LSU was too smart by half.
LSU likes the numbers and prestige that having a system gives them, but they didn't like the fact that UNO often showed them up.
With that, long-time UNO Chancellor Tim Ryan was very aggressive & very pushy. So when LSU tried to disproportionately shove budget cuts onto UNO, Ryan screamed, and they canned him.
Bad decision. Before they fired him, he could rant and rave within the System. After?
He could rant and rave in public: https://ultoday.com/node/1929
Which gave Jindal the excuse he'd been looking for. Soon after that's published, Jindal proposes merging UNO-SUNO, and putting it in the UL System. UNO doesn't want SUNO, but I suspect it's an oblique way to close SUNO.
If the new entity comes to our System, they will bring their own formula funding with them. We don't lose anything, and the UL System gains a pretty good research university, some prestige, a boost in total numbers, and a little more clout.
It's not clear how pro-LSU Jindal is. I think his parents taught there, but there have been some subtle signals that he is no LSU homey.
PS The article says that UNO produces more research per faculty than any other state university.
I don't think that's still true. I think UL is now the leader.
OK now that I actually read the article, yes University of Greater New Orleans. Sounds awful I would not want to graduate from there
I don't think that the move is racially motivated as SUNO indicates, but there is something going on. I think that budget money allocated to each system and when cuts are concerned really come into play. It's strange. It's been said for some time now that we have too many 4 year universities, yet the LSU system grows with LSU-A becoming a 4 year university and they want to expel 2 other universities, or at least diminish their roles, that don't share the LSU name. In fairness, Ryan did say that UNO needed to leave the LSU system. But what damage will Lombardi do before this step might occur. Just the conspiracy coming out in me.
If a name change does take place, who now has authority to make that change? The LSU System changed LSUNO to UNO. The then Board of Colleges and Universities changed Louisiana Polytechnic College (or whatever their name was) to Louisiana Tech University and the University of Southwestern Louisiana to the University of Louisiana, only to have our name overturned stating that only the state legislature could rename a university, so we were back to USL. Years later, UL became UL Lafayette and NLU became ULM. So, today, did the legislature give authority to the UL System to change a university's name or is it still the legislature? Is there EVER a chance that we can ever get the "at Lafayette" dropped. Could UNO-SUNO be changed to UL at New Orleans?
I did particularly like the other references to LSU as LSU A&M and LSU-Baton Rouge.
The motivation is money, more for the LSU system, less for the UL system. If any plan comes from Baton Rouge, then you know it's not good for UL or any other state Univ, always for the benefit of LSU.
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