As a high schooler, John Pierre’s first research project was a deep dive into the life of P.B.S. Pinchback, Louisiana’s first Black governor and a founding member of Southern University and A&M College—the state’s largest and oldest historically Black college. After spending 30 years as an administrator at the Southern University Law Center, Pierre was appointed chancellor of his alma mater in March.
He spoke on Wednesday at the Baton Rouge Rotary Club, where he highlighted the school’s role as a “communiversity.”
“Our focus has to be on applied research, research that helps direct the communities to better places,” he said. “It can’t be an esoteric kind of research.”
Throughout the colorful speech, Pierre described the school’s plans for a wide range of industries in Louisiana, including health care, engineering, agriculture, and environmental justice.
“There are ways to make what they do more environmentally friendly,” he said referring to the state’s chemical companies. “We’re not gonna wage war about that, we’re going to step in and provide help.”
Pierre stressed the importance of providing more opportunities for students to gain experience with small businesses and finding ways to retain graduates in Louisiana.
“Louisiana exports more talent than anyone could imagine,” he said. “We’ve got to stop that trend.”
He plans to strengthen programs like teacher education to help address shortages in East Baton Rouge Public Schools and is also looking to implement cybersecurity into the curriculum.
“Cybersecurity is going to be the challenge of the day,” he said. “(Terrorism) will be stealing information that will prevent our important institutions from operating.”
Pierre criticized the state legislature multiple times for disinvesting funds into higher education—specifically a movement to get rid of a .45 cent sales tax that provides funding for health care and education.
“We’re making too much progress,” he said. “We can’t afford to have health care and higher education on the chopping block in this next legislative session”
The tax, which allocates $250 million to higher education, is set to expire by mid-2025. It would be a major blow to public universities still clawing back from $700 million in budget cuts during the Jindal administration
As a lawyer raised in a home where neither parent could read or write, Pierre called improving access to education an “obligation” for him, and a critical piece to transforming communities in Louisiana.
About 75% of students at Southern University are eligible for Pell Grants—federal funds dedicated to students who demonstrate financial need, and only about 11 percent of students graduate in four years.
Pierre said his top priority would be increasing retention rates between year one and year two, which would include summer bridge programs to help incoming freshmen adapt to college.
“Some of them are financial challenges, some of them are academic,” he said. “We’ve got to be able to help them be in a position where they can succeed.”
