Education
Hurricane Laura didn’t knock McNeese State out
Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm that made landfall in Southwest Louisiana Aug. 27, thoroughly devastated McNeese State University and caused about $200 million in damage, Daryl Burckell, the university’s president, told the Louisiana Senate Education Committee at a Wednesday hearing. “All parts of the institution were affected and impacted,” Burckel said. “From our academic […]
Hurricane Laura damaged 74 of 76 Calcasieu Parish public schools
Calcasieu Parish Superintendent Karl Bruchhaus told the Louisiana Senate Education Committee Wednesday that damage to schools caused by Hurricane Laura is “considerably worse” than the damage caused by Hurricane Rita. Of the 76 public schools in the parish, Bruchhaus said, 74 of them had damage and 15 had extensive damage such as torn-off roofs. None […]
LSU’s Building Name Evaluation Committee holds inaugural meeting since library’s name change
When a protest led by Black LSU students led to the university removing the name of a segregationist university president from the main library, those young activists said their work wasn’t done, and the university promised a more thorough evaluation of the names that adorn its buildings. On Tuesday, the university’s Building Name Evaluation Committee, […]
LSU Now Allows Students to Quarantine In Their Own Dorm Rooms
LSU has quietly shifted its policy for COVID-19 quarantine on campus. Students are now allowed to quarantine in their own dorm rooms under certain circumstances. They no longer have to go to special quarantine housing offered on campus or to hotel rooms in Baton Rouge. This means some students told to quarantine because they have […]
Phase 3 of re-opening plan means changes for K-12 but none for LSU
COVID-19 cases have been trending down statewide since K-12 schools and colleges welcomed back their students, and Gov. John Bel Edwards’ announcement that Louisiana will move into phase 3 means fewer state-mandated restrictions on those campuses. For schools, that means the maximum number of people allowed in a room increases from 25 to 50 — […]
Is it safe to open Tiger Stadium and the Superdome?
Update: Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced Friday that the Saints will not be allowed to have people at the team’s game against the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 27. This story was published a few hours before that announcement. Original Story: By the end of the month, Louisiana expects to have thousands of cheering fans in […]
National champion LSU Football Tigers may play home games before crowds at quarter capacity
After months of speculation about what LSU football games would look like the season after the Tigers were crowned national champions and if even if there’d be a season at all, Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference that he would consider opening Tiger Stadium at a 25 percent capacity for […]
High school football likely to resume soon
It is looking very likely that high school contact sports, specifically football, will begin again soon despite Louisiana still operating in Phase 2 of reopening. Eddie Bonine, executive director of the Louisiana High School Athletics Association, made the recommendation at a House education committee meeting, reversing the LHSAA’s original plan to keep high school football […]
Schools in 13 parishes are closed after Hurricane Laura
School system in 13 parishes have stopped their school year due to Hurricane Laura, said Cade Brumley, Louisiana schools superintendent, at a Louisiana House education committee meeting Friday. Calcasieu Parish, for example, have closed their schools until further notice because 97% of their school facilities suffered “substantial damage,” according to their Facebook page. Once power […]
COVID-19 hits Black America hard, but HBCU chiefs find vaccine trial is hard to sell
COVID-19 is known to have infected one of every 36 Black New Orleanians during the pandemic. There’s no way of knowing how many New Orleanians of any race have been infected, but those 6,601 confirmed cases that have been counted among Black people are 2.5 times more than the 2,594 cases that have been counted […]
College COVID-19 numbers will be shared by state health department starting this month
The Louisiana Department of Health, which had previously announced that it would create a COVID-19 portal and send out a link to every private and public college and university in the state, will begin reporting numbers on those campuses beginning Sept. 16, Meg Casper Sunstrom, deputy commissioner for strategic communication of the Louisiana Board of […]
COMMENTARY: Virus toll ranks high in SEC country, but teams won’t break the huddle
As you probably expected, the Southeastern Conference dominates the preseason national rankings. As of Tuesday, Florida could claim the title of No. 1 in the country, reporting the highest weekly per-capita death rate from coronavirus nationwide. Go Gators! Texas, home of the Texas A&M Aggies, had the second-highest per capita death rate, followed by Mississippi […]