“I didn’t hit my growth spurt till the 10th grade. I was a water boy for two years. On my third and last football game in high school, I had broken my arm.”
If ULM alumnus Dr. Joe Profit’s story had stopped there, he would not have become the all-American college athlete he is now. His number would not have been the first to be retired in ULM history. He would not have been the keynote speaker at ULM’s athletic program’s annual fundraiser, the Pursuit.
This year, the Pursuit began by introducing the new head coach for ULM’s women’s basketball, Brooke Williams.
“My focus is to win championships on the floor, in the classroom and in life,” Williams said.
Then, it was announced that ULM will be streaming all 29 women’s basketball games and 56 men’s baseball games this season.

President Bruno recognized several school achievements outside of athletic including: $56,985,000 raised for ULM’s campaign S.O.A.R. (Success, Opportunities, Achieve and Renovation), $12 million raised for the renovation of Sugar and Caldwell Hall and $179,000 was set aside for new lights in the Fant Ewing Coliseum.
ULM’s athletic director, Scott McDonald praised the athletic program for “racking up” 3,300 community service hours.

“I was a refugee from a colored college, and everything I’ve experienced since then has been good,” Profit said.
Growing up on a cotton farm with a father whose education had gone no farther than the third grade, Profit said he has a deep appreciation for having the opportunity to attend NLU which is now ULM.
“The only way to escape our community was to either succeed in school or sports,” Profit said.

Being one of the few African American students to attend the predominately white college, Profit had one thing in his pocket that exalted him above the other players, and that was a strong work ethic.
“My dad taught me there was honor in work, and I had taken that to the football field,” Profit said. “The challenges I faced at Northeast gave me the experience I needed to maneuver through life. I learned that I couldn’t limit my challenges, but I could challenge my limits.”

If Profit had not attended ULM he openly said he would have volunteered for the Vietnam War.
Pursuit for the past four years has been an opportunity for ULM to recognize decades of academic, extracurricular and personal achievement that has taken place at ULM.