An e-mail message from Northwestern State University president Dr. Marcus Jones convened members of the university’s three major alumni boards for an afternoon conference call today, possibly dealing with the status of the NSU football program in the aftermath of the shooting death of a player on Oct. 12.
Members of the NSU Foundation, Alumni Foundation and Demons Unlimited Foundation boards were asked to join the call with Jones in an e-mail sent by the president’s office. No specific topic was included in the message. Including the Demons Unlimited Foundation board in the call would probably indicate the call would center on an athletic issue.
Speculation began yesterday from sources both local and around the state that the rest of NSU’s season would be cancelled with rumors that the team walked out of a meeting Wednesday. The team did conduct its practice Wednesday afternoon as scheduled.
Ronnie Caldwell Jr., a 21-year-old football player and business administration major from Austin, Texas, was killed in a shooting at the Quad Apartment Complex (formerly the Frog Pond) in an early-morning shooting Oct. 12. NSU’s football game that weekend at Nicholls was cancelled. The Demons played last Thursday night at home, a week after the shooting, and lost 37-20 to Southeastern.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the shooting but neither has been charged for Caldwell’s death. Both face charges of possession firearms and drugs, and both were roommates of Caldwell. One was a 27-year-old non-student. The other was a former member of the football team who played in four early-season games but left the team before the shooting.
The NSU team is scheduled to play Saturday at McNeese, which is celebrating its homecoming. NSU’s homecoming observance is next weekend, Nov. 3-4, centered around an afternoon home football game.
