Louisiana Insider Chosen to Lead Southern
As the new Southern University System president, Dr. Ralph Slaughter says rebuilding the New Orleans campus and bringing back accountability are first and foremost
By Scott Dyer

BATON ROUGE, La.
Taking the helm of the historically Black Southern University system in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is turning out to be a wild ride, but Dr. Ralph Slaughter is confident that he’s up to the task of running the nation’s largest HBCU system.

“As long as you’re working for somebody else, you really have to work in lockstep with their vision and their goals. But now I can take my own goals and ideas, and bring those to fruition,” says Slaughter, who had been the system’s number two administrator for nearly a decade.

Those goals include rebuilding the hurricane-ravaged Southern University at New Orleans campus, strengthening the system’s academic programs and bringing accountability to the system, which was recently rocked by a grade-buying scandal.

Slaughter, a certified public accountant who formerly served as Louisiana’s Secretary of Revenue and Taxation, was the system’s vice president for administration and management under former SU system president Leon Tarver, who retired last June.

According to Southern University board chairman Johnny Anderson, a special search committee, composed of board members, community members, faculty and a student representative, identified three finalists for the system presidency.

“They gave us the list, unranked, and we chose Dr. Slaughter,” Anderson says.

Anderson says a majority of the board agreed that Slaughter’s knowledge of the Southern system and Louisiana’s political system was a plus. A relationship with the university that spans three generations also worked in Slaughter’s favor.

Slaughter and his parents are Southern alumni, and two of his six children are currently enrolled at the university.

But Slaughter’s selection has drawn criticism from some faculty, who argue that his academic credentials are not strong enough.