BATON ROUGE- House Majority Whip Steve Scalise returned to his alma mater to deliver the keynote address to graduates of LSU Friday morning.

The ceremony was held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The crowd applauded as the Louisiana Republican took the stage.

During his address at the spring graduation, Scalise said he still has LSU pride and takes it everywhere he goes. He also told students about different aspects of the university that bond students and alumni together. Scalise said the “LSU family” is bonded by school pride, academics, athletics.

The keynote address also told students "that the commencement, is just the beginning."

Scalise issued three challenges to the students.

Challenge one was for graduates to stay in Louisiana. He wants students to use their talents and the skills they acquired at LSU to make Louisiana a better state. Challenge two calls for graduates to be champions for LSU. Scalise explained that graduates should give back whatever they can to the school. The third challenge was for graduates to maintain the friendships they made while at LSU.

Scalise also spoke about the shooting that injured him last year as well as his recovery. He mentioned how much it meant to have the support of LSU.

“We always stick together as LSU Tigers,” he said.