LSU: On our Side of Town

How often can a person say they were able to witness change right before their eyes? On Saturday I noticed that Scenic Highway. near Southern University has begun what some would call a makeover and it’s honestly looking great so far.
There’s just has one thing that I guess you can say is “off”. Somebody, not sure from which school or organization, decided it was a great idea to use LSU’s colors on the main strip that Southern uses to display our culture, our pride, and our spirit! The same damn strip that LSU students deemed “too ghetto” or “too ratchet” to ever compare to their “superior” roads full of LSU flags, Mike the Tiger murals, and drunken college kids trying to find their way home from Tigerland.
So, let’s rewind for a second, I left campus, came over the hump and made a right onto Scenic.
I began to see new paintings, unbelievable paintings; paintings with culture, murals with historic heroes, and even bright and colorful chalk up and down the sidewalks.
I honestly could not believe what I was seeing; I was, for a lack of better words, shell-shocked. What had me even more shook, I even began to see cars pulling over to the side of the road and stopping at gas stations just to get a better look at a few pieces of artwork.
The entire time, all I can think to myself was “is Scenic making a comeback”, after so many years of driving off campus, turning on Scenic and just staring straight ahead at the road just so you can’t notice the depressing and decaying buildings up the highway and after so many years of being roasted by LSU and even some BRCC students for Southern being “in the middle of nowhere”. Even though we’re in the middle of nowhere, we’re starting to look good while being here. It has been so long since you could drive off campus and still feel like you’re really in the vicinity of a college campus.
Back to the story, I continue driving up Scenic, enjoying the new improvements and I see this area approaching, in this area there is a long and grey, Hunger Games looking wall with just a break in the middle which I guess is an entrance.
As I get closer I’m just thinking to myself, “oh yeah we got murals and all kinds of art, this wall is definitely going to be apart of this makeover” but what I saw next had me at a loss for words.
I get to the wall and as I expected, the wall is almost all Southern colors and it is honestly a great sight to see, right up to that break for the entrance.
After passing the first half, one would just assume it would be more Jag colors along the other half, right? Wrong. Now I don’t know if you caught it but earlier I said “almost” all Southern colors.
Honestly that’s a huge overstatement, the wall is about 40 percent Southern and 60 percent LSU.
Yes, that’s right the LSU side of the wall is longer than the Jaguar side and even more disgusting, the LSU colors are the first thing you see when you get off the interstate! That’s right, the highway that is connected directly to Southern, is only partially our colors and partially LSU’s colors.
Now listen, I’m not writing this to disrespect any of the ideas or actions taken to make Scenic Highway more appealing or any less of an eye sore, nor am I bashing LSU for no reason.
I just want to know who thought it would be a good idea to paint LSU colors on this Hunger Games looking wall literally right next to our Colombian Blue and Gold, on OUR Highway.
Was it shots fired or was it just a student trying to be fair and equal?
There’s nothing wrong with equal but out of all places they go to be fair and equal, they decide to skip going down College Drive or up Highland Road; where all you see is LSU this, Tiger that.
Hell, when you first get into Baton Rouge you’re greeted by a huge LSU flag! So where was this person who is just trying to be fair to put up a Jaguar flag or even a paw print in the window?
My takeaway from this whole thing is what does LSU’s colors have to do with “The Yard”, “The Human Jukebox” or “The Bluff” ? Not a d@#n thing!