thenewsstar.com April 5, 2011 GSU Celebrates History By Barbara Leader Grambling State University President Frank Pogue celebrated the institution's 110-year history and spoke about its future in a "State of the University" convocation on Monday. The presentation, which included addresses from Pogue and the university's vice presidents, highlighted GSU's growth and status as an Historically Black College and University, but cautioned about the potential impact of statewide budget cuts. "This is a vulnerable time for higher education in Louisiana," Pogue said. "Higher Education is essentially without a spokesperson. We are reporting directly to the legislature in many ways. In this climate, as an HBCU, we must stick together." Pogue referenced a recent move to combine the University of New Orleans and Southern University, an HBCU, when he talked about using graduation and retention rates as the primary excuse "for limiting access" to a growing minority population. "HBCUs like Grambling were not founded because we could not attend white universities," he said. "They were founded because we needed to educate our young. The future of Grambling State University and HBCUs must not be determined by the fact that African Americans can now attend white universities." Pogue commended the university and its faculty for taking a stand when the university's state appropriation dropped from $32 million to $18 million per year. "We did not lay off one person because of the budget cuts," he said. "The budget and priorities committee recommended a way to avoid laying people off. We're on a furlough system." Through the furlough system, Pogue said the university was able to save $500,000. "We are emphasizing the importance of learning from the past so that we can understand where we are currently and plan for the future," Pogue said. "While Grambling State University has enjoyed a glorious past 110 years, the next 110 years will be more challenging than the first." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.