another $60,000 for a super professorship. Then it would be great to move on to funding a Chair. The Alumni Board is committed to seeing this project through to completion.” An endowed Chair requires total seed funds of $600,000 with a $400,000 match from the state.

Good is no stranger to hard work and believes in persevering until visions become reality. He credits men like his father and Marsala for instilling in him endurance and a strong work ethic. “I maintained a full schedule at LSUS and worked 40 hours a week to help my parents out. I was the first on both sides of my family to graduate from college.”

Good went to LSUS because it was available and because he could get a high quality education. “The way LSUS grew from a two-year college to a four-year university worked perfectly for me,” he said, “and I know Vincent was instrumental in that happening. When I was a sophomore, they added the junior year and so on, so I was a member of the first graduating class in 1975. Even back then, I know God was providing a way for me to realize my dreams.”

As far back as Good can remember he wanted to be an architect, but admits that he “couldn’t cut the chemistry.” However, he was good at math and business, so he pursued his goals through other avenues, eventually becoming a developer.

“I always wanted to build a residential community that was set up like the old-fashioned neighborhood I grew up in,” he said. “Because of opposition, Stonebridge took me 2½ years to complete when it should have taken six to eight months. But I learned that the more you hang in there, the more you build your patience. Perseverance is so important. If you believe in what you are doing, don’t give up. The only way somebody can stop you is for you to give up yourself.”

His latest project, Louisiana Boardwalk, a “family-friendly power entertainment/shopping center,” was more than 10 years in the making. “In January 2001 after six years of planning, we finally got our Main Street concept on paper,” Good said. “Then we presented it to Bossier City and they agreed and bought in. We have now partnered with O&S Holdings of California and expanded the original design. We just kept working until it became what it is today.”

Now, less than four months away from the scheduled Grand Opening on March 18, Louisiana Boardwalk comprises nearly a half mile of big name tenants like Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, Regal Cinema, Reebok, Big Dog, Guess? and Joe’s Crab Shack. Stretching along the banks of the Red River, the project also includes a four-story “smart” parking garage that tells you which levels have spaces left; an old-fashioned trolley car, and a marina. Good is fond of saying “you can park, shop, eat and be entertained without getting back in your car.”

He says God’s grace and personal perseverance made it happen. “I came from a two-room house with an outdoor toilet,” he said, “and my family and I have worked and sacrificed for everything you’ll see at Louisiana Boardwalk.” Ironically, Good’s business partner, Paul Orfala of O&S Holdings, is the founder of Kinko’s, a business he built from a second-hand copier operated out of his garage. Likewise, Bass Pro’s owner, Johnny Morris, also started small with a home-grown bait stand in his dad’s storage room that grew to a mail order catalog and finally the Bass Pro chain.

Good encourages everyone with a dream to keep moving toward it. “There’s so many more people who say you can’t do it than say you can,” he said. “Don’t listen to the naysayers. If I had a nickel for every time someone has told me I was crazy, I’d be a rich man.”

Good is sure there are times when all visionaries wonder if they are on the right path. But he also believes “that God has a plan for each of us and that you should make a difference in life, not just walk through it. Just because you’re making a good salary doesn’t mean you’re fulfilled. I’ve been there, making the money, but wondering why I was doing it. If you’re not making a difference, you’re just making money.

“What we’re doing with Louisiana Boardwalk will make a difference to families. What Vincent has done with LSUS made a big difference to me and countless other graduates through the years. I was inspired to see the Boardwalk project through and it’s put me in the limelight. I speak to adults and kids, share my Christian faith, and tell them there’s nothing you can’t do if you are willing to work hard and pay the price without compromising your integrity and morals. Most of the people I know who are making a difference started small with a big dream and just kept moving no matter how many obstacles they faced.”

For John Good, sowing good seed and doing good deeds along the road to success have reaped big rewards. Now he wants to give back to the university that gave him his start. He hopes all graduates will consider the impact LSUS has had on their lives and plant a seed with the LSUS Alumni Association Vincent J. Marsala Professorship or their colleges that will afford the same opportunity to others.

(See Alumni News on Page 7 for information about the Annual Fund Campaign and a variety of avenues through which you can support LSUS.) .(Click here for PDF of Contribution Form)