SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY AND A&M COLLEGE SYSTEM BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA 70813

NEWS RELEASE May 28, 2015 Contact

Robyn Merrick For immediate release 225.278.1756 robyn_merrick@sus.edu                

Henry  Tillman                 225-­‐771-­‐5497                 henry_tillman@sus.edu                  SUS  President/Chancellor  Search  Committee  selects  three  finalists   The  Southern  University  System  (SUS)  Board  of  Supervisors'  President/Chancellor  Search  Committee  today  announced  three  finalists  for  the  position  of  president/chancellor.    After  interviewing  six  applicants  during  its  final  meeting  today  at  the  Hilton  Garden  Inn  in  Baton  Rouge,  the  15-­‐member  search  team  narrowed  the  list  for  the  next  SU  System  leader  to  the  following  three  candidates  who  will  be  recommended  to  the  SU  Board  of  Supervisors:    Ray  Belton,  chancellor,  Southern  University  Shreveport  (SUSLA),  a  graduate  of  SUSLA  and  Southern  University  Baton  Rouge.  He  has  a  master  of  arts  in  counseling  from  the  University  of  Nebraska  at  Omaha  and  a  doctor  of  philosophy  in  educational  administration  from  the  University  of  Texas  at  Austin.    Barrett  Hatches,  president  and  CEO  Chicago  Family  Heath  Center,  received  his  undergraduate  degree  in  political  science  from  Jackson  State  University,  a  M.A.  in  management  from  Webster  University,  and  a  Ph.D.  in  urban  higher  education  from  Jackson  State  University.    Ivory  Toldson,  deputy  director,  White  House  Initiative  on  Historically  Black  Colleges  and  Universities,  U.S.  Department  of  Education,  Washington,  DC,  has  a  bachelor’s  degree  in  psychology  from  Louisiana  State  University,  a  M.Ed.  in  

counselor  education  from  The  Pennsylvania  State  University,  and  a  Ph.D.  in  counseling  psychology  from  Temple  University.    “We  are  pleased  with  the  committee’s  work  and  with  the  experience  and  quality  of  the  candidates  for  the  Southern  University  president/chancellor’s  position,”  said  Albert  Sam,  M.D.,  chairman  of  the  search  committee.    “The  future  of  this  historic  university  system  will  be  in  accomplished  hands  with  either  of  the  finalists  vetted  through  the  process,”  Sam  added.    The  finalists  will  be  invited  to  Southern  University  Baton  Rouge  Thursday,  June  11  for  interviews  with  faculty,  staff,  students,  alumni  and  stakeholders.    The  SU  Board  of  Supervisors  will  interview  the  finalists  during  its  regular  meeting  Friday,  June  12.    About  the  SU  System    The  Southern  University  System  was  created  in  1974  by  constitutional  mandate,  which  fashioned  it  into  the  Nation’s  only  historically  black  1890  Land-­‐Grant  University  System.    Presently,  the  System  is  composed  of  five  institutions:    Southern  University  and  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College  at  Baton  Rouge  (est.  1880),  Southern  University  Law  Center  (est.  1947),  Southern  University  at  New  Orleans  (est.  1956),  Southern  University  at  Shreveport  (est.  1964),  and  the  Southern  University  Cooperative  Extension  Program  (est.  1972),  which  became  the  fifth  component  of  the  System  in  2003  and  is  now  named  Southern  University  Agricultural,  Research  and  Extension  Center.        

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