The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

The Official Student News Media of Southeastern Louisiana University

The Lion's Roar

    Sullivan given Twitter farewell

    After a decade and a half of service to the Southeastern Athletics Department, Assistant Athletic Director for Media Relations Matt Sullivan has been shockingly laid off due to budget cuts. Sullivan, who served as the primary source for news regarding Southeastern Athletics for fifteen years is one among many that have been laid off as a result of the latest cuts. Sullivan declined to comment.
    Damon Sunde, the assistant director for media relations, says the choice “came from above.”
    “It boils down to budget cuts,” Sundae said. “I think everyone in the state, and all universities have to deal with [cuts] and whatever our budget situation was, it called for layoffs.”
    The response on Twitter and Facebook included a mixture of sadness, support and shock from friends, family, student athletes and co-workers.
    Many colleagues and family members knew of Sullivan’s departure before it became official on August 8. On July 28, Brandon Frank, the game day coordinator at Southeastern tweeted, “@MattSulli123 gonna miss you at school and the late night football games but won’t be forgotten, especially the work you put in.”
    Student athletes also voiced their love through Twitter. On July 27, junior tight end for Lions football Jeremy Meyers tweeted, “Support goes out to @MattSulli123 for the support he personally brought me and his constant positivity he brought everywhere he went.”
    WAFB sports anchor Jacques Doucet tweeted on July 26, “@MattSullivanSLU does the work of at least 5 people and gets laid off because of budget cuts. Will be a killer SID somewhere else soon. Book it.”
    Kati Morse, a former Lady Lion softball pitcher, went to vent through Facebook on July 26 saying, “You have left a huge pair of shoes to fill. In fact, they might as well just put them back in the box because no one will be able to take your place.”
    Morse, who will also come onto the Media Relations staff as the graduate assistant continued on in her heartfelt post saying, “Who knows where I will be in five years in the sports world, but I do know this: whatever success I may have, I owe mostly to you.”
    Sullivan was the main contact for men’s football, basketball and golf, and he managed the 15 Division I athletic programs while also overseeing the Sports Information Department. He started out as a SID intern at Southeastern in the 1990s and has been in his most recent role since 2007. Other efforts included managing the Lionsports.net website and acting as a chair for the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
    Sunde said, “at that this point it’s just me and Kemmler [Chappel], and Katie Morse as our grad assistant. There’s no specific sport that she will be handling, but she will be helping us on a day to day basis with all sports.”
    For information about Southeastern Athletics contact Damon Sunde at 549-3774 or Kemmler Chappel at 549-3221.

     
     

     

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