La. Regents’ Racial Makeup Factors in SUNO-UNO Merger Push

La. Regents’ Racial Makeup Factors in SUNO-UNO Merger Push: When Demetrius Sumner sits down at the next meeting of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the Southern University student will be the only African-American and the only minority among the 15 board members.

Last December, just before announcing his plan to seek a merger of two Louisiana universities, Gov. Bobby Jindal changed the face of the Board of Regents by appointing only White male members to the open seats. The members have a five-year term. The lone student representative is not appointed by the governor but is elected by fellow student government leaders for a one-year term. Sumner, the current SGA president at Southern’s Baton Rouge campus, serves until April.