BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Southern University’s board of supervisors met to discuss infrastructure updates, on-campus economic changes, and a preview of what’s to come for the 50th annual Bayou Classic.
Governor John Bel Edwards led the meeting by addressing Louisiana’s low unemployment rate, state projects, and teachers’ support in the regional average pay. He also acknowledged how far Louisiana has come since 2016.
The board gifted Edwards a small token of appreciation for all he’s done to help the university. Shortly after, it was time to discuss one of the universities biggest economic celebrations, the Bayou Classic.
President and CEO of Nocci, Dottie Belletto helped organize the Bayou Classic events for years. She said she knows this year’s numbers in attendance will exceed last year’s.
“So, we have had the parade on Thanksgiving Day previously, were going to go back to that for 2023,” said Belletto. “The community is going to come out, and we’re going to blow the roof off the Superdome. There’s going to be about 60 to 70 thousand seats. We’ve already hit 67 in our history. So now we’re through the pandemic with a year behind us and now we’re going into our 50th. You better get out there and get those tickets now because they’re going to go fast.”
Belletto also added that this year’s Bayou Classic will focus on mixing business and education for more scholarship and internship opportunities for students. The board proposed investing nearly $50,000 this year.
“It’s going to be a huge turnout, you see it trending upwards since covid, very competitive games, great organizational development so I think it’s going to be fabulous. It’s gotten better every year. I think the corporate sponsorships have gotten better, I think the excitement around the game has gotten more so we’re going to be attracting people from all over the country,” said Southern University President, Dennis Shields.
Tickets are already selling fast, and officials said they can be purchased through Ticketmaster or in person on campus.
