Tarver steps down
Leon Tarver II, on Feb. 18,answered to circulating rumors about his seemingly sudden resignation fromserving as president of the Southern University System. At a press conferenceheld in the Board of Supervisors room of the administrative building, he madepublic that he was stepping down as the head of the five-campus system andreturning to the classroom.
LSU/SU race relations reach boiling point
To clear the air betweenSouthern University and Louisiana State University, the Southern UniversityStudent Government Association held a town hall meeting on April 28 to addressthe statements made by a Louisiana State University police officer Monday inthe LSU student newspaper, The Daily Reveille.
In the article, the Salt ‘N’Pepper party, a mixer to unite black and white Greek letter organizations, wascancelled due to the police officer’s concern that the presence of Southernstudents may be a threat to security.
SU 100% accredited
Under the auspices of theLouisiana Board of Regents, as of Spring 2004, Southern University-Baton Rougeachieved 100 percent program accreditation for all offered programs.
This means that out of a totalof 39 programs, all are accredited on the Baton Rouge campus.
“Southern is in a class byitself when it comes to programs that are accredited,” said Dr. Johny Tolliver,vice chancellor for academic affairs, ”among Historically Black Colleges and all others.”
In addition, the university has12 additional programs that are eligible for accreditation.
Lacumba dies
Southern University, known asthe only Historically Black College or University to have a live mascot, mayhave lost that title with the death of its 15-year-old jaguar, Lacumba. It isbelieved that old age was a factor in its death. Several activities have beenplanned and executed to raise funds to obtain a new mascot and habitat.
Athletic director reassigned, mens basketballcoach fired
AthleticDirector Floyd Kerr agreed to take a new position as the assistant to the ViceChancellor for the Academic Enhancement Program for student athletics when hiscontract expires on June 30.
In a pressconference SUBR Chancellor Edward Jackson announced that Kerr’s five-yearcontract would not be renewed at the end of the fiscal year.
“We want togo in a slightly different direction and move at a slightly different pace,”said Jackson when asked about the cause of the change.
On April28, Jackson confirmed the termination of basketball head coach Michael Grant. However, the conference did not revealanswers to questions pertaining to personal matters or the appeal process. Because of legal issues Jacksonwas restricted on the type of questions he could answer.
Grant wasin the process of seeking a position at Youngstown State. Before finding abouthis status there, he made such remarks to a Ohio newspaper (Tribune Chronicle,reported by John Vargo): “If I cansign a contract today, I would. And I would have two assistants that would signquickly too.
Baton Rouge elects first black mayor
On Nov. 2, ,Baton Rouge went outand voted, and in return the city elected its first black mayor-president ,Melvin “Kip” Holden.
Holden is a native of Baton Rouge and received his bachelor’sdegree from Louisiana State University, his master’s degree from SouthernUniversity and his law degree from the SU Law Center.
He is also an adjunct professorof law at the Southern University law school.
“It feels great after a lot ofyears of struggle, especially the fact this was my third time running,” Holdensaid. “Southern University is myfoundation, if it hadn’t been for SU I wouldn’t have been able to obtaineconomic independence.”
Mayor Holden won the majorityvote of 54 percent with 94,802 votes, while former mayor Bobby Simpson had 46percent of the vote with 81,142 votes.
Johnnie Cochran dies
On March 29, famed attorneyJohnnie Cochran died as the result of an inoperable brain tumor.
Southern University issued aproclamation in honor of his contributions to the SU Law Center, the blackcommunity and the legal profession.
He established the Johnnie L.Cochran Sr. Scholarship for UCLA African American males (known as CochranScholars); scholarships at the University of New Mexico School of Law and theSouthern University Law Center.
Cochran was the keynote speakerfor Southern University at Shreveport’s spring commencement in 2001. He servedas keynote speaker at Southern University Baton Rouge’ spring 2002 commencementwhere he encouraged students to “go forth and prosper.”
Record number of SU students called to war
With the insurgency still athreat to Iraq’s planned elections, the U.S. force is about to expand to itshighest level of the war even higher than the initial invading force in March2003.
The force grew from 138,000 toabout 150,000 in mid-January, according to the Pentagon.
Among those soldiers called toduty was a large number of Southern University students.
Louisiana bans same-sex marriage
Louisiana voters overwhelminglyapproved a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civilunions, but the vote was far from the last word — a gay rights attorney promised vigorous court challenges.
With 99 percent of precinctsreporting, the amendment was winning approval with 610,690 votes or 78 percentto 172,318 and support for it was evident statewide. Only in New Orleans, hometo a politically strong gay community, was the race relatively close, and eventhere the amendment was winning passage. Turnout statewide appeared to be about27 percent of the state’s 2.8 million voters.
Palisades apartment complex opens
Southern University students andfaculty were provided a new option in off-campus housing in August of 2004.
Located on Scenic Highway at theentrance of Southern University, the complex includes furnished one, two andfour bedroom apartments and all tenants have access to the fitness center,computer lab, pool and game room. The rent for The Palisades includes all utilities.
