Another HBCU Down the Drain?

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BATON ROUGE -- With a nudge from Gov. Bobby Jindal, a House committee took the first major step toward merging the University of New Orleans and the Southern University at New Orleans on Wednesday after nearly six hours of emotional testimony from supporters and opponents. The 10-5 vote on House Bill 537 by Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, by the House Education Committee fell mostly along party lines, after the governor made a rare appearance in a legislative committee to testify on its behalf. "Every student should be given an opportunity to succeed, and that's what this bill does," Jindal said. But opponents, most of them affiliated with the Southern University System, said a merger would restrict access to higher education for the mostly poor and minority students who now attend SUNO. "There is a lot more to SUNO than meets the eye, and there is a lot more to this bill than meets the eye," Southern University System President Ron Mason said.