When Dadrius Lanus stood before the Board of Regents on Feb. 8 to defend his university, he noticed something wasn’t right — there were no minority members.
Lanus, a political science and history junior at Southern University-Baton Rouge, was making a public comment to the Board concerning the proposed merger between the University of New Orleans and Southern University-New Orleans.
Further research on the merger was temporarily suspended as a result of a lawsuit filed by Lanus and six other Southern University students. But Lanus said the suit has nothing to do with the proposed merger — it’s about the Board’s makeup.
Lanus said this was the first time he observed the Board’s membership, and it spiked his interest.
“I did research and found out the Board’s makeup is unconstitutional,” he said. “Not just on the grounds of race but on gender.”
Of the Regents’ 15 appointed members, none are racial minorities, and only four are women, totaling just 26 percent of the membership.
The group’s lawsuit cites the Louisiana Constitution, which states “the Board should be representative of the state’s population by race and gender to ensure diversity.” The suit argues Gov. Bobby Jindal removed all appointed racial minorities from the Board and replaced them with white males on Dec. 17.
Lanus contacted the six student leaders, four of which attended the Feb. 8 meeting, to help him create a case.
“I found student leaders from SUNO and BR and the law center,” Lanus said. “I also contacted a civil rights attorney.”
With the voluntary help of former state Sen. Cleo Fields, of the Fields Law Firm in Baton Rouge, the group filed a lawsuit against the governor and the Board on Feb. 14, halting the study of the merger.
But Venese Morgan, political science and Arabic senior at SUBR, said the Feb. 15 restraining order — which has since been reversed — on the study was just one aspect of the suit.
“It’s not fair for this Board to conduct studies concerning higher education of any magnitude,” Morgan said. “No decisions should be made.”
Lanus agreed, saying many people have misconceptions about the group’s motives.
“This has absolutely nothing to do with the merger,” Lanus said. “It’s primarily and solely based on constitutionality.”
Nykeisha Bryer, criminal justice senior at SUBR, said it’s important for people to realize no one is above the law, not even the governor.
“I also spoke in front of the Board on Feb. 8,” Bryer said.”When I got in front of the Board, I saw that I was not represented — not as a woman or as a minority.”
Bryer said the Board’s membership is unacceptable.
Morgan said she hopes the court hearing, which is scheduled for this afternoon, will “bring light” to the issues at hand.
Bryer said she is excited to see the hearing’s outcome.
“We have a solid argument,” she said. “I’m ready for people to hear it.”
The students agreed their main goal is to achieve justice for the universities and for the state.
“The Board doesn’t just represent Southern — they represent everyone,” Lanus said. “And it makes one question: If they don’t have proper representation, do the other management boards?”
 
 
____
Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]