1. Wayne “Uncle Buck” Haydin Makes History
After winning the support of the student body in the March 16 Student Government Association presidential run-off election, the senior political science major from New Orleans defeated James “J.J.” Slaughter by a vote of 1,024 to 702 to become Southern University’s first Caucasian SGA president.
2. SU Students Called to Fight Overseas
From the deserts of Afghanistan to the streets of Baghdad, 38 SU students were deployed to serve and protect the United States.
According to Lt. Col. Les Broadway, this was the largest call since World War II.
As of press time, the university has not received any reports of students from SU being injured or killed in combat during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan or Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq.
3. Gun Violence Kills Football Player, Wounds Three Freshmen
The spring semester was marred by violence when 23-year-old James Allen was shot in the head outside of The Varsity, a nightclub near LSU, on January 24.
The sophomore offensive lineman from New Orleans was allegedly shot by Marcus Thomas, who turned himself in a month later to authorities.
Thomas is currently being held in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on charges of second-degree murder and illegal possession of a weapon.
Shots fired outside of a party at the Women’s Gym on April 6 left three freshman wounded and one in police custody.
Steven Ratcliff was arrested and charged two days later with three counts of principle to first degree murder and on one count of violation of possessing a gun in a firearm-free zone.
Ratcliff is being held at the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on $50,000 bond. However, Southern University Police Department Chief Dale Flowers said three or four more people are still wanted in connection with the shooting.
4. Assistant Registrar Fired for Allegedly Changing Grades
Former SU Assistant Registrar Cleo Carroll was fired in March after the administration learned from sources–including faculty members–that unauthorized grade changes were made, according to Ralph Slaughter, vice president for administration and management.
Although the entire Registrar’s Office is under investigation, Carroll was the only administrator placed on leave without pay. The names of the sources or the students involved have not been released.
Currently, an audit of grade changes dating back four years is now in process by the University. The Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office, East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney Doug Moureau, and the Board of Regents have also been notified of the investigation.
5. Visitation Policy Set for Fall 2003
The Southern University Board of Supervisors approved a visitation policy allowing students living in campus dormitories to have visitors of the opposite sex.
The first of its kind in the history of SU, the plan will go into effect this fall.
Students will be allowed to have visitors Sunday-Thursday from 5 p.m. to midnight and Friday and Saturday from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
6. Baton Rouge Serial Killer Puts Female Students on Alert
The murder of five South Louisiana women over a period of a year-and-a-half instilled fear into many female students returning to school this year.
Gina Wilson Green, 41, was strangled in September 2001; Charlotte Murray Pace, 22, was stabbed to death in May; Kinamore, 44, kidnapped from her Baton Rouge home in July was found with her throat cut at the Whiskey Bay exit off Interstate 10; Trineisha Dené Colomb, 23, was beaten to death in November; and Carrie Lynn Yoder, strangled in March, was also found at Whiskey Bay.
After the murders were linked to a suspect known as the “Baton Rouge Serial Killer” females flocked in record numbers to self-defense classes, safety seminars, and even gun ranges.
To date, the Serial Killer Task Force, composed of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies have received over 15,000 tips from the public.
7. HBCUs Faces Accreditation Woes
The fate of two well known historically black colleges and universities were in the hands of a regional governing board that threatened to strip its accreditation due to mismanagement of financial records.
Grambling State University prevailed. Morris Brown College in Atlanta didn’t.
Grambling State University received a satisfactory report for the 2001-2002 fiscal year from former State Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle in September and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), an Atlanta-based national accrediting group, gave the 101-year-old institution its stamp of approval in December.
Morris Brown College, one of the nations’s oldest HBCUs and the only one in Georgia founded by African Americans, lost its fight to regain accreditation in April.
MBC appealed a December decision by SACS which stripped the accreditation of the financially trouble institution. The association said its appeal committee found no ground for reversal of the revocation, which was based on the school’s debt and other financial problems.
. 30th Year Anniversary of Denver Smith and Leonard Brown
November 16, 2002 marked the 30th anniversary of the fateful day Denver Smith and Leonard Brown were brutally murdered in front of the Old Administration Building during a student protest.
After three decades, no one has been tried or convicted for the murder. Both families have filed several lawsuits to no avail. The official report by State Attorney General William Gust determined the shots were fired by sheriff’s deputy but it couldn’t prove which deputy fired the shot.
The legacy of Smith and Brown continues to live on.
The library archives has an extensive collection of reports and historical documentation of the event. As a monument to the students, the naming of the student union as Smith-Brown Memorial Union was approved in February 1973.
9. DC Area Sniper Trail Leads to Baton Rouge
Accused Sniper John Allen Muhammad, shocked the university community when they learned he attended high school in the Scotlandville Community. His family including his ex-wife, son, and great aunt also live in Baton Rouge.
The duo has been linked to the September 2002 murder of Im Ballinger, owner of a Baton Rouge beauty supply store.
Muhammad, 42 along with his accomplice John Lee Malvo, 18, have been accused of 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Washington, D.C.
10. Back to Back Hurricanes Force Students to Evacuate, Makeup Classes on Saturdays
For two straight weeks students fought the rain to pack up cars and clear out dorms in anticipation of two storms; Tropical Storm Isidore and Hurricane Lili.
Tropical Storm Isidore blew into Baton Rouge on September 26 with wind gust sustaining 25-40 mph and Hurricane Lili, classified as a category 2 hurricane, made landfall October 5 with winds up to 95 mph.
While both storms produced minimal damage, students made up the four missed days of instructional time on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings during the open weekends of football season.
