There is a tremendous need to address the many incidents of bullying by our youth in the immediate community. In an effort to explore options that will help us to work together to solve the myriad of problems associated with bullying, the Southern University Division of Continuing Education is presenting a statewide conference on BULLYING: a Call for Action on Saturday, February 18. The conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Conference Center, 4728 Constitution Avenue, in Baton Rouge from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

If you would like additional information, call (225) 771-2613.

Southern University fans will have to wait a little longer before they find out who will be the next athletic director.

The board voted on Monday, Feb. 13 to reject Chancellor Jim Llorens' recommendation to hire Paula Jackson as its next AD. Jackson, a Southern University alumnus previously worked at Alabama State University.

Jackson received five yes votes, but needed seven in order for the measure to pass.

"We want to support the chancellor except in this situation with the athletic department," Board Member Patric Bell says.  "It's in such a state that we need somebody who is very, very strong to come in and steer the ship right and some of us didn't feel as though Ms. Jackson had the experience."

The board voted to extend the contract for Interim director Sandy Pugh until a permanent replacement is hired.

As a mid-year junior, Zoe Swarzenski has accomplished what most seniors never do – perfect scores on her ACT and PSAT tests, a 790 out of 800 on the SAT 2 Math test and the highest score possible on the Latin Advanced Placement test.

The Baton Rouge Magnet High School student currently is enrolled in Latin V Honors, English III Advanced Placement (AP), Logic, Chemistry II AP and Lab, Calculus AB AP and American History Honors. She is ranked seventh in her class with a cumulative grade point average of 4.64. 

When Swarzenski took the ACT test for the first time ever this school year, she said she “was lucky enough to get a perfect score.”  About the same time, she took the PSAT and earned the top score of 240. 

Last summer, Swarzenski spent a week at a Broadcast Journalism program for high school students at Georgetown University and she has applied to a U.S. State Department-sponsored program to study abroad in Russia this summer.