When Louisiana attorney Richard Gallot was elected to the state legislature, the then-rising young Democrat took office with a new rising Republican governor. It did not take long before the two realized they needed to work together to do their jobs and achieve their goals, among them staying afloat as high-profile political figures in the Bayou State.
“Regardless of who’s in charge, they (elected officials) have an obligation to represent our interests,” Gallot says, stressing the importance of responsibility over political objectives.
Today, as New York businessperson Donald Trump has risen to the presidency of the United States, Gallot, the new president of Grambling State University, has advice for his peers, offered as a seasoned politician turned higher education administrator: connect with your so-called adversaries early, earnestly and often.
“We are very polarized now,” says Galllot, who spent 15 years serving in the Louisiana State Legislature working with two Republican governors during his terms in the state House and Senate. “It’s going to take members of state legislatures and Congress to do their jobs,” he says, having worked with politicians whose personalities have run the gamut.
“It’s important to connect” beyond paperwork and memos with peers and adversaries at every level of influence, says Gallot. It is important, he says, to “develop something beyond your official relationship.”
Approaching his challenges from that point, Gallot says he has already sought to engage the member of Congress representing the district in which Grambling is located. Recently, during a visit to Washington, he contacted the Congressman, Rep. Ralph Abraham, regarding getting a tour of the White House for his wife who was accompanying him for an official visit. Abraham arranged for his wife to meet with Gallot’s, the president says. They toured the official mansion and lunched together, he says, making him more than just a name sending documents for help.
Such gestures are necessary today, as university presidents encounter an entirely new crew of federal higher education officials under Trump, many of whom have little, if any, real-time experience in higher education policy and administration. Behind Trump’s crew are elected lawmakers of all political parties who are likely to serve as long, if not longer, in their respective offices than Trump, he says.
