Louisiana Voice

The library sagas continue with the most recent controversy, with St. Tammany Parish joining neighboring Washington Parish, according to an update to our Washington Parish story posted earlier today.

It seems that the St. Tammany Parish Library Board held a marathon special meeting in Madisonville that lasted more than nine hours on Jan. 21 an effort to hire a new library director that parish.

This underscores what LouisianaVoice wrote earlier about efforts by outsiders to usurp local authority under the guise of protecting innocent children from all that nasty porn that the reformers are so fascinated in—so fascinated, in fact, that they go around all over the state spending inordinate amounts of time going through books in search of prurient material. The question must be asked, though, are they really trying to protect children or are they trying to stimulate their own suppressed libidos?

Anyway, four finalists for the job were interviewed after which an extended conversation was held between Sonnet Ireland, the Washington Parish Library Director who will come under fire in that parish later today, and anti-library critic Devin McGee.

One witness to the conversation noted that McGee “was sitting within 10 feet of the security guard from the local police department, he (McGee) casually walked away from the conversation to chat with someone else.”

Despite that description, MeGee later filed a police complaint in which he alleged harassment and physical contact with police.

The observer who witnessed the exchange said a St. Tammany Council member (most likely, she said, David Cougle, an original anti-library activist who co-founded the St. Tammany Library Accountability Project) called the Washington Parish President who in turn called tonight’s “ad hoc” meeting with the likely intent of terminating Ireland.

To support her theory, she attached the following state from the presiding judge in the civil case Library Board members McHugh, Parr and Taylor v. St. Tammany Parish and David Cougle in his official capacity.

“Mr. Ireland is well-supported by those who know her knowledge, dedication and qualifications,” the witness said. “In addition to serving as Washington Parish Director, she has been a tireless advocate at the state level and in her (home) perish, St. Tammany.”

The 5^th Circuit Court of Appeal dismissed the discrimination lawsuit by the three members, ruling, incredulously, that they lacked “standing” to pursue such litigation, leaving court observers scratching their heads and wondering what the prerequisites of standing might be.

There appears to be the first rumblings of a gathering storm of sorts on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond as allegations of First Amendment violations, retaliation against employees and professors, the lack of meaningful pay raises, the expenditure of university foundation funds to pay for a vanity story on university President, Dr. William Wainwright and the denial of access to public records.

Dr. William Wainwright

While it may be a stretch to call it a full-blown insurrection (after all, only one person spoke at Wednesday’s Faculty Senate meeting: that was Dayne Sherman, a professor at Sims Library and former president of the faculty senate), but the lone speaker came with a full load of grievances against the current administration.

All that came following a lengthy PROFILE OF WAINWRIGHT in CEO Magazine, supposedly paid for by the university foundation, though the actual amount of the payment remains clouded.

University spokesperson Mike Rivault initially told Sherman it would cost him $21,000 to simply look at public records (even though state law explicitly says that viewing public records shall be allowed at no charge). Then he told another individual it would cost her $1250 to obtain copies of the accounting of expenditures for the article.

Then, he told LouisianaVoice he would obtain the records from the foundation. But lo and behold, two days later, he sent this email response:

From: Mike Rivault <mike.rivault@southeastern.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, February 4, 2026 4:33 PM
To: Tom Aswell <louisianavoice@outlook.com>
Subject: Re: SLU PUBLIC RECORD REQUEST

Mr. Aswell,

As per our discussion, there is no record of Southeastern Louisiana University expending funds on the CEO Magazine article.

Mike Rivault

First of all, we had no such “discussion.” To reiterate, he said he would obtain the records from the foundation for LouisianaVoice.

(This sounds very much like U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi first saying the Epstein records were on her desk and later proclaiming the records did not exist, only to have about 5 million pages of records suddenly turn up.)

Sherman noted that should a professor pay for a “fake peer-reviewed article,” he would be summarily fired.

Here is the full text of Sherman’s statement to the faculty senate:

I would like to talk very briefly about the Faculty Senate constitution. As we see in America at large, nothing can be more important than a constitution. Likewise, the US constitution provides the First Amendment, protecting everything we do in this room and in our classrooms, as well as when we are not at work. Three quick points about revisions: #1 I don’t believe we need less meetings of the Faculty Senate. There are too many important issues to cover—like academic freedom and faculty raises. #2 I think every department should have more representatives. At least 2 senators. #3 The constitution needs to be revised to offer clear guidelines for no confidence votes on an administrator. This is essential in today’s climate of fear and retaliation in colleges and universities.

And this leads me to the most important issue I believe you have faced since the firing of the 3 French professors. I would like you to consider a no confidence vote on President William Wainwright.

Please thoughtfully consider the following five reasons for a no confidence vote:

First, free speech and the First Amendment are under attack at Southeastern Louisiana University. Do you recall the October 1, Tulane First Amendment Law Clinic letter about how University policies are unconstitutional? Tulane attorneys wrote it on my behalf. They are Dr. Wainwright’s policies.

Second, retaliation is now the Southeastern Family Way. I was threatened by Dr. Wainwright on August 21, 2024. Told to shut up or else. It came to me through Library Director David Sesser. They never made it plain if I would be demoted or fired or if they would send Tony Soprano. One week ago, I was demoted 35 minutes after I got back to work from FMLA. It’s not just me. Dr. Feresteh Emami has been harassed, retaliated against, her pay cut, and demoted. This is absolutely a violation of the First Amendment and academic freedom.

Third, I believe we will not see a meaningful pay raise for at least decade under Dr. Wainwright, despite Southeastern being in the greatest shape in history. Just read his happy messages. Our last raise came from a legislative funding measure. All he does is talk and spend.

Yes, we have money to send Dr. Wainwright to DC Mardi Gras last week.

But no money for you. There’s always a DIFFERENT pot of money for him, but not for YOU.

Fourth, the CEO Magazine feature article is a scandal. It was paid for with SLU Foundation donor money. As much as $60,000. If a professor paid for a fake peer-reviewed article, he’d be fired. Quickly. (Note: Mike Rivault confirmed on Feb. 2, 2026, that the foundation paid for the vanity advertisement; the question remains, how much?)

And the fifth and final reason for a no confidence vote: Denying public records requests. I have been quoted $21,000 just to VIEW SLU public records and can’t file a grievance without relevant text messages and emails. I believe it’s patently against state public records statutes. (This public records saga has been going on for seven months.)

I do not see a way forward without a no confidence vote on Dr. Wainwright. It will be easier to get a new president than a new analytical chemist or a new senior librarian. It will save the University from more scandals and lawsuits, which cost big money. I believe your academic freedom and financial future rest on your careful deliberation and thoughtful decision.

I have receipts for everything I’ve said today. I would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you.