It’s been a homecoming of sorts for John K. Pierre, who took the reins of his alma mater earlier this year, becoming chancellor of Southern University Agricultural and & Mechanical College’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Pierre, a seasoned legal scholar, had been serving the Southern University Law Center in numerous roles since 1990, first as a faculty member and then as an administrator. In 2016, he was tapped to lead the school’s law center, which was founded at the historically Black university (an HBCU) in 1947.
John Pierre
“He (Pierre) and I have worked together closely over the last six months,” Dennis Shields, president of the only system of HBCUs, said earlier this year. In this role Shields is charged with the administrative oversight of five campuses across Louisiana — Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Southern University at New Orleans, Southern University Shreveport, Southern University Law Center in Baton Rouge, and Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Baton Rouge.
“What the board should know is that I knew and knew of John Pierre for many years before I arrived here. And I held him in high regard due to my role in legal education. I think you’ve heard it from faculty and others about the impression he has left on this campus in an interim (executive vice president) position. I can’t imagine anybody better suited to sit in this role at this point in time.”
Since taking the helm of the Baton Rouge campus of about 7,000 students earlier this year, Pierre has been fostering strategic partnerships that he says will position students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumni to serve as transformational change agents. He’s been strengthening the school’s academic programs, identifying new forms of revenue, working to improve and enhance technology, and connecting the university to the surrounding community.
“We have so many ties to the university, we have an impact on the community, and we should never lose sight of that,” says Pierre in an interview with Diverse.
Like so many other HBCUs, Pierre says Southern has its share of challenges like student housing.
“We’re keeping our eyes on the prize so that we can provide more residential housing,” says Pierre, adding that a focus on the quality and volume of student housing will inevitably help to increase student retention rates, student achievement, and an overall sense of belonging.
Pierre is laser-focused on funding and generating new streams of income to ensure that he won’t have to make draconian cuts to personnel and programs. He says he is proud of the relationship that Southern has with Louisiana State University and LSU President Dr. William F. Tate.
“We’re the only place where there’s two land-grant colleges in the same city,” says Pierre, adding that he and Tate are pushing forward with a new initiative called the A&M Agenda. The initiative outlines a commitment over the next five years to expand the collective impact of the two institutions, strategically focusing in on partnership, opportunity, and community.
“You cannot survive in this new higher education ecosystem without creating collaborations,” says Pierre, who adds that despite funding challenges, Southern remains an affordable institution.
Still, in light of the FAFSA financial aid debacle that delayed the processing of financial aid at institutions across the nation. Southern has been working closely with advocacy organizations like the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the United Negro College Fund, and the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO) to educate students and parents about the process as they look to access financial resources. With the attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion within higher education, HBCUs are “even more relevant and important today,” he says.
For now, Pierre who served as a Judge Advocates General Corps Officer (JAG) for the U.S. Army before joining academia, is savoring his new job.
“Every day is a different day. There is no routine day,” Pierre says with a chuckle. “It’s an honor to be here because so many have gone before us and have created that pathway for us. We have to recognize that our ancestors dreamed of a day when they could provide an education to their descendants even though those ancestors were enslaved people who had no rights to be recognized.”
