Board Meeting addresses lingering issues; many things left uncertain

The Southern University System held its meeting last Friday September 19 at the J.S. Clark Administration Building at 9 a.m. The meeting started with a prayer followed by roll call. During the meeting many touchy subjects were addressed such as accreditation, pay raises, safety for students, illegibility of football players and enrollment. Each item was carefully addressed to total a 4 hour meeting.
The first person to take the floor was Faculty Senate President Thomas Miller. Milller’s opening remark congratulated the administration on a job well done.
“ I feel that we have done an outstanding job, but there is an issue we must address,” said Miller. He went on to say that during his tenure at Southern there’s only been a 2 to 3 percent change in the pay. Next, Vice President of Faculty of Staff began with an opening remark that said was a fact, not an opinion. “I don’t want it to be interpreted any other way. Essentially, administration is asked to take on extra duties, and should be paid accordingly,” said Samuel. During the general comment section of the agenda, many employees approached the stand to address identical concerns. A physical plant worker of 19 years commented saying, “ I understand the process of administration, but I don’t understand the process of this university.” The employee went on to say that, “yes students are here for education, but if they are not comfortable, they will not stay. There is no consistency here, we never have year round air, year round heating, and we went from 15 guys working to now only 3 employees.”
Proceeding was Acting Chancellor Flandus McClinton who was questioned by the BOS.
“ Is it correct that you currently want to raise Associate Vice Chancellor Moore’s pay to $105,000, even though he has lesser duties?” McClinton replied with short answers, such as “that is correct, and I’m not sure.” Chairwoman Bridget Dinvaut then suggested that there be a feasible study of the salaries of the SUS, with hope of creating fairness. Being that it wasn’t on the agenda to vote for this suggestion, it may be addressed at a later date. With a sense of slight aggravation one the board members commented saying “Are we going to sit her and actually let SU go to the hells? Then we keep putting things that we know are right and needed to the side?” The board as a whole seemed amused at the truthfulness of the question and
moved on to the safety of the student body. One of the younger board members shared with the board of how he sat and observed activities on campus. He mentioned that the campus has bad lighting, and that for one week he sat in his truck and watched a traffic and parking vehicles go down a one-way street going in the opposite direction, just to get to lunch. The number of sexual assault cases on campus has risen. Even though no one had exact numbers, one board member was able to support that with an actual study, but it is reported that the sexual assaults at SU are less than those of LSU.
Athletic Director William Broussard was immediately bombarded with questions by the board wanting to know who is to blame with the reoccurring incidents of the SU Football team. As the Southern University community is already aware of, several team members have been deemed ineligible to play, and notified moments before the game. One of the board members repeatedly interrupted Broussard, wanting a direct answer. Refusing to take the blame as the only one responsible for the players’ ineligibility, Broussard emphasized that each player goes through a verification process by the certification staff or department. After further clarification, the meeting then ended with final discussions, comments and a role call.
The Southern University System and its components are important to use. Although the Digest staff was unable to attend, we strive to cover every event possible. The publication of this story was written under the live webcast on the Southern University System’s website at sus.edu.