BATON ROUGE, La. — A judge refused Thursday to block a Board of Regents study looking into the possible consolidation of Southern University at New Orleans with the University of New Orleans.
District Judge Tim Kelley ruled against a group of Southern students’ request for an injunction to end the study and stop any merger of the historically Black SUNO campus and the largely White UNO campus until determining whether the Regents board is constitutional.
Kelley said the students didn’t show they would be irreparably harmed by a continuing study and couldn’t show that they were likely to prove the constitutional challenge that has yet to be decided.
“While the court does not dispute the serious nature of the business being conducted by the board, nor its potential effects on the higher education system in Louisiana, the plaintiffs have failed to prove the necessary elements for the issuance of a preliminary injunction,” Kelley wrote.
Lawyer and former state Sen. Cleo Fields, on behalf of the Southern students, argued the board makeup is unconstitutional because it doesn’t adequately represent Black and female Louisianians.
Fields said he would appeal Kelley’s decision.
“We’re not accepting today’s ruling,” he said. “We feel that we have a very strong case on appeal.”
