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Good Luck, Grambling State: HBCU Community Needs You Around

By Gary Holloway
Black College Wire

Usually I don’t have anything serious to write about, but this time my subject is Grambling State University.

As many of you know, Grambling has been on accreditation probation since December with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).

That means that Grambling is one step away from losing its accreditation. The school was given a deadline of Wednesday, Sept. 25, to submit to SACS audited financial statements for 2001 and 2002. Now the school will have to wait until the SACS meeting in San Antonio in December to see if its accreditation probation will be lifted.

When I first heard that GSU could be losing its accreditation, I must admit I laughed and made jokes just like most students where I am, at Southern. But the more I think about it, the more I see that Southern and every other HBCU needs for Grambling to keep its accreditation. No matter how we may hate each other, we are all family, the Historically Black College and University family.

For one second, let's forget the classic SU-GSU rivalry. Forget that GSU hasn’t produced financial statements deemed auditable by Dan Kyle, the state legislative auditor; by SACS and by Sally Clausen, president of University of Louisiana Systems.

If Grambling loses its accreditation, that could mean loss of financial aid and grants for students and professors. Losing accreditation could mean students who receive degrees and/or certification from GSU put in all those long hours of studying and working for nothing.

As reported in the Monroe (La.) News-Star, Grambling’s enrollment is 4,462. That means that about 4,462 young African American students will get a degree that is basically worthless. This is not what we in the black community need. Grambling is a quality HBCU and its students deserve every opportunity for a quality education, especially from a black institution.

If Grambling does lose its accreditation, it won’t be the only school hurt. Every school from Southern to Jackson State to Arkansas- Pine Bluff to Alabama State, Alabama A&M, Prairie View, Texas Southern, Mississippi Valley and all the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) schools will feel a loss.

So on behalf of the entire Jaguar Nation at Southern, good luck, Grambling. Get your accreditation and keep it.

See you at the Bayou Classic.

Gary Holloway is a student at Southern University who writes for The Southern Digest.