As Southern University’s School of Architecture closes its doors and prepares to phase out its architecture degree program, LSU College of Art and Design authorities said the closure should not dramatically affect LSU.
The closure will mean an increase in applications as students look to study architecture at LSU, but not an increase in enrollment due to the school’s unofficial cap on class size, said Angela Harwood, College of Art and Design communications coordinator.
The only thing that may change at LSU is student diversity.
The biggest change of the shutdown will affect architecture in the community, as Southern University’s program— one of only seven Historically Black College architecture programs in the nation — will be gone, said Jason Lockhart, former architecture professor at Southern University and current architecture professor at LSU. This will cause a decrease in minority voices in the architecture community.
“It’s sad that we are losing a treasured program within the state of Louisiana that has educated so many African American architectures that are productive in communities around the nation,” Lockhart said.
While the cut is partially due to budget issues, the school is closing because it is losing its credentials. Current students will be allowed to graduate and earn their degree, but no future students will be accepted after this semester.
Lockhart said Southern’s program had a close relationship with the community, something Lockhart was hired to continue by Jori Erdman, director of the LSU’s School of Architecture.
With LSU planning to maintain its class sizes even with Southern’s program shutting down, aspects of LSU’s architecture program — such as scholarships and faculty  — will remain the same.