By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On May 12, the Louisiana State Senate
passed SB 219, an equal pay bill sponsored
by Sen. Edwin
Murray, D-New
Orleans,
and
designed to pre-
vent gender-based
pay discrimination
in the workforce.
“We cannot sit
by while women
and their families
struggle to make
ends meet when
policies and law
can make a differ-
ence,” said Lynda
Woolard, president of the Independent
Women’s Organization. “Our state has been
By Jazelle Hunt
NNPA Washington Correspondent
WASHINGTON (NNPA)
– A little help may
be on the way for historically Black colleges and
universities struggling against falling financial
support and an increasingly skeptical public.
The Bipartisan Congressional HBCU Caucus
was launched last week, with Congressional
members Representatives Alma Adams (D-
N.C.) and Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) at the helm.
Its 45 members and counting are charged with
safeguarding the interests of historically Black
colleges and universities, supporting students
and graduates; creating a national dialogue; and
educating other members of Congress on the
value of these institutions.
“This bipartisan HBCU Caucus is bringing
together champions for HBCUs, so that we can
make an even bigger impact to ensure their
needs are heard in every aspect of policy mak-
ing and across party lines,” said Rep. Adams,
creator and co-chair of the caucus, alumna of
North Carolina A&T State University, and for-
mer administrator at her alma mater and Bennett
College, both in Greensboro, N.C.
“[HBCUs] do what no other schools do for
students like me, a poor Black girl from
Newark, New Jersey who came to North
Carolina – wasn’t fully prepared – but yet North
Carolina took me in, got me prepared, and I was
By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer
Local artists will honor a staple of the
city’s gospel community later this month at
an annual gather-
ing of the South-
ern General Mis-
sionary Baptist
Church Associa-
tion. For more
than 50 years,
New Orleans na-
tive
Barbara
Frazier has guided
the city’s congre-
gants
through
music at church
pianos
and
organs.
Frazier began what would become a half
century of music ministry at the age of five,
when her parents enrolled the burgeoning
artist in music lessons. In eight years,
Frazier debuted as a pianist for the youth
choir of Sixth Union Baptist Church, fol-
lowed by, at age 16, a music post at Antioch
Baptist Church.
Born in 1944, her interest in music grew
By Kari Dequine Harden
Contributing Writer
The final days of life for Lagniappe
Academies were painful.
In just a few months, the school transformed
from a cheerfully intimate learning environment
where the majority of young students were
thriving, to a floundering and failed business at
the center of scandal and perplexing politics.
On Friday, May 8, a few remaining students
played basketball out front of the modular cam-
pus in Tremé while they awaited their rides home.
The end date for students had been moved up
by about a month.
“It’s the best school,” said a sullen first-grader.
“They are so nice. My mama’s gonna be so sad.”
Asked why their school was closing, one
boy stated, “We don’t know why.” Another
boy jumped in, “It’s because we need a hand-
icap class.”
Days after the state leaked a confidential
report to the media on March 3 alleging serious
violations of special education laws by
Lagniappe’s top administrators, the Board of
Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)
voted to close the small school.
Originally scheduled to run through early
89
years of ‘news that matters’
Continued on Pg. 9
Continued on Pg. 8
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Since 1925
VOL. LXXXIX NO. 35
New Congressional Caucus champions HBCUs
Xavier names new president
Continued on Pg. 8
Week of May 18 - May 24, 2015
VERRET
50 cents
FRAZIER
MURRAY
Lagniappe Academies tenure as charter school ends
Less than a week after its star-stud-
ded graduation, Xavier University
announced that it has tapped C.
Reynold Verret, the provost and vice
president for academic affairs at
Savannah State University in Georgia,
to succeed outgoing president Dr.
Norman Francis. Francis, the longest-
serving U.S. university president, will
retire June 30 after serving in that
capacity for 47 years at Xavier.
Xavier made the announcement
Thursday morning, five days after
Francis presided over his last gradua-
tion ceremony, which honored former
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, for-
mer U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and
former NBA star and businessman
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, among others.
Verrett, a native of Haiti, has held
the post of chief academic officer at
Savannah State since 2012, WWL-TV
Continued on Pg. 9
Dillard University, established in
1869 and ranked No. 13 among all
HBCUs in the 2014 U. S. News and
World Reports Best College
Rankings, held commencement exer-
cisers on May 9 for 247 graduates.
Addressing the graduates and their
families and friends was two-time
Academy Award
®
and Tony Award-
winning actor Denzel Washington.
Washington has been a longtime
Dillard supporter and contributor.
Photos courtesy of Dillard University
New Orleans
‘Mother of
Music’ being
honored
Sen. Murray’
equal pay bill
passes in La.
Senate
