DID YOU KNOW?

A Safe Place to Learn

SUNO was ranked #1 in Louisiana and 20th in the United States in campus safety according to StateUniversity.com's Safe Schools report in November, 2009.

Academic Stars

Two SUNO professors received national recognition for their mentoring efforts in the sciences within a span of three years. Dr. Joe Omojola received the 2006 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Murty Kambhampati was honored with the 2008 Faculty Mentor Award from Minority Access, Inc.

The One and Only

The Master of Arts program in Museum Studies is the only one of its kind in the region, and it is the only such program housed at an HBCU.

Southern University at New Orleans is the only institution of higher learning in the state of Louisiana which offers a degree in Substance Abuse Counseling. SUNO offers both an Associate of Arts and a Bachelor of Science.

SUNO is the only college or university in the New Orleans area which offers a degree in Business Entrepreneurship.

The Southern University System is the only HBCU system in the United States.

Championship Tradition

SUNO Athletics accomplished a national championship “three-peat” in the 1970’s.  As an NCAA Division III program, the SUNO Knights Outdoor Track & Field team won National Championships in 1975, 1976 and 1977.  The Lady Knights won the NAIA National Championships in both Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field in 1995 and 1997. Those seven national titles gives SUNO the second most in the state of Louisiana.

SUNO Athletics boasts over 150 NAIA All-American honors and more than 6 Olympians since 1976. The athletics program also holds eleven Gulf Coast Athletic Conference championships.

Beating the Odds

The total enrollment at SUNO has grown faster than any other Louisiana four-year institution post-Katrina (2006 to present). Despite projections that the University's enrollment would only reach between 1,200 and 1,500 students in the spring of 2006, more than 2,000 students returned to campus. As of the fall of 2009, SUNO's enrollment has grown to more than 3,100 students.

Quite a Collection

It is estimated that SUNO has the largest, most significant authenticated African and African-American art collection in the entire Southern region.  Artifacts from this collection have been borrowed for study and display by major museums in Louisiana and other states.

SUNO Firsts

The late Dr. Louis Westerfield, J.D. ('71) was the first African-American dean of both the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law and the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Although women have represented Louisiana in the Miss Black USA pageant, Tiffany Magee ('97) took on the role as the first State Director of Miss Black Louisiana USA in 2008.

New Orleans' first African-American Postmaster is SUNO alumnus Philip E. Holland ('75).

Outstanding Alumni

Arlanda J. Williams (B'03, M'06) is the youngest person ever elected president of the Louisiana Police Jury Association's Black Caucus

Timolynn Sams ('98) was selected by the Utne Reader as one of their 2008 "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World".

Two judgeships in the Orleans Parish Juvenile Court are occupied by Southern University at New Orleans graduates--Chief Judge David Bell ('92) and Judge Tammy Stewart ('93).

Since 2006, the New Orleans Police Department has been led by two SUNO graduates--Superintendent Warren J. Riley (B'98, M'00) and Deputy Superintendent Marlon Defillo (B'92, M'00).