Students Upset by Paper's Call to Close Southern-New Orleans

Hold Town Hall-style meeting to plan response to Baton Rouge Advocate

By John Guillory, Black College Wire

Photo credit: Josh Halley/Southern Digest Avis White, president of the Student Government Association at Southern University-New Orleans, told fellow students that "we are displaced, not destroyed and we will be back."

Oct. 24, 2005 - Students from hurricane-damaged Southern University-New Orleans held a "town hall"-style meeting to protest an editorial in Baton Rouge's daily newspaper that declared, "New Orleans and Louisiana would be better off if the state does not rebuild Southern University in New Orleans."

Most of the New Orleans campus sustained major flooding damage -- up to the second floor in some buildings -- after a levee breached during and after Hurricane Katrina hit land Aug. 29. The state has estimated the damage to campus buildings at $50 million.

The university plans to open a trailer campus with temporary housing and classrooms by January.

"SUNO only exists because of the evils of segregation . . . it just doesn't make sense to rebuild failure," the Oct. 17 editorial in the Advocate, published in the state's capital city, said.

"Its record is poor. Its existence has always been more about racial politics than education policy. And the reality is that Louisiana cannot afford an infinite number of low-performing four-year universities."

Avis White, SUNO student government president, expressed her displeasure before 150 students and faculty who met Oct. 19 on the Southern University-Baton Rouge campus. White, a senior from Vacherie, La., urged supporters to write letters to the newspaper.

"We need to inform them that these comments are false, insulting and unappreciated," White said. "SUNO serves a nontraditional population that no other college does. We need to notify them that we are displaced, not destroyed and we will be back."

Some students supported White and suggested mailing the newspapers back to the publisher, Douglas Manship Jr. Some suggested a protest in front of the newspaper's main office.

Though most students present were disappointed by the editorial, some said they needed more support. Angela Sanders, a graduate student pursuing a master's degree in social work from SUNO, said students everywhere should get together to fight.

"SUNO appreciates all the help from the Baton Rouge campus, but more students and administration need to show support to combat the deception of the Advocate," Sanders said.

According to former SUNO chancellor Joseph Bowie, who is now a professor at the school, the Advocate published a similar editorial about Southern University 20 years ago. He said the newspaper was always out to destroy black institutions.

"The comments made about SUNO are completely false," Bowie said. "We have 90 percent of our programs accredited and graduated over 14,000 students, with a large number of those being accepted into graduate school."

Bowie also said SUNO existed to provide opportunity and to reach out to lower income students who don't have the chance to go to institutions outside New Orleans.

Other students and faculty urged actions to protect the reputation of the university and a declaration that SUNO plans to rebuild and open stronger and better than before.

The Southern University System Board of Supervisors scheduled a news conference to respond to the editorial, to be attended by many of the system's administrators, faculty, students and alumni.

During a "Rebuilding New Orleans" rally Oct. 13 at New Light Missionary Baptist Church in Baton Rouge, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said no one should consider the closing of historically black colleges in New Orleans.

"You cannot put the rebuilding of a casino before the rebuilding of a university," Jackson said, referring to efforts by politicians pushing for more gambling as a way to revive the city's economy.

John Guillory, a student at Southern University-Baton Rouge, writes for the Southern Digest.