SU Board installs officers for 2015, welcomes new members

Chairman Leon R. Tarver II and vice chairman Calvin W. Braxton Sr., who were elected during the annual officers' election in November 2014, were installed as the 2015 officers for the governing board for the only historically black college and university system in America.

Tarver, a Shreveport native and resident of Baton Rouge, is SU System president emeritus and is the retired executive administrator of the Center of Cultural Heritage and International Programs at the Southern University System. Governor Bobby Jindal appointed Tarver to the SU Board in January 2013. He serves as an at-large member.

Braxton, of Natchitoches, is the president and chief executive officer of Braxton Land Company and president of Natchitoches Ford-Lincoln-Mercury. Governor Jindal appointed Braxton in June 2011.

Taking the oath of office for the SU Board were five newly appointed members named by Governor Jindal, Wednesday, January 8, 2015.

According to statute, the board includes two members from each congressional district, one at-large member, and one representative of the student body. Members serve six-year terms appointed by the governor.

Joining the 16-member board that serves to manage and supervise the SU System:

SU alumnus Dr. Curman Gaines (left), who is president and CEO of Gaines and Gaines, Incorporated, is accompanied by his wife Maxine as he takes the oath office as a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors during the governing board’s regular meeting January 9, 2015, in the Board Meeting Room in the J.S. Clark Administration Building, Southern University Baton Rouge. SU Board of Supervisors general counsel Winston Decuir Sr. administers the oath of office. Dr. Curman Gaines, of Alexandria, is a Southern University alumnus and is the president and CEO of Gaines and Gaines, Incorporated, and the former executive director of the Central Louisiana Business Incubator. Gaines replaces Myron K. Lawson, and was appointed to serve as a representative of the 5th Congressional District, in accordance with the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution.

The Rev. Donald Ray Henry of Donaldsonville takes the oath office as a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors during the governing board’s regular meeting January 9, 2015, in the Board Meeting Room in the J.S. Clark Administration Building, Southern University Baton Rouge. SU Board of Supervisors general counsel Winston Decuir Sr. administers the oath of office. A relative Tavares Walker joins him. The Rev. Donald Ray Henry, of Donaldsonville, is a technical specialist for Noranda Alumina, L.L.C. in Gramercy. Henry was appointed to serve as a representative of the 2nd Congressional District, in accordance with the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution. He replaces Darren G. Mire.

Shreveport engineer Richard Hilliard (left) is accompanied by his son Jaharri, as he takes the oath office as a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors during the governing board’s regular meeting January 9, 2015, in the Board Meeting Room in the J.S. Clark Administration Building, Southern University Baton Rouge. SU Board of Supervisors general counsel Winston Decuir Sr. administers the oath of office. Richard Hilliard, of Shreveport, is a senior mechanical engineer for Manitowoc Company, Incorporated. Hilliard replaces Walter C. Dumas, and was appointed to serve as an at-large member, in accordance with the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution.

SU alumnus Patrick Magee (left), an attorney with Voorhies and Labbé and a former assistant district attorney for the 15th Judicial District, takes the oath office as a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors during the governing board’s regular meeting January 9, 2015, in the Board Meeting Room in the J.S. Clark Administration Building, Southern University Baton Rouge. Attorney Tony Clayton, SU Board of Supervisors member and SU alumnus, administers the oath of office. SU System chief of staff Evola Bates joins him. SU alumnus Patrick Magee, of Lafayette, is an attorney with Voorhies and Labbé and a former assistant district attorney for the 15th Judicial District. Magee was appointed to serve as a representative of the 3rd Congressional District, in accordance with the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution. Magee, who replaces Bridget A. Dinvaut, previously served one term on the SU Board.

Baton Rouge physician and SU alumnus Rani Whitfield (left) takes the oath office as a member of the SU System Board of Supervisors during the governing board’s regular meeting January 9, 2015, in the Board Meeting Room in the J.S. Clark Administration Building, Southern University Baton Rouge. SU Board of Supervisors general counsel Winston Decuir Sr. administers the oath of office. His father George Whitfield, a retired SU professor and administrator joins him. Rani Whitfield, M.D., of Baton Rouge, is a physician in private practice in Baton Rouge. Whitfield was appointed to serve as a representative of the 6th Congressional District, in accordance with the requirements of the Louisiana Constitution. The SU alumnus replaces Murphy F. Bell Jr.

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