While many collegians are focused on the start of school, purchasing textbooks, and worrying about outfitting their dorm rooms, students from Southern University at New Orleans are on a different mission.
“Of all the colleges and universities effected by Hurricane Katrina, SUNO is the only institution that has not been able to return to its campus,” said Sabrina Effron, a senior criminal justice major and member of the university senate and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.Located near New Orleans’ Lakefront area, SUNO was hit hard by Katrina. Currently, SUNO’s classes and offices are held at a temporary campus housed in modular buildings not far from the original campus, such as the one snapped here by Drew Daniels for Black College Wire and THE BLACK COLLEGIAN. But the school’s enrollment, which Effron said topped 2,800 this semester, is straining the temporary campus.
“The city’s recovery is important to SUNO because it’s primarily a commuter school. And as the institution responsible for educating many New Orleanians, SUNO is important to the city – we need each other,” Effron said.
What’s amazing is that SUNO students are not just attending rallies and forums (such as the Day of Presence Convention Center rally I photographed above), they are proactive ambassadors of the university.
Brenda Campbell, a graduate student in SUNO’s social sciences department, caught the ear of Rev. Al Sharpton (who I caught at the 8/29 candlelight vigil at Jackson Square), and some of the first words out of her mouth were, “I need you to see the condition of my school. Books are still stuck to the walls in the library.”
Although it may be considered "just a city college" by many, based on the courage and persistence that many of its students have exhibited, I believe there is some world class educating taking place at SUNO.
What’s amazing is that SUNO students are not just attending rallies and forums (such as the Day of Presence Convention Center rally I photographed above), they are proactive ambassadors of the university.
Brenda Campbell, a graduate student in SUNO’s social sciences department, caught the ear of Rev. Al Sharpton (who I caught at the 8/29 candlelight vigil at Jackson Square), and some of the first words out of her mouth were, “I need you to see the condition of my school. Books are still stuck to the walls in the library.”Although it may be considered "just a city college" by many, based on the courage and persistence that many of its students have exhibited, I believe there is some world class educating taking place at SUNO.
