The LSU System Board of Supervisors approved the $21.2 million midyear reduction of its overall general fund appropriation Saturday despite pleas from University students at the emergency meeting.
The midyear cuts resulted from a shortfall in predicted state revenues. The University’s portion of the cut increased from $2.2 million to $5.1 million on Oct. 18 in an effort to save the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the LSU AgCenter, two non-teaching institutions of the LSU System.
“It became clear that the consequences of this distribution to the non-teaching units would be a significant reduction in the functions of all units in this group,” LSU System President John Lombardi said in an e-mail to System chancellors. “In the case of Ag and Pennington, it would require the dismissal of tenured and contract faculty and the reduction or elimination of many critical programs, as well as the loss of federal research grants.”
Twenty-three students, mostly members of Student Government, attended the meeting to express opinions about the impending cuts.   
Fourteen were able to speak during the 30-minute public comment session.
Board of Supervisors member Garret “Hank” Danos motioned to extend the time by 15 minutes, but the motion was not approved.
“I am here as a student representative but also as a concerned student,” said SG Vice President Dani Borel. “I don’t feel that my money should be put into other entities.”
SG Sen. Emily Landry, E.J. Ourso College of Business, said she hopes to see the University remain one of the best in the state and in the nation.
“My tuition dollars should go to things that directly impact students — the academic core,” Landry said. “Think about us, all of the students back here — invest in us and our future.”
In his plea to the Board, SG President J Hudson emphasized that the students in attendance were not tailgating for the Alabama game in order to fight for education.
“We’re going to have students paying for this,” Hudson said. “We need to make sure other higher education institutions aren’t absorbing the cuts Pennington and the AgCenter get.”
Lombardi said the overall distribution of the midyear cut was done in a “dramatically unequal fashion,” and LSU-BR received the worst hit.
“The Board first of all attempted to find another way through the system,” Lombardi said. “After extensive discussion, there was no escape from the current structure of [the] budget.”
The Board approved the cuts with only one opposition vote.
Alvin Kimble, the lone opposing Board member, said he realized after listening to the students how many lives the cuts are affecting and questioned “penalizing” the universities to benefit the non-teaching institutions.
“I really wrestled with the thought of taking money away from the students,” Kimble said.
Board member Ronald Anderson argued that the idea of taking students’ tuition money away from the flagship was “ridiculous.”
“The idea that this Board is taking aim at [the] Baton Rouge campus for all cuts is not exactly true,” Anderson said. “I support what we do, and I hate to see any cuts made, but we are responsible for the entire LSU System.”
Anderson said the University has the greatest amount of resources to spare. He said the cut was less damaging to the Baton Rouge campus than to other entities.
“We have to work with the hand dealt, and if we want to correct it, we need to go to the Legislature and governor and talk to those people about impending cuts,” Anderson said. “We haven’t seen anything yet, folks.”
Hudson said he was disappointed in the decision, which he called a “cop out.”
“They need to find a solution,” Hudson said. “Next year is only going to get worse.”
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Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]