Alumnus Sam Riehl ‘18 has had a passion for building and design from an early age.
Club Spotlight: Houston Ragin' Cajun Club
Wed, 07/20/2022 - 10:00am
Ask Adam Pisani what he loves about Houston, and he’ll tell you, “There’s a lot of opportunities here, and it’s not too far away from Louisiana.” For this Houston Ragin’ Cajun Club president, Louisiana will always feel like home.
Just a three-hour drive from campus, it’s no wonder Texas’s largest city is also home to around 10,000 UL Lafayette alumni — the largest number of University alumni you’ll find in one place outside Louisiana.
Pisani says the Houston Ragin’ Cajun Club makes it easier to connect with like-minded people who share a common bond in a city this size. Ragin’ Cajun Clubs are alumni organizations whose members live within the same geographic region, such as a city, parish, state, metropolitan area, etc. There are nearly two dozen active clubs across the country and around the world working to keep UL Lafayette alumni engaged and connected in meaningful ways.
Multiple times a year, an army of Houston alumni volunteers come together to plan, prepare and host an array of events. “We have had lots of happy hours, gathered around football games and baseball games, crawfish boils, Coach Caravans, and other University educational events,” Pisani said.
Looking forward to the upcoming academic year, the Houston Ragin’ Cajun Club is already making plans for football and baseball events and, hopefully, more crawfish boils. In true Louisiana spirit, they “can always find a good reason to have an event and catch up with friends.”
There could not be a better reason to gather than when the Ragin’ Cajuns take on Rice University in Houston on September 17 at 6:30 p.m. CST. The Houston Ragin’ Cajun Club is ready to celebrate this first away game of the season with a happy hour on Friday, September 16. The Alumni Association will release more information about this event soon.
For alumni traveling to Houston for the big game, Pisani assures us “there is no shortage of fantastic places to eat and hip new establishments to enjoy like the Kemah Boardwalk or Moody Gardens down in Galveston.”
When Pisani is not cheering on the Ragin’ Cajuns or connecting with fellow alumni, you can find him spending time on his ranch and enjoying family life with his wife CJ, their two children, Hudson, 17, and Addison, 15, and the family’s black lab, Dixie.
To learn more about the Houston Ragin’ Cajun Club, contact Adam at adampisani@allstate.com or like the club’s Facebook page. You can also visit Cajun Compass, a professional networking and mentorship platform for the UL Lafayette community, and join the Houston alumni group to stay connected with fellow alumni.
Photo Caption: UL Lafayette Alumni Association Past President Chantelle Aaron and Houston Ragin' Cajun Club President Adam Pisani stop to take a photo at a club event in Houston. Photo Credit: John Claude Arceneaux / UL Lafayette Alumni Association