Rusty Cloutier, President and CEO of MidSouth Bank, is hosting a tailgating party for the University of Lafayette and Nicholls Football game that will be held on Sept. 14 due to Cloutier’s strong ties with Nicholls.
Cloutier, a native of Morgan City, graduated from Nicholls in 1968 with a Bachelor Degree of Science in Finance and Economics. He has been working for MidSouth Bank since 1984, and now manages 60 locations in Louisiana and Texas.
Nicholls Alumni usually host a tailgating party at UL’s campus every year when Nicholls plays UL, but this year MidSouth Bank and Cloutier will host the tailgate. No dollar amount was given when asked how much MidSouth will be donating to support this tailgating, but they said they will provide a tent, food, drinks and giveaways.  This is their first year hosting the Alumni tailgate, but they are hoping to make it an annual event.
“We are just really excited to partner up with the alumni of Nicholls, and we have a great presence in the Houma and Thibodaux area and are hoping to meet new people,” said Ceci Thomassie, Regional Marketing Manager of MidSouth Bank.
Midsouth Bank and Cloutier decided to host this tailgating party because of the strong ties Cloutier has with Nicholls. In 2006, Cloutier was honored as the Outstanding Alumnus from the College of Business Administration.  His other motivation in hosting the party is to give Midsouth Bank more advertisement and to bring in clients from different areas.
Cloutier’s most recent accomplishment, is his book, Big Bad Banks, where he talks about how greed and ego among the big shots in banking and government created the crisis that wrecked the economy.
MidSouth Bank is located around the Thibodaux and Houma area and supports Nicholls State on many different occasions. MidSouth Bank is also the sponsor of Nicholls’ Athletics and the official bank of the Southland Conference.
Hosting this tailgating party is Cloutier and MidSouth Bank’s way to give back to Nicholls.
The game will be played at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, but tailgating begins at 3 p.m. and their stand will be held on Rhine Heart Drive near Cajun Field.