Southern and LSU meet tomorrow in an historic football matchup, but to leaders of the two schools, it’s much more than a game. It’s a chance to bridge historic racial, cultural, and academic divides. Dr. Dennis Shields is Chancellor of Southern University.
“Just the acknowledgment that the playing of this game provided an opportunity for much greater interactions and collaborations between these two institutions, I think that’s pretty remarkable,”said Shields.
The two schools have a five-year plan to collaborate more closely in a range of academic areas. But Shields says the new connections are about much more than agreements on paper.
He says that for the first time, deans and other academic leaders from both schools sat down and had a conversation.
“We had LSU and Southern at a student fair so that hundreds of students got to come together and see LSU and Southern in the same space,” said Shields.
He’s hoping that the game and celebration of both schools and Louisiana as a whole will make both schools stronger.
“To take a football game and say, hey this doesn’t have to be just a football game, it can be representative of these two institutions to connect and work together. I think that’s fabulous,” said Shields.
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