May 20, 2011

Eulogy

RUSTON - With the passing of former Louisiana Tech President F. Jay Taylor Sunday, the University lost one of the most influential men in its century-plus history.

A man who served on the 16th floor of Wyly Tower for 25 years until retiring in 1987, Dr. Taylor was more than just a figurehead to a faculty and a student body ... he was a visionary in so many aspects of his position.

He was a friend to Louisiana Tech Athletics.

In a time before Title IX became a household term, Dr. Taylor made a commitment to providing an opportunity for women to compete while representing their University.

"His vision and understanding that women needed an opportunity was before its time," said current Tech head women's basketball coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "And when he created it, he then supported it. He believed in it. Every Lady Techster I know loves him deeply and appreciates that vision."

That vision and commitment helped put Louisiana Tech on the map.

In 1974, Dr. Taylor sat down with a young physical education teacher named Sonja Hogg and the result of that meeting was the creation of the Lady Techster basketball program.

Thirty-eight years, 13 Final Fours, 8 national title games and 3 national titles later - Dr. Taylor is known as the father of one of the most storied programs in the history of women's intercollegiate athletics.

"He built the Lady Techsters program into a national power," Hogg said earlier this week. "If not for him, the world wouldn't have known about the Lady Techsters. He was a great man and great friend to so many. His legacy will live on."

Dr. Taylor created it, he supported it and he cherished it.

From sitting perched in his front row seat of the Thomas Assembly Center wearing his red and Columbia blue boots to driving from small town to small town to watch his beloved Lady Techsters play to working tirelessly helping coaches recruit, Dr. Taylor supported his infant program and watched it turn into a national name.

"When I came on my visit (in 1983), he was so in tune with my dad," said Weatherspoon. "It was like they clicked. My dad was really outgoing and my mom is quiet.

"He told my parents, `We want her here.' I was like `There are 11 recruits here. There is no way they want me like that.' However, to hear him tell my mom and dad that they wanted me here, that is special to a young kid."

Special enough that Weatherspoon signed with Louisiana Tech and helped lead the program for the next four years, her career culminated by winning the Wade Trophy as the nation's top player and leading the Lady Techsters to the 1988 national title.

During that time, Weatherspoon played for Leon Barmore, one of the legendary coaches in the history of the game and another one of Dr. Taylor's success stories on the athletic side.

"For 25 years, he was Louisiana Tech," Barmore said. "I deeply appreciate the support he gave me and the opportunity that I was given to coach at Tech. All of the coaches who were at Tech during the time he served as president were fortunate to have a leader such as him because of the love he had for athletics. He realized how much athletics could mean to the University."

With the incredible success that the Lady Techster program had during the late 1970s when it moved onto the national scene, Dr. Taylor made another commitment to women's athletics when he built two of the top facilities on campus in the Thomas Assembly Center and the Lady Techster Softball Complex.

It was just another sign of his love and support for the University and its athletic program.

"You have to go back and understand where women's athletics was at that time," said former LA Tech head softball coach and Hall of Famer Bill Galloway. "That field should go on a landmark registration. In its time, it was one of the best in the country.

"The LSU's, Alabama's and Texas A&M's of the world need to thank Dr. Taylor because he was the one who said `I'm going to build something on campus that is for women's softball that is fully fitted and lighted.' That was unheard of back then. To do that was pretty remarkable in a time that no one had anything close to it."

Like with women's basketball, the commitment paid big dividends for the University as Dr. Taylor hired Galloway away from Texas A&M and watched the program quickly turn into a national power.

Under Galloway's leadership, the Lady Techsters softball program participated in seven consecutive NCAA Tournaments during the 1980s and advanced to the Women's College World Series in 1982, 1985 and 1986.

"The fact he made that commitment to softball and that he was going to do that for this program says a lot about him," Galloway said. "He wanted it right there where it was visible. He was really so involved with it and wanted it to be successful.

"I think there are so many people around Tech that owe a lot to for the opportunity he gave us and the resources he gave us to be as competitive as we were. He really needs a lot of credit. That was a wonderful Louisiana Tech man that has passed away."

Upon retiring from Louisiana Tech in 1987, Dr. Taylor remained actively involved in Tech Athletics for the past 24 years - mostly as the school's No. 1 fan.

And although gone in body, Dr. F. Jay Taylor's spirit will live within the thousands of people's lives that he touched.

No one is more motivated to keep Taylor's dream a reality than Weatherspoon.

"As long as I'm at Louisiana Tech, I'll keep his vision alive," Weatherspoon said. "He became embedded deep in my heart. No one can do it like he did, but I can certainly try."