BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Inside the J. S. Clark Administration building, the newly established committee met with a mission to discuss the timeline and search process for the new Southern University Baton Rouge Campus Chancellor. 

Southern University Board Chairman Myron Lawson said the committee came to life after the university saw a need for an individual to hold the chancellor position. 

“So what we’re doing now is going back to saying, let’s get a person that’s going to focus on the Baton Rouge campus. And when it comes to fundraising, when it comes to the recruiting and retention, as I mentioned, certainly when it comes to giving the attention that it needs,” said Lawson. 

Brandon Horne is one of the members and serves as the Student Government Association President. Horne is excited to be part of the process, especially in bringing the student needs to the table. 

“We can only get greater by this great institution,” Horne said. “We are only one out of five systems in the country with our own system. So with that being said, we have one goal as global excellence with five campuses.” 

Lawson said the board has big things in common and will have power over choosing the newly appointed chancellor.

“One thing that they have in common is that all of them love some university and the education process. And so we’re very excited to get out of their way and let them bring us a very, very talented person that will serve at the helm of this campus,” said Lawson. 

According to Lawson, the right fit will bring in many qualities. 

“I hope they have the love for young people and people that want to come back and may not be as young and matriculated serve and therefore having compassion almost that they’re born with to want to give their time and talents to make this world better, specifically Southern University, to add to the value that a graduate will bring to society,” Lawson said. 

Now Lawson hopes the right person will apply. 

“We’re very interested in getting candidates and also receiving input and support to this process. And that way we can feel like it was a very inclusive process and we would have selected the best person to do this job,” Lawson said. 

The deadline to apply for people interested in the position is Dec. 29, and the application will be on Southern University’s website sometime next week.

The committee hopes to have no more than five semi-finalists by March and a new chancellor appointed by July, determined in negotiations once the individuals are selected. 

There will be more of these meetings and they will be open to the public.