Published June 28, 2007

Graduations highlight Spring for System The pomp and circumstance of the spring commencement season was special this year for more than 1500 graduates receiving degrees from the three Southern University System campuses and the Law Center. Four distinguished speakers – a mayor, congressman, police superintendent and a presidential EEOC appointee – were selected to address graduates in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair to speak at commencement Adm. Michael Mullen, newly appointed chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, will deliver the keynote address at Southern University’s summer commencement exercises at 10:30 a.m. Friday, July 27 at the Felton G. Clark Activity Center.  The public is invited to attend. SU graduate selected for presidential commissioning Recent Southern University graduate Cedric Wright did not have his Naval Commission concurred during Southern Baton Rouge Spring Commencement. Instead, he was among a special group of Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) midshipmen and cadets to participate in the first presidential ROTC Commissioning Ceremony. SUBR honors its top faculty and staff members Southern University, Baton Rouge recognized its most deserving faculty and staff during the annual Faculty and Staff Recognition Program, Monday, April 30 in the Royal Cotillion Ballroom of the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union. Southern kicks off United Way campaign with luncheon Southern University geared up for their 2007 Capital Area United Way (CAUW) Campus Campaign with a Coordinators  Luncheon held on June 14 in the Magnolia Room of the Mayberry Dining Hall on the University’s campus.  Ag Center event sparks career interests in youth Louisiana high school students convened at the Southern University Meat Technology Laboratory and Ag Center M.A. Edmond Livestock Arena for the Area IV Future Farmers of America (FFA) Career Development Event in March. The FFA contest, conducted annually Southern since 1994, mirrors the educational and leadership experiences gained by students through high school agricultural programs. The event consists of written and practical competitions. SUNO hosts peace conference, voter registration cookout Southern University, New Orleans (SUNO), hosted the 9th Annual Conference for the National Association for Peace/Anti-Violence Education (NAPE), April 27-29 at the Sophie B. Wright School of Academic Excellence, in New Orleans.  NAPE, founded by Rose Duhon-Sells, vice chancellor for academic affairs, promotes peace/anti-violence through training and seminars conducted by association members and community volunteers. SU part of new internship program Southern University is one of five historically black colleges participating in a new internship program designed to get more minorities working in the financial services industry, Investment News reports. The “Gateway to Leadership Program” is co-sponsored by the Money Management Institute, Brinker Capital Incorporated and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).   SU Sociology receives grant to host abstinence program for teens Southern University’s Department of Sociology has received a $253,478 grant from the Louisiana Department of Social Services to host Empowering Youth Choices: Southern University’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program. The program will run from June 4 until July 31 on the campus of Southern University.     SULC Celebrates National Library Week Three men who have made significant contributions to the Law Center were recognized during National Library Week, April 15-21.   SUNO museum host Juneteenth celebration The graduate program in Museum Studies, the Center for African and African American Studies, and the Lyceum Committee at Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), in conjunction with the New Orleans African American Museum of Art, History and Culture (NOAAM) in Treme and the New Orleans Musicians Clinic, presented a Juneteenth Celebration, Saturday, June 16.   Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute holds first graduation The first class of the Small Farmer Agricultural Leadership Institute completed their training and graduated from the Leadership Training Institute hosted by Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in March. Held on the patio of the Jamie L. Whitten Building in Washington D.C., the highlight of the historic graduation ceremony was the keynote address presented by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johannes.   SUSLA faculty to make presentation at international conference Members of the 2007 inaugural class of the Faculty Fellows Program will facilitate two presentations at the 2007 MERLOT International Conference (MICO7) August 7-10 in New Orleans at the Sheraton Hotel.   SUSLA supports community mission Southern University, Shreveport’s Division of Student Affairs celebrated “National Trio Day” by participating in a community service project with the Shreveport-Bossier Rescue Mission.    SU adminstrator, professor selected Noble Prize laureates Joseph Meyinsee, chairman of the Department of Mathematics, Southern University, Baton Rouge, and Nathaniel Manning, assistant professor, business management, Southern University, Shreveport, were among 10 2007 National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) NOBLE Prize Laureates. The awards were presented in Washington, D.C., in mid-March during the NAFEO Gala Awards Banquet. Once troubled, Wright now thriving as SUNO charter school When people ask Ida Calvin where to send their children to school, she tells them Sophie B. Wright Charter School. Calvin has three grandchildren at Wright, and Willie Smith, her oldest grandson, can’t seem to stay away from the school even though he now attends Sarah T. Reed High School, she said. Southern University of New Orleans officially chartered Wright as of July 1, 2005. Names in the News Around the Southern University System "Names in the News" offers a glimpse into outstanding members of the Southern University System family as they distinguish themselves in the academic, civic and social arenas..   Faculty, staff and students highlighted in media "Check It Out" offers links to news articles highlighting members of the Southern University System family who have appeared in the local and national media.   SU student one of 30 admitted to Journalism Institute Southern University Mass Communications graduate student Latrice Pinkins was one of 30 students nationwide chosen to participate in the The New York Times Student Journalism Institute May 13 to 26 at Dillard University in New Orleans.   SU receives top honors at Honda Campus All-Star Challenge Southern University, Baton Rouge, was named one of the top 16 schools at the 18th Annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) in Orlando, Florida.   Family Financial Planning program set to begin in Fall 2007 Fall 2007 will mark the inaugural of the Family Financial Planning (FFP) certificate program in the College of Agricultural Family and Consumer Sciences. The Family Financial Planning Program consists of six classes designed to prepare candidates to meet the Certified Financial Planners (CFP) Board’s educational requirements and to pass the CFP certification examination.   SU Ag Center hosting hunger and poverty summit The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center will host a Hunger and Poverty Summit held on Hunger Awareness Day, Tuesday, June 5, 2007, in the studio in Ashford O. Williams Hall, B.A. Little Drive, from 9 a.m. – noon.   Upcoming: Events Around the System The Southern University Alumni Association's annual conference is only one of many upcoming events of interest to System staff, students and alumni.