SUNO students protests the university's slow recovery

More than two years after Hurricane Katrina, SUNO students are still being housed in temporary buildings. John Georges was the only gubernatorial candidate who took time out to voice his concerns over the university's plight. Would UNO have been neglected by the State? I doubt it very seriously.
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Massed in front of a campus building that has not been touched since Hurricane Katrina two years ago, about 200 placard-waving demonstrators today cheered a procession of speakers who called for immediate action to restore the Southern University at New Orleans campus.

For the past 20 months, SUNO has been housed in temporary buildings about a half-mile away. It is the only local institution of higher education that hasn't returned to its campus.

At the midday rally, participants vented their frustration as they brandished blue-and-yellow posters with slogans such as "Katrina Victim Victimized Once Again."

"We need classrooms, not trailers," said Raynika Gougis, a freshman majoring in criminal justice.

Plans originally had called for demonstrators to help clean out a building. Instead, a few dozen people stood outside the Education Building and cheered workers in hazmat suits and respirators as they brought out smelly garbage from the dark, mold-infested building.

Shavonda Chambers, a senior, stuck her cell-phone camera inside and took a picture.

"I smell negligence," she said.

"I smell embarrassment," said Thaddeus Petit, a fellow senior who stood nearby.

Although SUNO personnel pressed the case for quick action to the crowd, the hour-long demonstration was dominated by a host of office holders and candidates who took turns at the microphone echoing the demand for speedy restoration of the Pontchartrain Park campus. Despite muddy sound and a speaker system that died frequently, they whipped up the emotions of the spectators, who stood beneath a cloudless sky in temperatures around 90 degrees.

"I don't have the slightest idea why the state is treating you like this," said former state Sen. Jon Johnson, who is seeking a return to that chamber. "Why do we have to stand out here in the hot sun and get people to do the right thing? We're supposed to be living in 2007, not 1807."

The only gubernatorial candidate to appear was John Georges, who not only spoke and worked the crowd but also provided 3,000 chilled bottles of water bearing his red, white and blue campaign logo.

"I am the man with a plan, and my plan includes rebuilding SUNO," he said to cheers. "It's the last university to be rebuilt; it should have been the first."