SUNO Rehires Former Chancellor, Dem Lawmaker

The Southern University System hired Democratic lawmaker Joe Bouie as chancellor of its New Orleans campus on Friday, a position he was removed from in 2002, the Louisiana Illuminator reported.

Bouie, 78, is currently a member of the Louisiana Senate and served in the Louisiana House from 2014 to 2020. Bouie told the news outlet he intends to resign from the Senate “at the appropriate time.”

From 2000 to 2002, Bouie was chancellor of Southern University New Orleans, where he earned his undergraduate degree and worked as a social work professor, even serving a stint as Faculty Senate president.

However, his contract was terminated in 2002, which he argued at the time was because he “refused to participate in political nepotism.” He alleged he was “fired” because he removed the wife of then-U.S. Representative William Jefferson, Andrea Jefferson, from her role as vice chancellor of academic affairs. Prior to becoming an administrator, Andrea Jefferson had also served on Southern University’s Board of Supervisors. She resigned from that role to take the administrative job, which prompted protests from faculty members who complained she lacked adequate experience.

System officials pointed instead to concerns raised by the legislative auditor’s office over insufficient financial controls at SUNO. Bouie argued that he had inherited those problems from his predecessor.

Bouie’s return to SUNO came as a surprise; the Louisiana Illuminator reported that faculty members only learned Chancellor James Ammons was leaving about a week ago, and that there was no formal search for his successor.

Bouie will reportedly earn a $275,000 annual salary with a contract that runs through July 2028. He will formally step into the job on Aug. 1.