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Southern University System President Ray L. Belton today praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the 2018 budget, which includes increased funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "As president of an HBCU system that serves a vast, diverse student population, I can particularly appreciate this financial package," Belton said. "I commend the members of Congress, including those who serve in the HBCU Caucus and our Louisiana delegation, for their bipartisan work to ensure that our institutions and programs are beneficial to our students and communities."

We want to thank Southern University Alumni Federation Alumni President Cleo Brooks and the Seattle – Puget Sound Alumni chapter for making this transforming program a reality.

Southern University is vying to win a $50,000 campus improvement grant from the Home Depot Retool Your School program. Vote for the university online and by using the hashtag #SouthernU_RYS18 in Twitter and Instagram posts.

On Friday, Southern University officials, alumni and supporters, along with community leaders, convened to celebrate the establishment of the university’s Valdry Center for Philanthropy. Despite sporadic rain, the groundbreaking ceremony commenced on campus. “The sun is clearly shining on Southern University today,” said Ray L. Belton, Southern University System president and Baton Rouge campus chancellor.

The Southern University System will honor its founders on Wednesday, March 7 on the Baton Rouge campus. The 138th Annual Founders’ Day is themed, “Southern University: A Global Trailblazer Celebrating the Value and Power of Historically Black Colleges and Universities.” Speakers and honorees will include attorneys who participated in the out-of-court settlement resulting from the 1980’s era case, The U.S. Department of Justice v. The State of Louisiana, also known as the “Consent Decree.”

The Southern University Office of Student Life, in partnership with InspireNOLA Charter Schools, will host a “Rally for Community” on Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at the F.G. Clark Activity Center. The featured speaker will be Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Florida high school student who was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer in 2012. The widely publicized incident and subsequent trial, which ended in a not-guilty verdict, sparked the beginning of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Southern University System Board of Trustees today met for its February meeting on the Baton Rouge campus. Members approved President-Chancellor Ray L. Belton’s hiring of Kimberly Ferguson-Scott as the vice chancellor for student affairs and the extension of Roman Banks’ contract for athletic director. Both are positions are for the Baton Rouge campus.

After participating in a National Qualifying Tournament, Southern University at Baton Rouge will compete against fellow Historically Black Colleges and Universities at the 29th annual Honda Campus All?Star Challenge National Championship Tournament. Teams from 48 HBCUs will go head?to?head in the national championship of America's premier academic quiz for top HBCU students on the American Honda Motor Co. Inc. campus in Torrance, California. Southern University at Baton Rouge has the opportunity to win the HCASC top prize - a $75,000 institutional grant from Honda.

“Tell Them We Are Rising,” the acclaimed documentary directed by Stanley Nelson will premiere at today at 8 p.m. on PBS. The film showcases the history of America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Southern University, which is featured prominently throughout the film, recently held a joint town hall and advance screening of the documentary along with Grambling State University.

Recently, Willie Williams, a SU Public Policy doctoral student, had his abstract accepted for presentation at the 2018 Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management California Regional Student Conference at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California on March 9th, 2018.