When the state legislature meets on March 10, State Representative Jerome “Dee” Richard plans to introduce a bill he hopes will eliminate the power members of the LSU Board of Supervisors have to award scholarships to students.
Currently, each of the 16 members of the Board of Supervisors has the ability to award 20 scholarships equal to the tuition of the University, and are also permitted to use two of the scholarships to give students non-resident fee exemptions.
Only students who are not eligible to receive TOPS may apply for the scholarships, and the scholarships are awarded based on academic excellence, special talent and financial need, according to the LSU System website.
Richard said although he had a Board of Supervisors scholarship while in school, he wonders why the board members have scholarships to give away when the state has trouble funding education. He also questioned the fairness of how the scholarships are awarded.
John Woodard, Student Government president and board member, said there is a lot of consideration over who should receive the scholarships, and the awards are a great way to cut through some of the red tape that operating through the administration can create.
“It would be a shame for those scholarships to be taken away,” Woodard said.
Richard said he also plans to bring up a second bill that would end the awarding of Tulane University scholarships that state legislators have been allowed to give since the university was privatized in the late 1800s.
Richard said the money used to award the legislature’s scholarships and the Board of Supervisors scholarships could be awarded through the universities themselves, taking it “out of the politicians’ hands.”
“I think it’s getting out of hand,” Richard said. “We shouldn’t have this privilege to give away this money.”
Woodard said the scholarships are one of the best things the Board of Supervisors does, despite the criticism they tend to field.
Maria Perez, a mass communication senior and international student, said the Board of Supervisor scholarships seem to be a way to invest in education and help bring people into the state. Perez said it was difficult to obtain financial aid as an international student, and the opportunity for students to receive Board of Supervisors scholarships makes the state look better.