Diversity on the rise at SU

Here at Southern University we have a very diverse campus. Students from all over the globe attend this prestigious college for a better education. In the past 3 years we have had 17,782 African American students, 581 Caucasian students , and over 1,046 foreign students proudly join the Jaguar community. Within these numbers are bright students with promising futures from all different backgrounds. Places as near as New Orleans and countries as far as Peru.
Romero Coote, an 18-year-old freshmen from Mons, Belgium also known as Les Dragons, stands by the motto “ Always be yourself and keep your mind open because there’s a lot of new things around here that you’re going to get used to ,but at the end of the day it’s going to be fun.” Being that his parents were in the military, he’s lived in numerous places, but resided in Belgium most of his life. His initial plans were to join the Navy, but he were convinced by his grandmother to come down to Baton Rouge and give college a shot. Geographical differences like our humid heat is something he has to get used to and the language barrier. One thing Romero wishes he could bring to Baton Rouge to give the city a Belgium flavor is Matraite, a famous dish in Belgium.
Arnita Dove, a 23-year-old freshman Math major from Auburn Hills, Michigan, lives by the quote “ As long as you’re an honest person, you can’t really go wrong, just have fun and live life.” Dove plans to utilize her mathematic skills in the corporate world, hopefully residing in either New York, California, or Texas. By knowing some of the alumni and hearing nothing but wonderful things about the University, she decided to join the Jaguar community. She said she loves the active campus and if she could bring anything from home to Baton Rouge she would bring Michigan’s Great Lakes.
Victoria Mendez, is a 19 year old Sociology major. Mendez is from Samba, Brazil and in the next 5 years she plans to be graduating from a sociology masters program and wants to study prison systems for a living. Mendez says it’s hard being away from home , but hey that’s what FaceTime is for as she said. She loves it here because of the mix of different cultures it’s not hard adjusting. Mendez wishes she could bring the Carnival from Brazil which is basically Mardi Gras for us.
Jasmine Turner & Jasmine Davila , (19) best friends both here from Las Vegas, Nevada. They are both nursing majors. Las Vegas is extremely modern so having to adjust toa city being so behind is hard. They wish they could bring the Las Vegas Strip to Baton Rouge because there’s so much to do just walking down the street.