Education
After Ole Miss student’s killing, many LGBTQ students no longer feel safe
Eleven LGBTQ students, faculty and alumni told Mississippi Today they now fear for the community’s safety in Oxford, a town known for being more inclusive than most in Mississippi. Many also worry that Lee’s killing will lead community members, seeking safety from violence and harassment, to conceal their sexuality or gender identity.
LSU expands programs to stem nursing shortage
LSU Health New Orleans is expanding its accelerated nursing programs to North Louisiana to mitigate the nursing shortage the state is experiencing (Getty Images)
COVID-19 vaccine to be required for most public university students in Louisiana
Most Louisiana public universities will require the COVID-19 vaccine this fall, though a liberal vaccine exemption policy offered through state law also will also make it easy for students to circumvent those mandates. The University of Louisiana system, Southern University system and LSU Shreveport will require the vaccine. LSU’s two health sciences centers, its main […]
Louisiana task force to scrutinize university tenure is made up of people who support tenure
People who support higher education faculty tenure will make up most of a new state task force meant to assess whether Louisiana’s public colleges and universities should even use it. The 19-person task force will be dominated by academics and politicians skeptical of the panel’s stated mission. Just two of the members, Sen. Stewart Cathey, […]
Louisiana’s higher ed tenure task force slow to materialize
With less than a week before it is required to meet for the first time, just half of the required slots on a legislative panel reviewing tenure for college professors have been filled. The Task Force for Tenure in Higher Education will study tenure policies at Louisiana’s colleges and universities and recommend any changes it […]
Louisiana Special School District to replace superintendent
The board that oversees the Louisiana Special School District (SSD) took action Monday to replace its superintendent. In a unanimous vote, the SSD Board of Directors “opted to go in a different direction with district leadership,” according to a statement. The ouster of superintendent Ernest Garrett III comes amid an investigation of his performance that […]
Livingston library board member’s ‘inappropriate’ book list draws vocal opposition
LIVINGSTON – The public notice read “book content,” nothing more. Spurred by word of mouth and social media, dozens of people piled into a small room in a Livingston Parish library Tuesday night to fight back against a public official concerned about LGBTQ content for young readers. Erin Sandefur, a member of the Livingston Parish […]
LSU names vice president for inclusion, civil rights and Title IX
LSU has named Todd Manuel as its first-ever permanent administrator for inclusion, civil rights and Title IX. “We are pleased to welcome Todd Manuel to the LSU leadership team,” LSU President William Tate IV said in a statement. “He has a strong background in diversity, equity and inclusion, along with a legal knowledge to understand […]
Louisiana will name committee to study university tenure by the end of week
State officials and appointees will comprise a 19-member committee to assess the merits of university faculty tenure at Louisiana’s public universities. Its members will be named by the end of the week. Jim Henderson, president of the University of Louisiana system, and Philip Auter, president of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette’s faculty senate, will both be […]
Doctors spell out their opposition to Louisiana’s abortion law
More than a dozen Louisiana physicians, including the former leader of the state health department under Gov. John Bel Edwards, have filed sworn affidavits in support of the preliminary injunction that would block Louisiana’s strict abortion laws from going into effect. The physicians detailed their concerns that the trigger laws would lead to significant increase […]
‘It’s not a religious service’: Are prayers after football games harmless?
The headlines blared and the news was treated as a thunderbolt, something cataclysmic. A ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court backed a Washington state high school football coach who had been fired for participating in a prayer with his team on the field at a public school. The Supreme Court’s conservative wing ruled the coach […]
LSU handles alcohol, drug violations only with arrests, unlike other Louisiana universities
From 2018 through 2020, when LSU students were caught illegally drinking alcohol or taking drugs, the university involved the police 100% of the time. It makes LSU an outlier among Louisiana colleges and universities, where discipline is also handled internally. Federal law requires universities to report any incident involving the illegal use of alcohol or […]