From the day she arrived at Nicholls State University in 1969 until her retirement in January of 2013, Debbie Raziano never left the college atmosphere.
Going forward, neither will her legacy. Raziano, a Luling native and the school’s longtime Alumni Affairs Director, recently received a major honor for her lifetime of work with the university. She was recently presented the James Lynn Powell Award at the NSU Alumni Federation Awards for Excellence, the highest award given to an alumnus of Nicholls. It is presented to someone considered outstanding in his or her field of work that supports both the school and the Alumni Federation.
The way she learned of her nomination was something of an ironic twist for Raziano, who often goes by the nickname “Raz.”
“When my former assistant called me and said she needed a copy of my current resume because I had been nominated, it really came as a shock,” Raziano said. “I was so touched and moved by it because for 32 years, I was the one making that phone call. All of a sudden I got the call and I went totally numb. The people who had received that award in years past were such giants … it made me ask, ‘why me?’”
So, why Raziano?
Her inexhaustible work ethic and love for her school and sorority was made clear by the volume of efforts she spearheaded. She simultaneously served as Nicholls’ Director of Alumni Affairs and as the National President of the Delta Zeta Sorority from 2004-2007. She served on numerous committees and boards and made a name for herself through her involvement in alum ni-related organizations on both the state and national levels. And since her retirement, she remains active, attending events and fundraisers on behalf of the school.
“I love Nicholls and all she stands for,” Raziano said. “I mean, when you look back, I’ve spend half of my life there.”
The funny thing was that Nicholls wasn’t her first choice. Raziano originally intended to attend USL, or what today is known as the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, but her father intervened, telling her the school’s reputation as a “party school” didn’t appeal to him as her eventual landing spot. He offered Nicholls as the alternative.
“I was there 10 days and I knew all I needed to know,” Raziano said. “It was such a peaceful place to be … I just embraced everything about it, from the faculty to the support of the students and to the family atmosphere, it was and still is a place people just love to be.”
So while it wasn’t her first choice, she quickly decided it was her best choice. She graduated with a degree in elementary education and spent six years traveling as a field representative for Delta Zeta, going city to city to establish new college chapters and to offer counseling to existing chapters.
“Most people travel for one or two years (for Delta Zeta). Some crazy people do it for six,” Raziano said with a chuckle. “I would go from school to school and some of them made that impression where they had some things we didn’t at Nicholls, and there were others that made be stop and say, ‘Gosh, it’s good to be a Colonel.’”
One of the more impressive institutions she recalled visiting was Texas A&M University, to where she made a trip that made a lasting impact.
“They were so steeped with tradition,” she said. “I thought, wow, if we could have some of those, it would really be a great thing.”
With that in mind, she established a number of what are now campus traditions, including the annual alumni crawfish boil and golf classic events.
As she wrapped up her traveling work with Delta Zeta, she was offered a job in Houston with a pharmaceutical company, but after two weeks of field work, she decided her ambitions were elsewhere.
Two weeks later, she was offered the chance to interview for her eventual position at Nicholls.
She attributes her impact at the school in large part to a work ethic she believes she learned from her parents, who established a number of eateries in the local community that include Creole Kitchen, Dixie Maid and — not surprisingly — Raziano’s.
“I really took that work ethic from them, and also the organizations I worked under,” she said. “I always felt that part of my job description was to represent our university and to do it well, and if I was invited to something, I felt I needed to be there.
“When you love something, it becomes very easy to do a good job. I’ve never felt like this was a real ‘job-job.’ It was a labor of love.”
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