Its good to have colleges in all parts of the states for the education but they don't all need to have D1 football programs. Do ULL, ULM and Louisiana Tech even support their athletic departments with their football revenue?
Louisiana Tech and Grambling are only 5 miles apart and are merger candidates. UNO and SUNO are practically next door and is another prime merger candidate.
A few years ago Jindal tried to place SUBR on the chopping block, but the alumni stood tall. At the time our financial house was in chaos due to gross mismanagement. It's still not the greatest but it is much, much better, and could be in great shape if the Board and Administration could get it's respective acts together. Many may disagree but SU has a lot to offer and I suspect will ultimately be left alone even if one leg of the system (SUNO) falls. BRCC greatly impacted SUBR as well since BRCC's rise coincided with SU's transition to selective admission, but that seems to have leveled off as well. Grambling was on the chopping block as well but I have a hard time envisioning how they withstand another round on the block. Despite the rivalry I would hate to see that happen. Financially it's hard to argue but that's a lot of tradition to lose.
I don't think Southern is going anywhere, but they have to tighten up their finances and accountability. Maybe some real modernization and innovation too, and probably a serious changing of the guard. BRCC is educating more students for a third the cost of Southern or Southeastern. They need to stop trying to be a mini-LSU and become a maxi-regional college and do something to attract students. That's why merger with Tech makes more sense than closing Grambling. Grambling College could still be an HBC with its own campus but a part of La Tech University and we only pay for one chancellor, one athletic program, one graduate school, one of lots-of-things and eliminate needless duplication of programs without eliminating the tradition. Let the marching band be at the Grambling Campus and the Concert Band at the Ruston campus. Play different athletic teams at each campus, too. Officially LSU is Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College. No reason LA Tech can't officially be Louisiana Tech University and Historic Grambling College.
They are. Admissions applications are up 47% from last year. When I attended in the late 90s attendance was well over 10,000. Now it's around 7,000 and climbing. The lapse was partly due to selective admissions. Things are getting much better over there. That change of the guard is also happening. The AD is a Ph.D in his mid-30s who inherited a pile of shit and is wading through it pretty well. The Vice Chancellor over Student Affairs is another mid-30s Ph.D who's doing a lot of innovative things to make the student experience more friendly. It used to be considered a rite of passage to have to take a full week and walk all over campus to register. Those two positions are arguably as important as the President and Chancellor because they touch more students and have a pulse on what students want and need. Hopefully the next President is someone equally as interested in the students rather than pushing their own agendas. How are they trying to be a mini-LSU? I don't get that one. And why go maxi-regional in focus when you're still attracting students from across the country and abroad? Maybe I don't follow what you mean here.
And Southern is #1 in the Sheridan poll of black colleges. Win the SWAC CG and the Jags are national champs. They can have their parade to themselves. In 2003 they had to share it with LSU. By the way, when I went to LSU registration was no picnic either. Go from building to building and stand in lines to try to get punch cards for each class you wanted.
I think they lost focus when they developed a "system" of campuses like LSU, sort a black alternative to LSU as a flagship university system. When I say regional, I don't mean that they don't attract students nationally, but that they embrace that they are the Baton Rouge area's university rather than a second state flagship system. They need to grab back many of those students attending BRCC. They need to attract more white students from Southeastern and ULL.
