Lawsuit Halts Study of Proposed Merger of New Orleans Universities

February 15, 2011, 3:38 pm

A lawsuit filed on behalf of seven Southern University at New Orleans students has resulted in a temporary halt to a study into the proposed merger of the historically black institution with the neighboring University of New Orleans, The Advocate, a Baton Rouge newspaper, reports. A state district judge issued a temporary restraining order on Monday after the lawsuit was filed by opponents of the proposed merger. The lawsuit argues that the Louisiana Board of Regents, which will eventually decide on the proposal, is unconstitutional because its racial and gender makeup does not reflect the state’s diversity. A hearing will be held on the matter on February 24.

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pragmatist

Why don’t they make up their mind? They want integration….then they want segregation…..then only sometimes, and only on their terms. All the while not being able to comprehend that if some merger doesn’t take place, There will be no money available, and thus no institution at all!! It’s really not so hard for most of us to figure out.
tdr75

Racist overtones don’t make your post terribly credible to begin with… but HBCU’s have a long history in most southern states. For many many years they were the only places African Americans could get an education at all and still be close to home. there is a real emotional reaction to even suggesting closing or merging one.

I know in Mississippi last year there was talk of school consolidations, and the one that makes the most sense will never happen because MVSU is an HBCU (Mississippi Valley State and Delta State…they are very close together in location).

Instead, there has been talk of merging the state’s three HBCU (MSVU, Alcorn State, and Jackson State)… which really makes little sense and will likely never pass anyway. It’s not about “them” or “us” not wanting integration, but it’s about keeping a place that is safe to attend school. Institutionalized racism is still alive and well in the deep south despite progress made over the last 50 years. Not to mention racism of the more personal type.
bfrank1

Is this like the puppy in the Aesop’s fable that sees his reflection in the water and drops the bone he has to get the bone his reflection has, ending up with nothing? Surely the reasonable people of New Orleans and Louisiana can find some way to combine forces and save the best of both institutions while achieving the necessary savings? Or does one have to choose between solvency and racism? Ugh.
southlatiger

You’re kidding me, right? Keeping a place that’s safe to attend school? Heaven forbid that any SUNO student would have only Delgado or a consolidated UNO/SUNO campus as nearby options. Besides the clear discrimination students would be subjected to, these “dangerous and racist” institutions would certainly do further damage to the current 5% graduation rate that SUNO is enjoying.
bjones_y

One key will be availability. Coursesmart carries 82% of the top 1000 textbooks where Amazon Kindle carries just 15%