By HAROLD KELLER

There is a big difference between one’s reputation and one’s character. A reputation is what the public thinks of you. Your character is what you are.

Louisiana has a reputation for being a politically-corrupt state, and rightfully so. This reputation can be credited to the character of the majority of the residents. Our political reputation has been responsible for us being on the bottom of every positive list, including education.

A couple of weeks ago, the State of Louisiana kept its reputation intact and left no doubt about the character of most of its people. The incident I’m referring to is the hiring of Hal Mumme as head football coach of Southeastern Louisiana University. Do I blame Coach Mumme for accepting the position? Not at all! He was a coach forced to resign from the University of Kentucky after being accused of numerous recruiting violations and was looking for a spot to land without people taking his past into consideration. Evidently, the president of Southeastern, Dr. Randy Moffet, had no trouble recommending Mumme as their first coach since football was discontinued 17 years ago.

According to news reports out of Hammond, SLU’s revival is in Mumme’s hands. Keep in mind, when he left Kentucky, his salary was $800,000 a year. His new job will pay $75,000 a year. When it came to landing a job, I would think that because of his record, he had a big problem. To his rescue came Dr. Moffet and the Board of Supervisors of SLU.

In his contract, one incentive clause for attendance will give Mumme 10 percent of the ticket revenue each season, once the school has earned $100,000. I guess if we can give the Saints and the Hornets state money to run a private business, it’s OK to help poor Coach Mumme.

If it sounds like Mr. Mumme is the issue here, he’s not. The issue is the integrity of the state, SLU and, most of all, the university president, Dr. Randy Moffet. As president of a state institution, if his decision to recommend Mumme as the football coach is any indication of his character, or his ability to govern and shape the minds of our young people, I say, God help us.

HAROLD KELLER writes this column as part of his affiliation with the Get High on Life religious motivational group. Call him at (985) 652-8477.