Baton Rouge has two universities, one predominantly white, the other historically black. This system, born of early 20th century segregation continues to this day, with the ugly repercussions of this division most recently being felt from the cancellation of the Salt ‘N’ Pepper event last Saturday.
A good deal of anger on both sides of the city has stemmed from LSUPD’s decision to request the coordinators of the event to hire more security, which led to its subsequent cancellation. Many students, from both Southern and LSU, believe the decision to have been one motivated by race, and not simply a concern for the potentially large amount of individuals attending the event.
Whether or not this was the case, the perception of the issue has further damaged the already strained relationship between the two schools, despite good faith efforts from both sides to bridge the gap across Baton Rouge. Even the possibility that this decision was racially biased has brought about more discussion of race and discrimination than any other issue this year — with the possible exception of the purple and gold Confederate flag.
With relationships frayed between the universities, some worry about the effects this strife may have on the upcoming Springfest, which, despite being an LSU event, is being held at Southern this year, and the upcoming LSU-Southern baseball game.
Fortunately, instead of merely allowing this volatile situation to simmer in private, both universities have been forthright in their efforts to come to grips with the very real concerns of students from both schools. University Chancellor Sean O’Keefe, in a statement published in the letters section of Tuesday’s Daily Reveille, said he regretted “any inference that Southern University students would be the cause of discord and apologize for any offense felt by our colleagues and friends.” He went on to comment that the views expressed were not those of either LSUPD or the University itself.
In addition to the chancellor, LSU Student Government expressed their concern that the comments of LSUPD Major Mark Shaw, “which are unrepresentative of our students, might jeopardize our partnership (between LSU and Southern).”
Southern Chancellor Edward R. Jackson, released a statement the same day, in which he said that the Southern “sincerely appreciated the response” of O’Keefe, as well as LSU’s SG, and that Southern university would reject “any efforts on the part of anyone to interfere” with the advancement of the relationship between the two colleges.
Students at both schools, especially Southern students, have made their voices heard. At a town hall style meeting yesterday on Southern’s campus, students expressed their concerns about how the Salt ‘N’ Pepper situation would impact relationships between the two universities, as well as what some saw as a climate of subtle racism between LSU and Southern — as well as divisions between black students from both universities.
One area, though, in which LSU received high marks from the students, according to Southern Digest Managing Editor Latrice Pinkins, was the fast response from O’Keefe and SG.
Southern students, Pinkins said “understand that it was just one person’s opinion,” and was not indicative of the general mood of the campus.
Regardless of all of this, we believe that the University owes both student bodies an investigation of the matter to put the question of racial bias behind both LSU and the LSUPD. Both schools have spent many years attempting to build relations between the two major universities in Baton Rouge. It would be a shame for all of this progress to be set back because of a few ill-timed, inappropriate words. Both universities owe it to their students and alumni to patch up the occasional bump in the road on the the way towards a more unified Baton Rouge.
 
The Daily Reveille Editorial Board is: Scott L. Sternberg, Editor-in-Chief; Mark F. Bonner, Managing Editor; Ryan Merryman, Opinion Editor; Dorothy E. Paul, Online Editor; Jason Dore’, Columnist.
The Editorial Board produces weekly editorials written by the Opinion Editor which express the views of the Editorial Board. However, the opinions of the board do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of The Daily Reveille’s staff.
This editorial was written by the editorial board of The Daily Reveille. The views expressed are those of the board and do not reflect the views of the entire staff.