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Southern University
 
 
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For other Southern University campuses, see Southern University System
Southern University System

The Southern University System is a system of university in the United States state of Louisiana.*Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...
.
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college
Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
 located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital city and the second largest city of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish which contains 430,812 residents....
.

concept of Southern University was put forth by P. B. S. Pinchback
P. B. S. Pinchback

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was the first non-white and first African American to become Governor of a United States U.S. state. A United States Republican Party, he served as the Governor of Louisiana for thirty-five days, from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873....
, T. T. Allain, and Henry Demas as an institution "for the education of persons of color" at the 1879 Louisiana State Constitutional Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution....
.

In April 1880, the Louisiana General Assembly
Legislature

Legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to create and change laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law....
 chartered Southern University, originally located in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
.






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For other Southern University campuses, see Southern University System
Southern University System

The Southern University System is a system of university in the United States state of Louisiana.*Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...
.
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college
Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community....
 located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Baton Rouge is the capital city and the second largest city of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish which contains 430,812 residents....
.

History

The concept of Southern University was put forth by P. B. S. Pinchback
P. B. S. Pinchback

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was the first non-white and first African American to become Governor of a United States U.S. state. A United States Republican Party, he served as the Governor of Louisiana for thirty-five days, from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873....
, T. T. Allain, and Henry Demas as an institution "for the education of persons of color" at the 1879 Louisiana State Constitutional Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)

A constitutional convention is a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution....
.

In April 1880, the Louisiana General Assembly
Legislature

Legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to create and change laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law....
 chartered Southern University, originally located in New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans is a major United States port city and the largest city in Louisiana. New Orleans is the center of the New Orleans metropolitan area metropolitan area, the largest metro area in the state....
. Southern opened its doors on with twelve students. One of the original locations of the early campus was the former Israel Sinai Temple Synagogue
Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer.Synagogues usually have a large hall for prayer , smaller rooms for study and sometimes a social hall and offices....
 on Calliope Street, between St. Charles and Camp streets in New Orleans. Southern became a land grant
Land grant

A land grant is a gift of real estate - land or privileges - made by a government or other authority as a reward for services to an individual, especially as rewards for military service....
 school in 1890, and an Agricultural
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 and Mechanical
Mechanical engineering

Mechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the application of physics#branches of physics for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of machine....
 department was established. Because of continued growth and a lack of land for expansion, the university relocated to what was then Scotlandville, along Scott's Bluff facing the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
 in 1914. It is included as a destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail

Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail is a cultural heritage trail with 26 sites designated in 2008 by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, with sites in small towns and plantations also included....
.

 style="font-size: 1.25em;" |Presidents
A.R. Gourrier1881
George Fayerweather1881-1882
Rev. C.H. Thompson1882-1883
Rev. J.H. Harrisond1883-
George W. Bathwell1886-1887
H.A. Hill1887-1899
Dr. Joseph S. Clark1914-1938
Dr. Felton G. Clark1938-1969
Dr. George L. Netterville1969-1974
Dr. Jesse N. Stone1974-1985
Dr. Joffre T. Whisenton1985-1988
Dr. Dolores Spikes*1988-1996
Dr. Leon Tarver II1997-2005
Dr. Edward Jackson, (interim)2005-2006
Dr. Ralph Slaughter2006-present
*First female head of any college system in the U.S.
The new president and first president of what is now known as Southern University at Baton Rouge was Dr. Joseph Samuel Clark. Clark, an outstanding citizen in the Baton Rouge African American
African American

African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the Black people populations of Africa....
 community, presided over Baton Rouge College and the Louisiana Colored Teachers Association. The Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1921 authorized the reorganization and expansion of Southern University; and Legislative Act 100 of 1922 provided that the institution be reorganized under the control of the State Board of Education. Clark presided over Southern University during a transitionary period for the institution. The student enrollment grew from forty-seven students to 500 students and many of the school's early buildings were built during this time. Clark presided until his retirement in 1938, at which time the position was given to his son, Dr. Felton Grandison Clark, a renowned speaker and gentleman. Under his tenure, the university underwent tremendous growth. About 33 of 114 current buildings were erected in his 30 years at the university. The student enrollment grew from 500 to nearly 10,000 students. Due to the reluctance of LSU
Louisiana State University

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, generally known as Louisiana State University or LSU, is a state university, coeducational, Level l Research University located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Louisiana and the main campus of the Louisiana State University System....
 Law School to admit African Americans into its law program, a special Louisiana Convention allowed a law program, Southern University Law Center
Southern University Law Center

Southern University Law Center, a campus of the Southern University System, opened for instruction in September 1947. Its concept was born out of a response of a lawsuit by a black resident, Charles J....
 to come to Southern University in 1947. The university was one of the first historically black colleges to receive a visit from a First Lady
First Lady of the United States

First Lady of the United States is the unofficial title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the President of the United States, the title is sometimes taken to apply only to the wife of a sitting President....
, Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt

Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, President Franklin D....
, in 1943. Also during Clark's tenure, Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO) (1956) and Southern University at Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third-largest city and the principal city of the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Louisiana, as well as being the 99th-largest city in the United States....
/Bossier City
Bossier City, Louisiana

Bossier City is a city in Bossier Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States.As of the 2000 United States Census, the city had a total population of 56,461....
 (SUSLA) (1964) were founded. They were later incorporated into the Southern University System
Southern University System

The Southern University System is a system of university in the United States state of Louisiana.*Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...
 in 1974.

In 1969, the university saw a changing of the guard, when Clark retired and Dr. Leon G. Netterville took over the reins of leadership. On November 16, 1972, two students involved with "Students United", a student protest group on the campus, Denver Smith and Leonard Brown, were shot and killed outside the Old Auditorium (now the Southern University Museum of Art). The murder, apparently committed by a patrolman, has never been solved.

 style="font-size: 1.25em;" |Colleges within the University
  • Honors College
  • University College
  • College of Agriculture, Family, and Consumer Sciences
  • College of Arts and Humanities
  • College of Business
  • College of Education
  • College of Engineering
  • College of Sciences
  • School of Architecture
  • School of Nursing
  • The Nelson Mandela School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs
The institution continued to grow and in 1974 a special session
Special session

In a legislature, a special session is a period when the body convenes outside of the normal legislative session. This most frequently occurs in order to complete unfinished tasks for the year , such as outlining the government's budget for the next fiscal year, biennium, or other period....
 in the Louisiana Legislature established the Southern University System
Southern University System

The Southern University System is a system of university in the United States state of Louisiana.*Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana ...
. The Southern University System consists of Southern University and A&M College, Baton Rouge, (SUBR); Southern University, New Orleans (SUNO); Southern University Law Center; Southern University Agricultural Center; and Southern University, Shreveport (SUSLA is a two-year, commuter college). The Southern University Museum of Art at Shreveport is another destination of the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail
Louisiana African American Heritage Trail

Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail is a cultural heritage trail with 26 sites designated in 2008 by the state of Louisiana, from New Orleans along the Mississippi River to Baton Rouge and Shreveport, with sites in small towns and plantations also included....
.

The university is in the midst of a major campus facelift with the recent completion of several new dormitories, on-campus apartments, renovation of on-campus A.W. Mumford Stadium, and plans for construction of other infrastructure.

Academics

All Southern University programs are accredited and also are monitored by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools is a regional educational accreditation agency for over 13,000 public and private educational institutions ranging from preschool to college level in the southern United States....
 (SACS).

Student activities


Athletics

Southern University and its northern Louisiana rival, Grambling State University
Grambling State University

Grambling State University is a state university, coeducational university, which is among the Historically black colleges and universities in the United States....
, participate in the Bayou Classic
Bayou Classic

The State Farm Bayou Classic is the annual college football game between the Grambling State University Tigers and the Southern University Jaguars, first held in 1974 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana....
 Football Game and other festivities (pageant, job fairs, street festival, concerts, Greek/Step Show and Battle Of The Bands) annually on the Thanksgiving Day weekend in New Orleans. NBC has carried the game live for over 15 years.

Marching band

The first season of the reality television series College Hill
College Hill

College Hill is a reality television series on Black Entertainment Television that visits historically black colleges. The show operates on the same premise as MTV The Real World. BET?s College Hill is a successful brand of reality TV, and is currently in its 5th season, which taped in the city of Atlanta....
 on BET
Black Entertainment Television

Black Entertainment Television is an American cable television based in Washington, D.C. and targeted towards young black people and urban audiences in the United States....
 premiered in 2004 with the Southern University campus as its locale.
The Southern University Human Jukebox marching band www.humanjukebox.com was featured in television commercials and has been invited to participate in the annual Rose Parade in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. Famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl Game American football game and the Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home of many leading scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ,...
, Presidential Inauguration ceremonies and several Super Bowl
Super Bowl

In professional American football, the Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League . The game and its ancillary festivities constitute Super Bowl Sunday....
 halftime presentations. USA Today
USA Today

'USA TODAY' is a national United States daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Allen Neuharth. The paper has the widest newspaper circulation of any newspaper in the United States , and among English-language broadsheets, it comes second worldwide, behind only the 2.6 million daily paid copies of The Times of...
 newspaper once named the band the number one marching band in the United States. For many years, the band was one of the few in the U.S. that had no female members but that has changed in recent years; currently there are over 20 female members.

Notable alumni


Athletes


Entertainers


Politicians


Military commanders


External links