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McNeese State staff shows support for colleague

Several members of the McNeese State athletics staff, including AD Tommy McClelland, have shaved their heads in support of the cancer battle that assistant sports information director Pam LaFosse is experiencing.

McClelland,  along with associate athletics director Ryan Ivey, director of marketing/ticketing Nathan Fontaine, assistant baseball coach Bubbs Merrill and head men’s basketball coach Dave Simmons had their heads shaved by local barber Jimmy Fontenot on May 25.

“This is not so much about us shaving our heads as it is about us showing support for Pam, who is now undergoing her third bout with cancer,” McClelland said.

LaFosse is currently getting treatment at M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston for colon cancer. In 2001, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and in 2002 with breast cancer.  She underwent treatment for both and had been cancer-free for nine years until the colon cancer was found in March. Her sister died of colon cancer a year ago and her father died from the same disease in 1997.

LaFosse, who was a Cowgirl athlete in basketball during her college career, has served as the university’s full-time assistant sports information director since 1994. She was a graduate assistant before that.

LaFosse said those wishing to make donations on her behalf may do so through the Ethel Precht Foundation. Donations can be mailed to the McNeese State athletics department at: Donations for Pam LaFosse, 700. E. McNeese Street, Lake Charles, La. 70607 with checks made out to “The Ethel Breast Walk.”